Today we are going to discuss, how to start a business: developing a good business idea. Now, a lot of people are going to say; "well I already got an idea for a business." Why should I care? My response to them, are you one-hundred percent certain your idea is something you like to do, is something you do well, and helps overcome a challenge someone faces? If the answer is" no" then this exercise will help. As today we are going to walk step-by-step on to create a good business idea. So without further ado, let’s get started.

Before we create a good business idea, you are going to need a couple pieces of paper and a writing utensil to be used in creating a mental map. A mental map is a way to organize the ideas in our mind. The first step to creating a mental map is to draw a circle. Inside that circle you are going to write the question: "what do I like to do?" Within that same circle, you are going to write as many answers as you possibly can. An example of what I would write would be: working on starting new businesses, hanging out with friends, and going on runs.

Once you feel you have adequately answered that question you are going to draw a new circle. Inside that circle you are going to write and answer the question "what do I do well?" Remembering to answer the question as many ways as possible; some of my answers would be talking with strangers, working in groups, and developing creative ideas. After you have answered that question you are going to draw another circle and inside write and answer the question, "what challenges have I faced?" These challenges don’t have to be ones you have faced today but can be this year, five years ago, whenever. An example of the challenges I have faced are trying to stay dry while walking my dog in the rain, staying in physical shape, and finding funding for my business.

Now that we have answered all three questions, the next step is to look at every single answer we wrote and find some sort of commonality. One of the commonality; I purposely did, in the above examples were developing creative ideas, working on starting businesses, and finding funding for my business. Once you have found a commonality in your answers you are going to rewrite them on a new piece of paper.

Using those answers you are going to compose a sentence that is in the form of an idea that can be used to help somebody in some way. As an example the sentence I composed was. My idea is to develop a creative solution that can help people obtain funding for their businesses; while at the same time allows me to help them grow their business.

What happens if you don’t like the idea you came up with? Go back to your mental map and find another commonality among the answers you wrote down. For example, another commonality among my answers were going on runs, staying in shape, and talking with strangers. Maybe for an idea, I create a running club where strangers can meet new people while participating in an activity that keeps them in shape. As long as you put effort into answering the three questions there is bound to be an idea you like. Now that you have your idea you are ready for the next step which we will discuss in the next article.

As always thank you for reading and if you have any questions please visit our website at http://www.inventroconsulting.com/.