Hi Team,
I use the word team because I feel like we are all on the same team here at PH. I had a conversation at work today about the best way to figure out what business to start.
I thought this would be a great place to start for a lot of people in the community.
The Filter process.
Every day lots of people come up with ideas for possible business, they think oh wow that is a problem I am having and others must have it too. This is a great mindset to have. It takes brainpower to realize an issue and a possible solution.
That is only the first step but you need to ask yourself a few more questions before putting all your savings into something.
I have been working to refine this process for several years, it’s not perfect but it works.
The next question you need to ask yourself is:
Is this scalable? Here’s why that matters. You may be able to do something awesome once or you might be able to make $1000 doing something really cool but it takes you 100 hours to build or make. That means you made $10 an hour, you probably need to move on to your next idea.
What kind of capital will this take? Do you have the current resources to work on this project,? You may have a great idea for a product, but what is it going to cost to design, manufacture, ship, and get into your customer’s hands. It may take $10K just for the molding plates in china. It may cost you $10 per click to get people to your website. All of this is fine if you have the budget for it.
Always ask yourself, do I have the capital for this, if not start over and keep thinking.
Do I have the skills or passion? Many people disagree on this point, some say you need a passion for the problem. The truth is that either approach works. That is why I said skills or passion you really only need one.
If you have a passion you will have the drive to make it through the tough times, if you have the skills you may not have as hard of a time. Let’s say you want to start a wedding photography business. It’s scaleable on the weekends for you and you have the capital to buy the needed equipment. Now ask yourself, do I love taking pictures, do I love being around the couples and families all day? Again the answer doesn’t matter for success but here is why you need the skills or passion.
If you love it, you will put up with the drama that can come with the job and the long hours. You will learn how to use photoshop and edit your work.
If you don’t love it, you will probably try it a few times and realize it’s hard to get the lighting just right and photoshop isn’t that user-friendly and move on to a new idea. But if you had the skills of photoshop and you take a class on how to take amazing wedding photos. you can put up with the drama because you have the skills to be successful and other parts of your business are easy.
If everything about the business is hard for you, it probably won’t last.
Again these aren’t perfect examples but you should get the idea.
Ask your self these 3 filter questions and when you find one that makes its pass all 3 it probably means you need to really take it seriously.
Good luck out there!
