There are literally an infinite number of entrepreneurial business possibilities available to you.  For each business concept there are dozens of business models and a virtually limitless number of strategies and tactics to choose from.  In the truest sense of the expression, the variety of possibilities for creating the perfect business for yourself is positively mind blowing. 

What makes a particular business perfect for you at any given time in life is actually not what you might think though.

Business-school principles and conventional wisdom would suggest you find the perfect business for yourself by, amongst other things, evaluating market and economic trends, creating uniquely differentiated competitive products, writing a good business plan, and finding and securiing favorable financing. 

Indeed these are important considerations and, depending on your individual circumstances, to a greater or lesser degree have bearing on how you decide to build the perfect business once you know what it is. 

To the extent that these activities make a useful contribution to fulfilling your vision for the perfect business then you should do them. They are not, however, the most important beginning place, nor are they necessarily determinant of your ultimate success.

I have built several wildly successful businesses without consideration of some of these.  I have met hundreds of others who have as well.  You can too

To be clear, I am not advocating that you not attend to the adminstrative and planning basics for your new business, however, from the perspective of finding the perfect business for yourself, there are more important and immediate considerations.

What makes a particular business perfect for you and what guarantees your astonishing success is how well it aligns with you, your purpose, your passions, and your true inner-most commitments and desires.

The Perfect Business for you is one in which you are free to apply your true passions to the pursuit and successful accomplishment of your greatest life purpose.

Whether you consider yourself a business person today or not, the knowledge, skills, interests, talents, and past experiences you command have prepared you to build many kinds of businesses.  

For instance, in my life I have worked as a cabinet maker, a carpenter, a statistician, a satellite communications engineer, a salesman, a sales manager, a “C-level” executive leader, strategic planning advisor, a writer, a champion athlete, a professional trainer, coach and mentor, to list a few.

While any of these can be (and have been) turned into a successful business, what made one or another the perfect avenue to success for me at a given time in my life was how well it matched the personal lifestyle desires, passions, and purposeful commitments I had at the time. 

For instance, when I was 13, the perfect business for me at the time was lawn-care.  I grew that business an average of 100% per year and employed a crew of over 20 laborers.  I ultimately sold the business for a handsome 6 figure sum when my father accepted a new position requiring us to relocate.  Throughout my years in high-school and college I was constantly innovating new ways to earn money by providing products and services that people needed or wanted. I share many of these stories in my forthcoming book

Later, the perfect business for me was a cabinet & fixture shop.  I quit college at the age of 19 and started a cabinet making business and was ultimately awarded a number of large scale exclusive contracts for high-end furnishings and fixtures throughout the eastern seaboard.  That business expanded into a general contracting business which grew an average of 200% per year and, when I was ready to return to school, financed an undergraduate degree and the majority of a masters degree at one of the top ten private universities in the country.

Still later, it was a series of 6 computer technology ventures netting investors an average of 500% ROI, followed by several consulting practices, a personal training, fitness and nutritional practice and a successful network marketing (MLM) business.  Each of these was the perfect business for me at the time.  Each has provided me an experience of astonishing success and accomplishment. 

I started out as a regular kid just like you.  Over time, each of these experiences has challenged me and equipped me with new knowledge, skills, and experience.

All together, they have contributed to preparing me for this, the most meaningful and significant entrepreneurial business endeavor in my lifetime.

Now, creating information products and providing coaching programs that apply all I have learned from each experience combined with all of the training, coaching, and mentoring I have received throughout to help you create the perfect business for yourself is the perfect business for me. 

It is clear to me that the journey I have taken in life has lead me right here, right now, for the expressed purpose of delivering what I have learned to you. 

It is clear to me that my success in accomplishing this committed purpose will be measured solely and exclusively in relation your success.

Whatever your indiividual interests and experiences, where-ever you are starting from, the question is; which will create the perfect business for you, right now?

Because we are each completely unique individuals, while your desires may indeed be similar to those of another, somewhere within you there is something that uniquely differentiates you and your motivation for the pursuit of a given business idea.  It is this uniqueness within the infinite sea of possibility that makes the business that is perfect for you possible, and, when you find it, guarantees your astonishing success

As you begin the process of finding the perfect business for yourself, realize that you are opening a universe of new possibilities.  You may have a vision for success which includes a suite on the top floor of a high-rise office building downtown.  Or, perhaps your vision is a home-based business with no employees and which allows you a casual work environment and ample time for family, hobbies, or travel. 

Before you can begin the process of finding and planning the perfect  business, you want to be crystal clear about what you really want out of this new life you are about to create.  

You will clearly be more fulfilled and experience a greater sense of satisfaction and accomplishment if you create a business that draws upon what you really enjoy doing.  You are also going to invest a fair amount of time and energy into making your business a success.  If you are truly passionate about it and enjoy it, it will not seem like work and you will not regret investing the time in it.

 This is the most important thing for you to know at this juncture:

 Regardless of the business you choose, in order for you to ultimately experience it as a success, it must be in service of your individual life purpose, align with your vision of success, and support the life you truly want to live.

