I am the type of person who can come up with business ideas on the spot, but I came up with one today that I really started to elaborate on. They say that businesses are created from a need, and I think this product will fill a need in my life, as well as others’ lives. This would be a product in the CPG food industry.
I come from an immigrant family who grew up with pretty much nothing. Some of my family members have achieved the American dream of owning their own businesses. It wasn’t/isn’t my intention to achieve the American dream, but I do believe that I have the passion and drive to push my business idea forward because I think it has potential. I also believe that I work better independently, rather than for a large corporate company, for example.
This product idea really excites me, but I am scared of starting a business. To be quite honest, I don’t have any capital (yet) to begin this business because I just graduated college and have a lot of student loans which I’ll have to start paying back plus credit card debt. This product could be made in my own kitchen, but of course, it would take a lot more time and effort on a smaller scale, which I’m happy to try doing. And then, what if my product fails? What if I am left with a lot of inventory that I can’t sell? What if people don’t like my product? What if the competition is too fierce? That is where my mind immediately goes, but I am trying to think of what could go right instead.
I think I need to talk to a business mentor or entrepreneur first who has experience in the CPG food industry to pick their brains and to get advice.
How do I get over my fears of starting a business and who can I talk to?
Here’s the dirty little secret - you don’t need anything to start a business. Give someone something they want and get paid for it. That’s it.
If you figured out that part, the rest can be handled by other people or can be learned along the way.
Once you do it once, the process of doing it over and over again is the business.
So, forget everything deliver a product or service to a customer and get paid.
After that, create an llc (for protection) - you can google this. And hire for everything you don’t know how to do. Taxes, marketing, r&d, patents, etc.
Don’t sweat it. Make exciting.
Also, know with full conviction you will make mistakes. You are not trying to avoid mistakes, you’re trying to build a business. Nearly every mistake can be fixed with time, money or success.