Finding your business idea

It is April 2020 and we are in house arrest.

Not really legal house arrest, but lockdown, which is the name given to the protocol that prevents people from leaving an area. In this case, we are restricted to our homes as a measure to restrict the spread of COVID-19, a virus in the Corona family.

In the community where I live, there is a diverse group of people, so there are a range of social dynamics in action. Grandparents and other retired or pensioned people, stay at home mothers or fathers, one-income families and sometimes even four generation families.

Some of them need to substitute their income while others would enjoy an additional income. That is life in most parts of our country. What is specific to the South African situation, is that there is little work due to the way in which the economy is organised and managed. Our country is not known for manufacturing many products, it mainly exports raw materials, and it imports manufactured products.

When you want to start a business, an online business is a much better idea than the traditional brick and mortar business for a variety of reasons, the most important being start-up costs. The idea of an online business is for many reasons an attractive idea, mainly because people have the misplaced belief that you can work your own hours, work less and work in your nightgown.

Starting and building an online business is hard, time-intensive work, takes time to show results and require that you promote your business on the Internet. You need to be able to write or have someone who can create content for you.

A huge problem if you read the available advice on the Internet is that virtually all courses, tips and blog posts about the topic starts with “find your passion” to help you identify the type of business you will start.

If you understand “passion” as an emotion that is out of the ordinary, more energetic and more emotional than ordinary feelings, then you understand the reason why most people do not get past the “find your passion” stage. The dictionary explanation is that passion is a “strong and barely controllable emotion”.

If you look for a business idea and your first requirement is to find something that is a “strong and barely controllable emotion”, you have a problem. Because most things that answer to that definition are things that are wrong in society or in our lives, but which we don’t necessarily can, or want to, build a business on. Although you could.

“Find your passion” is one of those hype terms that a good copywriter thought out and started using. But, as with many hype terms, as soon as it becomes habit, it loses its power. It may be fashionable, but it has little power and even less value for people who need to start a business.

So, if you can’t think of anything that you are passionate about, don’t despair. The problem lays not with you, but with the dilution of the meaning of words.

How do things change for you if you substitute every use of the word “passion” for “interest”?

Find your passion Find your interest.

You will find that it is easier to find something you are interested in, than finding something you will move mountains for.

I sent a question to my WhatsApp group. The question was: “What are you interested in?” Replies included:

You could also think about what you would do even if you didn’t get paid for it, or something you are already doing, probably as a hobby, and could do full-time if you got paid. Just don’t choose something you think you would like to do, because when you have to work through the midnight hours, you’re going to lose interest.

Maybe you are, or has been. a teacher and is still much interested in the profession: https://davestuartjr.com
You may even start a blog about the recent history. Something like “How we taught”

Once you have identified your business idea, you need to do a little research just so you don’t go on a wild-goose chase.

You may want to Start with Why