What to do – what you can do, what you want to do
Commonly people choose a business with such reasons:
- Familiarity with the industry (e.g. family business, have been working in that industry)
- Passion and dream (e.g. want to own a restaurant, enjoy working with the nature, etc)
- Popularity, statistics (e.g. health food industry is growing in last several years, the franchise store is always busy)
They are all relevant. You start a business taking a lot of risk. It is foolish to pick an area you know very little to nothing about. Your passion is an important element to go through the expected challenges. It is definitely wise to study and assess the business potential before you start.
While I thought through these points, I cross referenced with the purpose of having my own business time to time. Let’s see how my case went.
First, my familiarity/experience with the subject filtered out the candidates only to landscape, food or culture related areas. These are the areas I can be confident to provide some type of service professionally. Besides, what type of service am I good at? I have been working for several companies and almost always ended up being a management position. I have a good idea of general production and service flow. I have customer service and computer skills.
Now I see what I can do. I will be able to manage some sort of business in a landscape, food or culture related field.
Next, I asked myself where my passion was. I love gardening and landscaping, but through my career, I have already known that I want to work on my own garden rather than customers. Food and culture have been always my great interests as the means to make our life better. I enjoy cooking but I don’t want to be a chef. The picture of having a store or restaurant doesn’t excite me.
I then asked myself the same question from a bit different direction. What do I enjoy in general? I enjoy food, particularly that are safe, ethical and tasty. I enjoy people. I like to see a team work going with a nice flow. I like to see people are enjoying themselves. I enjoy the nature, the amazing system of coexistence and synergizing. I enjoy the life in Digby.
This thinking process help me figure out what I want to do. Remember, one of the reasons to have my own business is social contribution. I am going to make a commitment with the society. If I am going to stick with it, I had better choose what I truly enjoy rather than just what I can or have to do.
Summary:
Find out what you can do / your strength from your history, comments from your coworkers, bosses, family and friends.
Find out what you enjoy and want to do.
Think if the field your strength and wants go with has a good business potential.