Before you can really generate a meaningful list of options to choose from, you must get clear about what you want and why.

A good starting place is to be crystal clear about what success is and how you want it to show up in the life you love to live.

I will continue with this series next Thursday with a terrifc new exercise which will help you get clear on what success means to you. 

I welcome your questions, comments, and feedback.  It is my sincere desire that the products I create provide real tangible value to you and help you experience the success you desire.

Your Success Champion,

Steve

There has never been a better time to start a business. 

There are more viable opportunities for you to pursue than at any other time in history.  There is an infinite variety of business models, strategies and tactics to choose from. 

Here’s why:

1. Technology has leveled the playing field between you and well established big business.
2. The internet has matured to such an unprecedented degree that literally anyone can start a fast-growth profitable online business at minimal cost.
3. Home-based business has come of age and no longer carries the stigma of being more of a hobby than a business.
4. Corporations increasingly outsource key functions to smaller businesses creating an abundance of opportunity.
5. Professional people from all business disciplines accept that the days of corporate job security are gone completely.

According to Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist for the Office of Advocacy of the US Small Business Administration (US-SBA):

“Statistics paint a compelling picture of just how important small business is to America. They show that small entrepreneurial businesses are America’s job-creators, innovators, and the path to mainstream economic activity for all segments of our society”.

Here are some other pretty compelling stats to consider.  Did you know that:

• Small entrepreneurial businesses represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms in the nation.
• Over the past decade, small business net job creation consistently grew between 60 and 80 percent.
• Small businesses employ 75% of all private sector employees.
• Small business accounts for over 51% of the US Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
• The US small business economy is greater than the total economies of France, Germany, and Great Britain combined.

And these statistics do not even account for what is probably the single most significant future trend; the arrival of the baby-boomers on the entrepreneurial scene.

The leading edge of the baby-boomer generation is approaching traditional retirement age healthier and more energetic than most in any previous generation. Many in this generation are not looking to stop working and in practical terms while they have typically accumulated a substantial retirement asset based, many have portfolios that are unfit to provide for the financial demands of 40+ years of post career income. 

People in the trailing edge (45-50) of this most economically influential generation are seeking more gratifying lifestyles earlier than their senior contemporaries.   Rather than saving in midlife to finance outright retirement in their late fifties, people now save in their middle years to buy an extra measure of freedom to swap income for careers which make an impact.

The Gen-Next-ers, witnessing the boomer dilemma, are choosing to leverage the internet and other technological innovations to pursue radically different, more entrepreneurial vocational choices earlier in life.  They are literally restructuring life cycles so that they take more leisure earlier in life.

And get this….

According to the Kaufmann Foundation for the past five years the number of new business start-ups has increased by nearly 30% with the people age 50-62 being the fastest growing group of new entrepreneurs in the U.S.

And that’s not all!

According to the most recently published US-SBA figures an astonishing 66 percent of new businesses prosper at least two years after start-up and 44 percent thrive at least four years.

These are pretty impressive statistics and these reports only include an accounting of those businesses created by people who have already made the decision to pursue the entrepreneurial dream.  There are clearly millions of others who may sincerely desire a change but who are not yet underway.

But even more importantly than all of these statistics is the one fundamental truth that small business ownership transforms lives. 

All around the world people are awakening from the circa 1950’s belief that they must sacrifice life-quality to accommodate a chosen profession to the refreshing more enlightened awareness that in order to live a satisfying and successful life their  vocation, what they ‘do’, must support and enhance the life-qualities they desire.

This emergence of this social awareness and acceptance has catalyzed a powerful demographic shift that has created limitless opportunities for those willing to learn, grow, and succeed.

This article marks the begining of an 8 week series of articles.

As a special gift to you and as a free preview of a brand new amazing product launch scheduled for August 26th

I am going to give you a simple, sure fire, step by step, formula for finding THE PERFECT BUSINESS FOR YOU.

A business that capitalizes on these extraordinary demographic shifts

A business that is tailor-made to meet your personal passions, time freedom, and economic wishes.

A business that is a perfect genetic match for you and your inner most desires.

A business that is 100% guaranteed to deliver the successful, accomplished, and satisfying life you want to live.

If you are considering the possibilty of starting your own business, OR

If you have already started one and it is not everything you want it to me, OR

If you don’t want to be in business for yourself but know someone who does,

then stay tuned to this article series each Thursday evening for the next 8 weeks.

I am going to give you a simple, sure fire formula for finding the perfect business for yourself.

Keep Learning,

Steve

Your Success Champion

I came across an extraordinary article and video this morning on TED while doing some research for my next eBook. I am sure you will enjoy it:

“Why do people succeed?

Is it because they’re smarter than the rest?

Are they just lucky?

Neither.

But what Do successful people know that others don’t.

Analyst Richard St. John condenses 10 years of over 500 interviews into an unmissable 3-minute slideshow on the real secrets of success.

