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Once you’ve identified two or three businesses you think you would enjoy and do well at, we suggest that you invest a few weeks, even a few months, to test out whether you are likely to find ample customers for these businesses in your local community.

The fact that a business appears in this book means that people are succeeding at running this business from home. Clients and customers in many parts of the country are willing to pay for what these businesses offer. The market looks good for others to succeed in this business. But as we said before, the demand for a business varies from community to community. A community can become oversaturated with a particular business or otherwise not have much need for it.

In fact, we found that while many people were succeeding in these businesses, in all cases there were others who were not. Therefore, before you invest time and money in starting a particular business, it is crucial that you determine if you will be able to find enough people who are willing to pay you when you open such a business in your community. Here are several ways you can go about checking out the actual need for a business in your community.

A. Look in the yellow pages and/or other directories where such a business might be listed and see if there are other such businesses. How many listings are there? If there are a number of similar businesses, this is a good sign that there’s a strong market for the business, but you will need to determine whether they are doing well and whether the market can support yet another one. Should the market be oversaturated, only the best are going to survive.

Questions to Ask Yourself in Choosing a Business
1. Based on your education, your current or past jobs, and any special interests and hobbies, what three things do you know the most about? This expertise could be the basis for a business.
2. What other experiences in your background could you draw upon for a business?
3. What do people tell you that you do well? Think about the times you’ve heard someone say, “You know, you really ought to start a such-and-such, you’re so good at that.” Maybe they’re right. And maybe they would be your first customer.
4. What things do you like doing most? Think, for example, about these questions: What do you like to do on your day off? What kinds of things do you leap out of bed for? What magazines, newsletters, and books do you enjoy reading? What headlines catch your eye? What things did you love doing most when you were a child? What is it you’ve always said you were going to do someday? If this were the last day of your life, as you looked back on your life what would you say you wished you had done?
5. How much do you want to be involved with people? All the time? Sometimes? From a distance? Not at all? The answers can help you rule in or out businesses that have a lot of or very little people contact.
6. How many hours a week are you willing to invest in your business? Do you want a full-time or a part-time business? Be realistic about this. The amount oftime you’re willing to invest is what separates full-time from part-time and profits from losses.
7. How much money do you need to make? How much money do you want to make? Each week? Each month? Each year? You’ll notice that some of the businesses can charge considerably more than others, so choose a business that will produce the income you want and need.
8. What resources do you have available to you in terms of property, equipment, and know-how? These resources could become the basis of a business. If you look around your home, you may have many untapped resources right under your nose such as a personal computer, a van, a spare room, an automobile, a camcorder, your kitchen stove, vacuum sweeper, backyard, or mailbox.
9. Do you want to start a business from scratch, or would you prefer a franchise or direct-selling organization such as Amway or Avon that will train you in what to do?
10. What Do You Like and Do Best? Here is a list you can pick from: (a) Information-Oriented Work- Working with words, Working with numbers, Analyzing, Compiling, Creating, Evaluating, Finding, Keyboarding, Organizing, Synthesizing; People-Oriented- Work, Advising, Caring, Communicating, Helping, Informing, Organizing, Negotiating, Performing, Persuading, Planning events, Teaching; Thing-Oriented Work- Cleaning, Making, Organizing, Repairing, Working with animals, Working with food, Working with plants, Working with tools; ETC

If you discover there are no such businesses in your area, this could mean that there’s an unmet need and the community is ripe for such a business—or it could mean that there is not enough need to support such a business. You’ll need to investigate further.

B. Call your competition. Find out what services they actually offer and whom they serve. You might be able to specialize in some aspect of the work that they do not provide, or you might offer your services to a market they are not serving. Let them know you are thinking of starting a similar business and ask if they ever need to refer out overload or if there is a type of clientele they cannot or don’t wish to serve and therefore are turning away. Also, find out how long they’ve been in business. This will give you an idea of how persistent a need there is for this business.

In a good market, while there may always be one or two people who fear competition, the majority of competitors will tend to be forthcoming with information and even glad that others are joining the field. Some will even offer to help you. But if you find that all or most of the people you talk to are consistently closed-mouthed or are complaining about business, this could mean there’s not enough business to go around.

C. Read business, trade, and professional journals related to your field. These periodicals, especially local ones, can provide a wealth of information about the demand for a business. Sometimes they list new businesses and bankruptcies, track sales volumes, cover booms and busts by region or area, and feature success and comeback stories. Also read the trade journals your potential clients read to see what their concerns are and to follow emerging trends.

D. Attend local business, trade, and professional meetings. Follow the topics addressed at these meetings and listen to the table talk.

E. Talk directly to potential customers. Locate and contact potential clients to find out how they are currently being served and il they are happy. Listen to what they complain about, See if you can identify how you could provide faster, cheaper, or better service.

F. Talk with the chamber of commerce and local government planning agencies about the size of your market and community developments that will affect your business potential.
G. Analyze the marketing literature of your competitors to see how they are addressing the market and what they are and are not offering.