If you've ever felt that you have the ideas but not the
skills, backing or know-how to make things happen, you know what
the search for the perfect start-up is like. You think you've
found a promising idea. You can just see that business running
along successfully, with plenty of orders rolling in.
But then you try to get started. And it's like putting on a
sweater and getting your head caught in the arm hole. You're
thrashing about, going nowhere. You can't get in—or
out.
And that's my point. I've seen too many entrepreneurs
get hogtied like this. They find an idea that sounds really
interesting, but somewhere along the way, it gets stuck. That
stinks, because these people usually have terrific skills and
accomplishments to draw from. They're super workers, with solid
dreams. If they'd tweak their plans, they could build a
business that fits them like a pair of comfortable shoes.
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So let's break that curse right now. Stop getting stuck on
business concepts that don't match you—because
there's a better way. It's time to discover your "hot
zone." The business you were born to start. The concept that
has your name written all over it. The start-up that will make you
sizzle.
Hot zones are business areas that dovetail with your natural
strengths. Maybe your hot zone is "selling products for young
mothers." Maybe it's "brokering information on the
Internet." Whatever it is, your "hot zone" is the
place where your skills, contacts and personality make a sweet
collision, with a real marketplace need.
And once you know your hot zone, it becomes very easy to launch
a great business. That "What's my next step?" feeling
disappears. No more trouble finding customers—or selling
them. Stay in your hot zone, and you'll get peak results from
all your entrepreneurial efforts. And those frustrating business
concepts? The ones that never work out? You'll leave those
ideas out in the cold.
You can find your hot zone by taking our convenient,
heat-seeking "hot zone" quiz. Discover if your latest
idea is hot, or not. Or take the biz you've already started up
to full burn. No ideas? No problem. Do the quiz—and feel the
heat.
You'll rank each idea you test from 10 (scorching) to 1
(leaves me cold), in eight categories. The hotter your overall
score, the faster that business will likely succeed for you. Just
scribble out your answers, or swap them with friends. We can have
fun with this. Now let's cook.
Whew! That's eight burning questions, all about you, your
motivation, your experience and your life. More than enough to
discover if any business holds the spark.
But whether you're steamy hot or Arctic cold during your
first time through, the real key to this exercise is using this
test on every business idea you hatch. Do that, and a funny thing
will happen. You'll see your highest scores all clustering
around a "zone" (or zones) of businesses and industries.
Maybe it's around the Net. Or great coffee. Or people who love
to snowboard. Or a restaurant in a rusty old thimble mill. Whatever
it is, you've found your hot zone—the business that will
cook for you.
So rake those coals, because you can always make a hot idea
hotter. Hit the trade shows, cultivate new contacts, and collect
the new experiences you need. That will push those tepid fours up
to steaming sevens and move chilly prospects into hotter
contention.
Keep it hot with a promise that you'll never go back. And
those hype ideas? The ones that promise everything but never seem
to catch fire? Give them all the cold shoulder. Stay warm in your
hot zone. And when opportunity knocks, you'll already be
opening the door.
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