8 Ways To Identify Successful Business Ideas

This post is the third in the Work From Anywhere/Extra Income Ideas series where I’ll be providing details on how you can move towards a location independent lifestyle and have the freedom to work from anywhere and travel the world – as and when you please. This weeks topic is starting your own business.A lot of people think that finding a profitable online business niche is like looking for a needle in a haystack, but with the right tools not only can’t it be simple, but also enjoyable. I believe the key to finding success is getting the balance right between your interests and passions as well as what will make you money – this may sound difficult, but with the following 10 steps you can quickly identify your online business calling.For me personally, travel has always been a huge passion (and pass time) of mine so it’s something I wanted to forge a career in, luckily, within this large niche I have been able to identify smaller niches in which to grow a business.Here are my 10 tips for identifying successful business ideas for your location independent lifestyle:

1. What are you passionate about? You’ll be surprised about all the things that come to mind – write them all down and think about the ones you could see yourself working in.
2. What are you good at? Think about your strengths and weaknesses and try to identify any businesses which leverage your strong points. For example, if you’re a good salesperson then selling products might be for you, or if you have an eye for detail then perhaps you could find and sell antiques on eBay?
3. Get yourself up to date on technology and the latest trends – read newspapers, magazines and websites like Technorati to research what might be the next big thing.
4. Conduct keyword research in the areas you’re interested in. For example, within travel there are millions of micro-niches waiting for someone to build a website for and start making money from. There are many tools out there to assist in your research, but personally I like Market Samurai – its easy to use and they have thorough tutorials on their website. It’s also helped me to choose some great keywords that are helping me to build my online businesses. I have recently become a Market Samurai affiliate, so if you are interested in a free trial or subscribing to their paid version, feel free to use these links.
5. Talk to your friends, parents, colleagues and whoever else will listen about problems or issues they have in their every day lives – a lot of successful business ideas come out of finding a solution to a common problem.
6. Think about your past – do you have an interesting story to tell, could you help people from telling them about your experiences?
7. Head to your local bookstore and see whats on their bestsellers shelf – if it’s popular then their could be a way for you to make money in this area, and while you’re there check out the business section and see if anything catches your eye.
8. If you have a general topic you are interested in then register for forums in this area to find out what questions are being asked – if this information is in demand then it means there’s a gap in the market and potentially something you could set up an informational website or eBook for.

Once you have picked an area it’s time to research, research, research! I’ll cover this in more detail in future posts, but as a start use google to check out your competition and whats currently available in your area. Good luck!

Photo Credit – Thanks to IBlueGuy.

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