I know what you’re thinking!   You would like to start a business, but you just don’t know where to start.  Of course, the first thing you must do is decide what your new business will do, how it will generate income, what is the “Big Idea” that will catapult that business to wild success and differentiate it from every other business in its category, right?  In other words, what will make it truly unique?

Let me ask some simple questions to start:  Are you unique?  Is there any other person in this world exactly like you?

Of course you are unique; there is no other person exactly like you on the planet.  You have talents, knowledge, skills, interests that are exclusive to you.  So what does that have to do with starting a business?   Everything!

I have long advocated in advising business startups attempting to find their way that there is “Gold Under Their Feet!”  By that I mean that within every person there is valuable information, skills and abilities that have marketable value when compiled and marketed correctly.  Let me give some examples of people I have known, and how they learned how to market their skills or create products (gold) from information and skills that were within them:

Bob was a factory worker who loved to garden in his spare time.  One day he was talking to his son about always having wanted to start a business but not knowing exactly what that business should do or how to market and sell and product or service he could provide.  After discussing this idea with his son for a couple of hours, they decided that Bob would capitalize on his passion for gardening.  Bob went to his garage and in a couple of hours created a prototype wooden planter.  With the help of his son he then created a short instructional video that he would sell on the Internet on how to use the planter to grow tomatoes in different climates at different times of the year.  Within days, Bob had an internet Garden Center up and running.  Many videos and products would follow.  This part-time interest turned into a multi-million dollar business for both Bob and his son.  Today they sell everything from seeds to garden furniture to instructional videos on becoming a gentleman farmer.

James was an athlete and college football player.  After a series of injuries, he decided to end his football career and majored in physical education in college.  After graduation from college he started a personal fitness business, specializing in young athletes.  After several years he determined that even though he had his own business, he was still trading time for money and he wanted to leverage his time and abilities in an internet business.  So he started taking all of his fitness programs for young athletes and putting them on video, along with written instructional manuals outlining training and workout methods, as well as diet plans, that he would reinforce on each video.  After a time, he realized that there were many athletes that really needed in depth help with diet.  So he developed a line of food products for athletes.  Today James also has a multi-million dollar business that he built on top of his existing fitness business, and he is leveraging his time like never before.

Liz was a cheerleader through high school and college.  After college she worked at a Fitness Center at a large hospital for a time.  She had an idea, but didn’t exactly know how to go about bringing it to fruition.  She wanted to start cheerleading camps where cheerleaders would refine their skills and compete in national competitions.  With the help of her boyfriend she started her small business, which today is one of the largest cheerleading training and competition businesses in the country.

What all three of these individuals have in common is that they took a particular skill or interest that they possessed and turned it into a thriving business.  Today, with the help of the internet, you can turn your “Big Idea” into a mega business in a very short time.  Whether the business is brick and mortar or virtual, it likely has a digital component  —  whether it is online sales or marketing or a platform for your how-to product.

Someone out there is in search of a solution that you possess from your life’s experiences and skill set.  You may be an accountant, surfer, computer programmer, martial artist, have an interest in raising fish or botany – there is gold beneath your feet waiting for you to mine it.  So sprout where you’re planted, and take inventory of everything you have learned in life and just go for it!  That million dollar business is closer than you think.

For more information on starting your own business and the critical skills that make it successful, check out my E-Learning Marketing System™ and take it for a free test drive at http://tommystartupuniversity.com.

To your Success,

Tommy Runfola, CBA

TommyRunfola.com