Choosing What Business to Create

Everybody says that experience is the greatest educator. In the future, I want to create businesses. Thus, I decided that I might as well see how much I could learn by challenging myself to create a business in 30-days. If you’ve ever thought about doing this, and hope to live vicariously through me, you can follow my journey here and check my socials where I post regular updates. 

Where to Begin?

First, you have to begin by wanting to create something. That’s primary. Once you’ve decided to commit to that desire, the hard part becomes figuring out WHAT you’re going to create. 

This is where a lot of people get stumped. The reason is that they think that they have to bind themselves by whatever they create. This is not true. 

My life changed when I realized that as a beginner, you create to learn. Very few people ever succeed in their firsts. In terms of the broad picture, immense success is usually the result of immense refinement. That happens over time, but for some reason, we expect it to happen immediately. We don’t finish projects or share them and instead often become discouraged by their inadequacies. 

Let me offer some solace: It’s okay that they’re not perfect. No one expects perfection. 

In regards to business, very few “first ideas” are a hit. And if I’m honest, that’s a good thing. Business is not just about the ideas…most of business is actually about execution, and if you’ve gained insights over time, you’ll be able to respond to “surprise situations.” The more experience you have, the better you’ll be able to adapt…drawing from past wisdom. 

With the desire to learn as my primary goal, I walked into this project with more clarity and intentionality. It gave me clarity on the types of businesses I should, and should not try to create. 

For example, if money was my primary motivator, I might try to think up the next Facebook or Amazon. That’s where many people begin. This, though, was not my prerogative. First off, I know I don’t have enough knowledge of the industry, and second, I don’t know enough about business to make the initial investments worth it. 

Instead, my approach was this – what can I actually do and/or offer right now that would help me build more mature businesses later on. My answer: gain clarity on business operations, on distributing and packaging value, and on fulfilling what has been promised. 

Should I Dropship?

My initial thought went to dropshipping. Not because I wanted to scam people and “get rich quick,” more so because it has a relatively low overhead, and I knew it would allow me to focus on marketing instead of on a product. 

Marketing is just about understanding a product so deeply that you can communicate its value to a potential customer. It’s about matching products with customers. The hard part is learning how to communicate, package, and disperse your offering. 

It’s my belief that a basic understanding of marketing should be necessary for every business person. I’ve found that in understanding marketing, one becomes more fully aligned with the mission of the company, and then it becomes easier for everyone to see where the company is going, and where it could go in the future. 

Dropshipping’s advantages are that it’s easy to do, it doesn’t cost very much, and you, as a storefront, are not responsible for the supply chain. Its disadvantages, though, are that most of the products are unnecessary, shipping usually takes a while, the products can come broken, are often of lesser quality than advertised, and you’re trying to manage everything from overseas. 

Crossroads

As I looked through Alibaba (the Chinese dropshipping marketplace), I could not convince myself that any of the products were worth my time and effort, nor a customer’s money. Marketing is powerful, and thus, it should be utilized properly. I knew I would not buy most of those products for myself, and I wouldn’t have felt right selling people on things that didn’t matter. I realized that I either needed different sourcing, or I needed to change my idea. 

First, I decided to check out options for different sourcing. I used Faire.com which is a marketplace for wholesalers to sell all kinds of goods. I was much more open to using Faire to source my products, but with Faire, my overhead would be larger because I would have to buy all of the products beforehand. This wasn’t the most appealing to me. 

I didn’t want 500 toothbrush stands in boxes around my house if I didn’t sell anything. 

Landing on My Project Idea

It was a Tuesday night, I had just shut off my computer, and I was not excited about the ideas I had put forth. Then, it hit me…I should open a service-based store. It was optimal for me for a few reasons: I wouldn’t have to purchase anything beforehand, I could make it something I was passionate about, I would still be able to have a single target audience for my FB ads, I would be able to make it a side-hobby if it worked out, and I would be thrusting myself into a very active type-of-business which means I would learn A TON. 

The business I landed on is called “Project Lifebook” where I offer the service of interviewing elderly loved ones to preserve their memories and stories. Then, I take this interview and create an evergreen keepsake from it (book format and/or audio format). 

Why this project works

This project works because I am passionate about the topic. Many elderly people do not feel appreciated, so if, for a day, I can help make them feel appreciated, listened to, and seen, I would be so happy. 

Through this initial ideation stage, I learned that you have to choose things that align with who you are. I could have sold a product I did not care about, but I know that I would not be as committed to the build-out if I had. Choosing things that you can commit to is so important because the deeper you dive into a thing, the more you will learn. 

This project is something that will not just offer me value in terms of business acumen, it will also help me to refine my soft skills – interviewing, writing, customer relations, project planning, communication, etc. 

Looking back on my first week, I am pleased with where this is going. I am committed to this idea and its build-out. 

You can check out my business plan to see the basic outline and mission of Project Lifebook. 

I’ll be posting regular updates so come back for more. 

Let’s do this!