Last time we talked about why working for someone else is not the path to long term security (or happiness), and why creating something of your own is so important. (read it here)
But of course, the question is – what should you create?
This question has two main components:
- What topic do you build around?
- What products and services can you offer?
Today we’ll look at the first question. The second question we’ll leave for the next instalment (something to look forward to 😊 )
For many of us, coming up with a topic to base a business around can be a daunting task.
Our insecurities start bubbling up:
- I’m not that good at anything
- Why would people listen to me?
- But there’s already other people doing that, so there’s no sense me doing it too!
If you’re one of the lucky ones that are already confident in the topic you want to base your business around then congratulations – give yourself an early mark and I’ll see you in the next article.
For the rest of us …
The good news is that coming up with a topic doesn’t need to be hard.
In fact, I can almost guarantee that with a bit of thought the issue will not be “what could I possibly do?” but more “which one of those do I want to pursue (first)?“
You see, most of us know a lot more than we give ourselves credit for.
We’ve all amassed a great deal of experience in our lives – through our jobs, our hobbies, our interests, and life in general.
It’s a sad reflection on the human state, but most of us tend to downplay our abilities.
So, let me help you uncover just how awesome you really are…
Find yourself a quiet place, grab your favourite pen and notepad, and start jotting down the answers to the following questions:
- What do you find so easy that you are constantly surprised other people struggle with it?
- What do your friends, family and co-workers constantly ask you for help with?
- What do you get frustrated at when you see others advertising it and you know you could do it better?
- What do you enjoy doing so much that time just seems to disappear when you do it?
- What aspects of your current (or past) job do you love doing?
- What are you so passionate about that you just want to learn more and more about?
My bet is that you’ll come up with a surprisingly long list (I did say you know more than you give yourself credit for).
Take out anything that doesn’t fill you with joy when you think about it – this is your business after all and you deserve to love what you do!
Now you just need to select what from the remaining list excites you the most.
It really can be that simple!
But this is where your brain will try to trip you up…
- “But I’m not an expert in that!” Maybe not, but there are plenty of people out there that know even less than you, and would be grateful to have the knowledge you have.
- “But there aren’t enough people interested to make a living off that!” Really? there are nearly 7 billion people on this planet and you have the ability to reach most of them. The reality is there are plenty of people looking for exactly what you’re thinking of offering. Heck, I’ve seen examples of people making six figure incomes from selling clocks made from cow dung – would you have thought there was a market for that?!?
- “But there are lot’s of others already offering that!” Yes, and that’s a good thing – it shows there is a demand for it. Everyone has their own unique take, as will you. And it might just be your takes that makes the difference for someone. There is always room for one more.
- “But people won’t pay for that!” I can guarantee you there are already a lot of people paying someone for exactly what you have to offer. Why shouldn’t it be you?
- “But what if I change my mind later? I don’t want to be locked into one thing forever.” No worries, you can pivot your business whenever you want. You can even walk away and start again if you really want (I know some pretty big names that walked away from successful businesses to start the one they are doing now).
The trick is to pick something and get started. Everything else comes down to details that we can work out along the way.
