How to Decide What Business to Start

I’ve had the entrepreneurial “bug” since I was little.  I remember asking my dad when he was driving me home from dance class if we could start a business one day. His answer was “Yep, after you finish college and decide what business to start.”

Once I got a degree, I started working at what I thought was a dream job at a Fortune 500.  About a week in, I had the realization that the path I was on would lead me to being in that same exact office (or, you know, a similar one) for the next 40 years. And this was something I decided I was not okay with.

It wasn’t until I had my son 4 years later that I went back to that little girl’s dream of being a business owner.  The problem was that I had no idea what business to start.  I didn’t really feel called to anything specifically, other than the dream of doing my own thing and wanting to help other people.

It’s okay if you’re finding yourself in a similar situation where you’re just not sure what exactly you want your business to look like.  First of all, you’re not alone.  I think this is much more common than we realize when we’re scrolling through Instagram and see thousands of other successful businesses. 

If you are feeling this way, here are some questions to think through to help you make your decision:

• What are you good at?
• What do you actually like to do?
• Are there problems you can solve?
• Was there a common theme throughout your life that you keep coming back to? (This is a little bit of a weird one but it’s the one that helped me most!)
• Is there a gap in the market somewhere that you can fill?
• What do you want your future life to look like?  And what kind of business can you build to support that?

Once I really thought about these questions, I narrowed it down to something I always knew I was good at but never really considered as a business opportunity.  Then I did tons of research to find the gap in the market that I could fill. And now I’m working on building this into something that can support the future I see myself in.

The decision to start a business in itself can be overwhelming.  Let alone finding something that will make you happy, help other people, and make you some money?  Anxiety-inducing.  I promise, once you sit down and think about these six questions, maybe journal on them for a bit, you’ll have a much clearer headspace. This makes it so much easier to make the best decision that’s right for you.

I’d love to know if you have any other questions about this!  If you need someone to bounce ideas off of, you can always send me a DM over on Instagram @louandpine.  Lou & Pine is a process improvement consulting company I founded for woman-owned businesses. You can read more about it here!