“A self-described average guy who found success doing what he loved, Richard St. John spent more than a decade researching the lessons of success — and distilling them into 8 words, 3 minutes and… 

Richard St. John knew how he had found success.  But he couldn’t get away from the question: Why him? He thinks of himself as an average guy, not talented at school, not terribly handsome or particularly lucky.

So he spent more than a decade interviewing 500 people he defines as successful — from architect Frank Gehry to non-celebrities successful in their own lives.

The resulting book, Spike’s Guide to Success: Stupid, Ugly, Unlucky and RICH, has spawned a new avenue of success for St. John as a motivational speaker and talk-show star. His newest book is 8 to Be Great: The 8 Traits that Lead to Great Success.”

This is another great set of resources to help you create the successful life you desire.

Please comment and let me know if you find this information useful.

Your Success Champion,

Steve

It is amazing to me just how many people today believe they are ‘stuck’ doing work that they think they either have to do or are supposed to do instead of work they really want to do.

This has never been more evident than it is right now with the economy in or on the verge of recession, the leading edge of the baby-boomers approaching retirement and the trailing edge of this generation seeking a more gratifying lifestyle.

As I meet with people day in and day out discussing the success dreams they have, I believe that the most difficult thing for ‘would-be-if-I-could-be entrepreneurs’ to accept is that they REALLY CAN do what they love and make a go of it.

Home-Based business is not only legitimate, not only here to stay, but is the way of the future for entrepreneurship. Gone are the days of commuting, cubicles and huge capital costs - traded in for a favorite pair of blue jeans, a fast Internet connection, coffee brewing in the kitchen, and some of the smartest and most spirited entrepreneurs in the world … running their businesses from home.

Here is a great example:

It’s 7 a.m. Larry Murphy’s had his first cup of coffee, confirmed the weather on the computer in his basement office, and has his rods and reels already stowed in the back of his truck. He’s not headed to the corporate headquarters to punch in. He’s headed to meet today’s fishing clients at the lake.

Just another typical start to the business day for this home-based boomer entrepreneur.

Murphy, barely making the boomer cut at 47, is the sole owner and operator of outdoor-tour company Murphy Outdoors. He traded in his office job of 25 years for a boat and some fishing tackle. After his time at Kansas City, Mo.-based technology firm DST Systems, where he worked his way up from a computer operator to executive management,

This wealth, garnered in many cases after time spent at large corporations, has often led to early “retirements.” But in reality, many of these people left their corporate jobs to follow their own personal passions-from home-and hang the “Open” sign.

Baby boomers are one of the largest segments of the home-based business phenomenon and are significantly responsible for its boom across the country, says Jeff Williams, blogger and chief coach of Chicago-based business startup consultancy.  As of fall 2007, there are 27 million people over the age of 50 who want to continue to work well into their 60s, he says.

“We really established what it meant to be a workaholic,” Williams says of the boomer generation. “We got used to working 60- and 70-hour weeks, and we can’t move away from that very easily. The largest number of startups is coming from people over 50.”

Murphy retired from DST in May 2007, and launched his venture the following month. Through Murphy Outdoors, he runs fishing expeditions for small groups of people in the Ozark region of central Missouri.

“It’s one of the things I’ve done all of my life as a hobby,” he says of fishing.

Murphy now runs the office part of his business from the basement of his home in Gladstone, Mo., outside of Kansas City. With the purchase of a new boat, fishing gear and a computer, his startup cost him around $53,000.

So far it has paid off. He has done slightly more than 30 trips since his launch and charges $150 for a half-day of fishing for two people and $225 for a full-day event. His goal is to hit 100 expeditions annually.

His computer background allowed him to build his own Web site, through which he does most of his marketing. His skills helped when Murphy needed to make his site visible on popular search engines, a process he completed by following the instructions those engines give “to the letter,” he says, and making sure you have important key words on your Web site that will trigger a hit.

“It isn’t something that happens in a day,” he warns of his search engine optimization efforts for his Web site. “It takes three or four weeks sometimes.”

Murphy also spreads word of his business by handing out cards at the many fishing tournaments he regularly attends and has put a sign on his truck advertising the business.

Though Murphy retired relatively young, he suggests that aspiring entrepreneurs “stick it out” at their current jobs, invest correctly and secure financial stability before going out on your own. That way you can enjoy your new careers more fully.

A variation of Murphy’s advice has worked well too: Start part time, in the evenings and on weekends, while you still bring in the day-job paycheck. Only when your home business has enough momentum to succeed should you jettison yourself from the corporate world.

“I’m not doing it for money,” he says. “I’m doing it for fun.”

Finding the perfect entrepreneurial business for yourself can be done following a simple 10 step process.

In the next few weeks I will introduce you to each of the Ten Simple Steps To Astonishing Entrepreneurial Success.

Check back every day or so to keep up with the process or subscribe to the feedblitz feed by entering you email address in the block at the top of this article and select ‘Subscribe Me’.

Until next then, be thinking of a hobby you love or a special know-how you command.

Thank you for visiting,

Steve

Your Entrepreneurial Success Champion.

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