Start Me Up
For All Businesses Great and Small

There has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur - it’s exciting, its fun, it’s liberating and it can even make you rich! In Australia we have approximately 950,000 small business owners making their mark on the economy and in the community by employing millions of people. Today the Australian dream no longer means owning a 3-bedroom suburban home in an outer-fringe suburb, it means owning your own career – owning your own life! One in nine Australians dream of starting their own independent business so that they can tell their boss to shove it!

To receive a free copy of ‘Start Me Up - You've Got A Business Idea Now Make It Happen' e-book, valued at $29.95, just send request via email...

It used to be that having a job provided security. Not anymore. If you work for someone else, not only do you make them rich or make the shareholders rich but you are also at the mercy of leadership changes, legislation changes and any number of factors that could easily conspire to see your security dissolve in a heartbeat, as you are made redundant. And with changes to Industrial relations legislation looking more and more likely that situation isn’t going to improve.

As a consequence more and more people are taking the plunge and turning their ideas into reality by starting-up a new business. Often that choice is driven as much by lifestyle as it is by the possibility of future millions and luxury yachts.

According to the Global Entrepreneurial Monitor (GEM) Report, an international study conducted by the London Business School, Australia is set to be one of the next entrepreneurial nations. We live in a country teeming with dynamos and the go-getters eagerly leaving the boardrooms and offices and plotting their own entrepreneurial destiny.

Since publishing my book, Start Me Up – You’ve got a business idea now make it happen, I have had thousands of individuals contact me for advice. Here’s some of that advice here.

Picking the right business idea to get started

For some they will think of an idea in a blinding flash of inspiration. Perhaps the idea is aligned to a cause or passion, an example of that would be someone who has a passion for travel and they start up a travel business; Graham Turner of Flight Centre fame is a great example of that.

Mass Media Studios founder Steve Fanale, has a passion for art, design and the media, so he started up a Multi Media Communications company and has been acknowledged as one of the fast growing companies in Australia. Or perhaps your idea is the solution to a problem, even a solution to a problem gone wrong – like the 3M post-it phenomenon.

Certainly choosing an area or field you are interested in is a big plus. Consider what you love to do, what subjects fascinate you, what activities do you lose yourself in, where 5 hours feels like 5 minutes. These are good indications that you are in an area that you could excel in.

Or mimic an idea - copy and relocate! A great example of that is Boost Juice founder Janine Allis, she saw the idea in the United States and bought it back to Australia.

Boost Juice turns over in excess of $100 million. Australian National Geographic or Dick Smith with Dick Smiths Electronics have both used a proven formula for success. Dick Smith once said to me, “Go to the States find something that is working over there and bring it back to Australia and go for it!”

You may discover your idea by accident. Take Adel Basheer founder of Intrinsic by Design based in Adelaide who designed a birthday card for a friend and whilst at the party a guest commented on her wonderful hand made card and asked if she could make some for them, the rest is history. She and her husband Jamie have a thriving multi million dollar business exporting her cards around the world.

You may have invented something and want to build a business around the invention, just watch the TV show The Inventors on ABC or the Dragons Den on Channel Seven and you will see great examples of creativity and innovation that may spark off some ideas in you.

Immerse yourself in an area of interests and learn from others who have done it. Read business magazines and books – especially autobiographies. Talk to people in business you admire and ask them how they got started. Success leaves clues. And be sure to get your ideas down on paper – this helps crystallise the concept and you can see if it has legs or not.

Test the sanity and/or viability of the idea

Picture the scene… You’re sitting on the train at 7.30am wondering how on earth you were going to get out of the rat race and you think of an inspired idea. You’re totally pumped up about it and you quickly get your notebook out and write furiously. The more you write the more excited you are. It’s brilliant – right? Ideas are sparking off new ideas and you’re on a roll. By the time you get into the office you are 6 foot tall and bullet proof.

You’re bursting to tell someone so you share your idea with a colleague… They either look at you as though you’re mental or they say something like, “Oh it’s been done before and besides you’d never get licensed for it.” Your bubble is burst and you’re totally deflated.

The early stages of an idea are really fragile and even the slightest knock from an external force can destroy it before it’s had a chance to flourish.

Not all ideas will flourish but do yourself a favour and keep them to yourself until you have had an opportunity to research the market and test the validity. Otherwise some often well-meaning person who is just “trying to stop you making a fool of yourself” will throw up all the potential challenges and suck all the energy out the idea.

So keep quiet and research. How big is the potential market? If it’s a generic product or idea you need to think about ways to create or position your product to niche groups – marketing to everyone is a recipe for disaster. What is the price point? Is that realistic? How are you going to distribute the product or service? How easy would it be to test the idea? Go on line and search for other products or services like it?

Continued next month…

Next Month: In Part 2 of Start Me Up, Toney Fitgerald will discuss key elements to ensure success for your great business idea. Learn the importance of selling, why you should never, ever give up on your dream and much more.

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Toney Fitzgerald is the author of ‘Start Me Up’ and ‘Don't Bitch Just Get Rich!’

eBOOK Giveaway

To receive a FREE copy of ‘Start Me Up - You've Got A Business Idea Now Make It Happen’ 
e-book, valued at $29.95, just send an email to startmeup@aweber.com