What to do? Where to start?

First thing first.  What kind of business (remember – asset, not job) do you want to build?  What passion do you want play off?

My husband and I recently bought our first home, and one day as I was complaining about all the stuff I wanted to do with it and how much it all would cost, someone told me, “Melissa, the two things that keep our economy going is Houses and Babies!”  They were right!

Well, I’m not in the baby phase (my son will soon be a teenager), but I have really enjoyed working on our home.  I enjoy decorating, painting, and most of all Pinteresting (yes, it’s a verb now) ideas for things to build and items I would like to purchase.

Ok, decision made.  Household decorating/remodeling it is!

Next question:  How do I capitalize on that interest/passion?

I’m going to start with an online business.  I like this for 3 reasons. 

                1.  It is completely mobile

                2.  It can be worked on at any hour of the night or day

                3.  As it grows the work can be easily outsourced

Also, I’ve already decided to go with a product first, as opposed to a service or knowledge-based design.  (There are many ways to do this – one of which I will explore in my second venture… more on that later.)

The questions you should ask yourself are:

1.  What isn’t out there already?

2.  What is out there – but I could provide or promote better?

3.  How niche-y do I want to be?  (It’s been proven that highly niche product lines do best online.)

Well, one thing I looked and looked for online were curtains to cover my backyard sliding glass door that were brightly colored with a large printed design.  Easy, you might say.  But I looked for MONTHS and couldn’t find anything!  I finally settled on a more muted design in a shower curtain, and found a specialty retailer online that sold extra long shower curtains that would fit my window.  Yes, I have shower curtains as drapes.  Actually, they are quite lovely. 

The other thing I couldn’t find online were retailers catering to the next generation of homeowner.  Sure, everyone TRIES to.  From Target to Lowes to Sears to the millions of tiny online retailers, they all try.  However, with all the millions of dollars they spend on the best research and brains around, none of them really GET it.

Now, trying to take on the likes of Target in the design arena is hardly niche.  It also is a big bite to try to chew on a first time attempt at this.

So the question becomes, how could I marry these two ideas, stay niche, and still answer the second question above?  What in these arenas could I provide and promote better???

More on this next time….   J

I blog a minimum of twice a week.  So follow along, bookmark this page and come back often!