You May Have A Successful Small Business Idea

We all know that small business owners are the backbone of this country. They're the ones who take risks and create jobs. And now, more than ever, there is a viable opportunity to turn your dreams into a reality by starting your own small business.

Recently, Small Business Administration survey results revealed that the number of small businesses in the United States grew by more than 5 percent. This is great news for aspiring small business owners, because it means that there is a greater demand for goods and services in this country.

While this success can be attributed to many factors, one of the largest contributing factors is the economy's overall health. Because small businesses create so many jobs and add billions to our gross domestic product each year, they are a vital part of our nation's economy today.

Just because you're an aspiring small business owner doesn't mean that you can't have a successful business idea. In fact, there are a lot of people who don't even realize that they have a successful business idea.

A few years ago, I was in the process of making some investments. I planned on moving to the desert and starting up multiple businesses, including my own skin care line, which earned me more than $6 million in the first five years of its operation. However, because of unfortunate circumstances, I ended up losing all those investments and not having a single penny to show for my efforts. I was completely broke.

I had no job or income, but I knew that my skin care product was a lucrative idea. I decided to try and make a few sales on my own, but because I didn't have any money, I had to get creative. Whenever I went somewhere and saw certain things that other people threw away, such as egg cartons, paper towel rolls and milk jugs, I'd collect them and use them for my product packaging. At the time, there wasn't an invention like the box cutter available at office supply stores today – instead of spending the money to buy one of those specialty weapons, I used what was available to me.

The next time I went out, I was able to sell a couple of my products. Once I'd made enough money to actually buy boxes and tape, I began asking potential customers to help me out and tape the packaging themselves. Of course, that's when things started getting interesting. After all of the packages were sealed, they looked as if they were empty! But if you opened one up and took a look inside, there'd be a small sample of my product – and it would do exactly what the title promised.

I realized that many people wouldn't spend money on something that looked like nothing more than an empty container filled with air, even though there was a sample inside. I decided to talk to a few friends and asked them if they'd be willing to help me out by purchasing the empty packages and putting my product inside of them. The package was so pretty that I was able to sell it for $20 even though it only cost $10 – and that would include a free sample.

After about three months, I had saved up enough money to purchase a computer with Internet access. Sure enough, I started coming across other people who were selling their own skin care products online. The only problem was, they weren't selling them by the sample – they were selling them in pre-packaged jars or bottles. Again, having no money to invest in things like labels and packaging materials, I decided to use what I had in my possession to get my package out into the world.

This is how I came up with my product's distinctive jar:

I found an empty cat food can. To make it bigger for my purposes, I cut it down about an inch and a half on each side. Then I covered the top with a piece of red cellophane tape to create a handle so that the customer could easily open the jar. To finish the jar off, I used a black permanent marker to write my product's name on it in white lettering. After I put that sticker on the lid, it was ready for sale.

The next time I went out to make another sale, I had a friend videotape me doing the whole thing:

When I showed the video to my family and friends, they were all amazed at how simple it was and how much money could be made without having to purchase expensive equipment of any kind.

If you want to replicate the same sort of success that I had, there are a few things you'll need to do.

First of all, you should make sure your product or service is something that people need and have some interest in. For example, I noticed that my friends and family were always trying new products and products that they'd heard about from other people. I thought my product was a novel one because it was the only jar-style deodorant that didn't leave white streaks on your clothes. That led to greater sales, because people could see the benefits right away without making any other changes in their wardrobe until they had tried it themselves and seen those benefits first hand.

You also need to identify a niche that you know your product can sell in. If you've never worked in the field of marketing, it might take you a while to get used to all of the terminology like "niche" and "targeting," but it's very important to understand these terms so that you have a better idea of where your business should fit.

Finding your niche is very easy. All you have to do is ask yourself: What do I like? What are my hobbies? Where do I spend most of my time? What kind of things do I enjoy? Once you've figured all that out, think about what other people might be interested in or be interested in hearing about.

If you enjoy being outdoors, you might want to choose a product that people can use to take care of their dog's (or cat's) skin once they've returned inside their home. I spent my entire childhood and teenage years in the country, so I owned a lot of farm equipment – and those things were always outside. The main thing that bothers me about the farm is how smelly those old tractors and combines can get. If people knew about a product that could take care of all of those old things, I know it would be very popular.

Selling your creation is important.

Conclusion

The idea of creating a product or service isn't as hard as many people make it out to be. It's just a question of identifying what people need and have interest in, then putting those things together. You can also use what you have around the house to get you started.

You might even be able to make money by sharing your product with friends and family members – but you should remember that they'll only buy your creation once they've seen it work for themselves.