Where do the Self-Employed Get Their Ideas?

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Are you unemployed? Are you working in a job that just doesn’t feel as fulfilling as you would like? Do you wonder how all of these self-employed people came up with their ideas? Where did they get the ideas that started their businesses? Do you day dream about becoming one of the self-employed?

Stop dreaming! It can be a reality for you just as it is for so many others. Ideas can be found in the most unlikely places! Consider beanie babies, remember them? How simple was that idea? A toy animal filled with beans, not very complicated but a billion dollar idea! What about the pet rock, another simple idea that generated millions. Are you starting to realize that the idea isn’t as important as the marketing and advertising?

Some sales people say that they could sell ice to an Eskimo. Obviously Eskimo’s do not need ice, but people didn’t really NEED pet rocks or beanie babies either. What they needed was the feeling that owning these things gave them. Sometimes filling a need means providing a desired feeling in your customer.

You don’t have to come up with the next big fad or some cute little product to be successful. No matter what your product or service is you simply need to believe in it and get others excited about it as well.

We all have skills and talents that we use in our lives. Sit down and make a list of your skills and talents. Go through that list and determine if anything on it could provide value to someone else. You now have a full list of IDEAS! Finding an idea is as easy as walking through your day. Try looking around at the local mall. What stores have the most people in them? Are these stores providing something brand new or unique? Probably not, but I bet they are attracting their customers by providing a feeling their customer want.

Think about businesses that sell certain types of clothing. Name brand clothing really isn’t any better or worse than less popular types of clothes. However, with the name brand comes a feeling. The feeling could be that the customer is in fashion, is successful, or has good taste or any number of other reactions.

Instead of focusing on a specific product or service, focus on what you have to offer that others would feel good about buying. Something that would add value to other’s lives in ways that touch our basic human nature. Too many people focus on things rather than feelings. The reality is we buy what makes us feel a certain way. We pay using money, but we buy using emotion.

Stop wondering how the self-employed became successful and start thinking about what you could offer the world. Focus your energy on what you already have, know or offer. Believe that you can be self-employed, pay attention to the emotions your product or service provides and tell everyone you know about what you are trying to achieve!