How Do I Go Into Business?

I get this question again and again, in an unending variety of formats. How do I decide what business to start? Where do I get ideas? How do I find products to sell? Start with the education. No, I don’t mean paying thousands to some quack for a seminar, you can educate yourself pretty well for a buck fifty in late fees at the library. Don’t worry about getting suggestions for what book to read, read all of them. Just go to the library, go to the stacks where the books about real estate are, and where the books about business are, and start reading. I’d recommend reading some accounting books too, knowing how to prepare and read a financial statement is a very valuable skill. Boring reading to be sure, but you need to understand money. Eventually, you’ll be able to evaluate the books you’re reading and know which ones make sense to you and which ones don’t. By then, you should be able to develop a business plan that will work for YOU. I believe that this method is better than trying to have someone else direct you, because you can’t live their lives. Having a mentor is great too, but you need to become educated enough to stand on your own two feet. Even with a mentor, you will need to be confident enough to be able to evaluate the mentor’s advice.