What? :: What are the essential characteristics I am looking for in my new business?

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So, what are the essential characteristics I am looking for in my new business?

As I began assessing the WHY factor I also began thinking through the WHAT factor. What exactly am I looking for in a new business? What are the features most important to me? The WHY factor has been incredibly helpful in determining the WHAT. Following is a list of those things I determined to be essential in launching a new online business.

My WHAT List

• Ethical and Honest: This is HUGE and cannot be overlooked in my estimation. I consider myself a man of integrity and have always tried to live in an honest manner. So the business must be ethical. Interestingly enough the internet is overpopulated with a number of unethical, dishonest and outright corrupt businesses.

• Simple: Notice I did not say ‘easy’ as I am not really looking for a lazy business. I do not mind putting in the effort but it does need to be simple to execute. I do not have the time to go through a ton of initial training just to be able to begin the business. Again, I am very much into learning and very open to training, but the initial learning curve must not be too steep or I will not be able to dedicate the time and energy to get it off the ground. Also, I want to be able to give the business to my wife as a gift so I want it to be simple for her to operate.

• Training and Support: This may seem inconsistent with what I just stated above but here I am speaking of ongoing training and support. I would like to find a business where I can rely on some support or training from others who are more experienced. This may or may not be an actual part of the business… I really am not interested in something like a traditional franchise. I may have to find this support outside of the business but at the least I want to start a business in an industry that has some type of association or group that I could tap into and from which I could learn and grow.

• Efficient: This is a biggie as my time is very limited. Between being a husband, a daddy to six great kids and a minister (basically on-call 24/7), I do not have a whole lot of leftover time. Again, I am willing to put in the effort but the business must allow me to use the little time I have as efficiently as possible. This is why I looked to an internet-based business. I am confident I can use the internet to leverage my time and thus be a lot more productive. So I am looking for a business that will allow me to do just that – leverage my time.

• Flexible: I love the fact that my life is fresh and different everyday… I never know exactly what I will face on any given day. Because my schedule is different day-to-day, I need a business that allows me to work when it fits best into my schedule – often that will be late at night, when the kids are in bed or early in the morning when I can get a jump on the day. I also travel, both with my family and for ministry, so the business would need to be able to survive without me right there every moment or, at least allow me to check in on it via the web. This is yet another reason why I turned to the idea of an online business.

• Low Startup Costs: I know every business requires not only the investment of time and energy but also the investment of some capital. However, I am not in a position to invest a lot of money right now. I am prepared to invest in setting up the legal structure of the business, investing in the business itself and the marketing that will be needed – but I need to keep all of that to an absolute minimum… say initially a few hundred bucks or less. Not much but that is reality for me right now.

• Quickly into Profit: Hear me carefully: I am NOT looking for a get-rich-quick business… those pie in the sky companies that tell you your mailbox will be stuffed with $100 bills by next Tuesday. That being said, I am most definitely looking for a business that will turn a profit relatively quickly. I did not say it had to be a huge profit, but I would like to reach my initial goal of giving the business to my wife as a gift – allowing her to stop working outside the home – in the near future. I cannot spin my wheels but I am very willing to turn those wheels, gain some traction and move into profit. I am interested in re-investing my profits and will be looking for a business that is easily expanded and developed.

• Passive Income: I guess you might say that several of the above points would naturally lead to a business that generates a passive income – that is, producing income even when I am not sitting at the computer typing away or working on it in some other capacity. The internet lends itself to this as people can log on anytime, day or night, from anywhere. I am looking for a business that can engage those potential customers via the website, generating leads and closing sales.

• Fun and Interesting: It cannot be boring or it just won’t happen, right? Easy enough. Now, it may not be the most fun and exciting business, but I at least want to get a little kick out of it.

I think that about covers it for WHAT I am seeking in launching a new business online. The only real question is: Will I ever find HOW to get my WHAT that will lead to my WHY?

So, HOW is the next big question. What business will give me the HOW?

And the HOW question is exactly what the BizLaunchBlog is going to answer… that’s the plan anyway.  So buckle up and hold on for the ride!

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