Starting a successful online business is hard. There are many different steps that make it difficult, but one of the hardest is developing and refining an idea in the first place. There are really two ways that you can go about it.
- Think about the things you are passionate about and find a common interest or pain point that others experience as well. Next, figure out how you could solve the problem by creating an online solution. Finally, tap into like-minded people that have the same interest and begin to create buzz around your idea.
- The second option is to step outside of yourself and think of industries that would benefit from having an online presence. It could be simply moving to an e-commerce type platform, or a revolutionary idea which helps and industry to utilize the web.
There are several pros and cons to deciding which avenue you would like to pursue.
Pros and cons of building company within scope of personal experience or passion:
- Pro – You know the industry and have connections that you can utilize to get your internet business started and generating interest
- Pro – You are more likely to be totally sold out on your idea because it probably falls within the range of a personal passion.
- Con – You may not understand the scope of interest and believe that people would like the idea even if, in reality, it’s too targeted of an idea.
Pros and cons of looking outside of what you are familiar with:
- Pro – There are many more options for where your idea could take you.
- Pro – You are more likely to stumble upon a gold mine of opportunity in an industry that others had overlooked.
- Con – You may lack desire because your company fails to fall within the scope of things that you are interested in.
- Con – Finding an idea initially may be harder because you are looking for more of a needle in the haystack.
Building a business online is hard and more than likely will take a failure or two. That however, is the great thing about online businesses. They require very little capital to begin and there are many opportunities, iterations or pivots to pursue in your endeavors.