Which type of business is best for YOU?

[CPisHere]

All the internet marketers pitch their type of business as the best -

Blogging/Info products
E-commerce
Amazon FBA
Affiliate marketer
Etc, etc, etc.
Not to mention all the different types of offline businesses.

Some of these may be objectively better than others, but ultimately certain people are better suited to run certain types of companies.

How do you decide what type of business is best for YOU?

 

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[lowtek]

Take my advice with a truckload of salt

You don't really know until you try. Trying one may help you rule out others.

For instance, if you try freelancing (not a business but bear with me) and hate dealing with clients, then a service business may not be right for you.

 

[rc08234]

I don't think people put enough stock into this decision. I recently started a biz that went 100% against my personality, but the checks were large. I always told myself "the money will outweigh the hate" but it didn't.

 

[superb]

...Some of these may be objectively better than others, but ultimately certain people are better suited to run certain types of companies.

How do you decide what type of business is best for YOU?

It's like dating. There is only so much you can know without going on a few dates. It's near impossible to know what you really like or dont like without being exposed to different things.

 

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[Aaron W]

By following:

N.E.C.T.S

• Need
• Entry
• Control
• Scale
• Time

+ interest in the area because this ultimately shows through to your customers and business as a whole.

 

[SmoothFranko]

It's like dating. There is only so much you can know without going on a few dates. It's near impossible to know what you really like or dont like without being exposed to different things.

i met a girl on tinder and she ended up sataying over the night, then 2 weeks later she flew back for 3 days just to see me and then a week after that she came back to stay for 4 days I don't even know what happened to our 'dates'.

 

[safff]

a business where I make money.

 

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[marklov]

Heavy in the service business.....pushing the same boulder up a different hill gets tiring after awhile.

If I can't effectively outsource more of what I personally do by year end then I am switching to a product based business.

 

[CPisHere]

Heavy in the service business.....pushing the same boulder up a different hill gets tiring after awhile.

If I can't effectively outsource more of what I personally do by year end then I am switching to a product based business.

I'm in a product business and thinking about getting into a service business.

What do you dislike about the service business and why do you think a product business would be better?

 

[The-J]

How do you decide what type of business is best for YOU?

You play to your unfair advantage. What are you awesome at? Where do your talents and experience lie? What comes so easy to you that you actually ENJOY it when other people HATE it?

If you're a 20 year old who is not good at math but aced English, start a writing based company: copywriting, Kindle books, or SAT tutoring. Good at math? Maybe quantitative finance or software is your thing.

If you're a 40 year old who worked in IT for 15 years, start a technology based company, or a SaaS, or an IT consulting firm.

If you're a creative type who is able to come up with innovative spins on existing products, build a product centered business selling on Amazon.

Use your unfair advantage to serve a need better than anyone else in the market. Find 'value attributes' (thanks MJ) that cause people to either buy or not buy.

Then, stick with it. Commit. Don't F*cking dabble in one business after another. Go all in on a single business until you're making it.

 

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[LateStarter]

Don't F*cking dabble...

Is that copyrighted by @LightHouse yet?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

How do you decide what type of business is best for YOU?

The one that can be monetized and scaled due to a large need, want, or demand in the market, a business that has some difficulty in its execution and can't be copied by shortcut chasers. That's the best business for me.

 

[The-J]

Is that copyrighted by @LightHouse yet?

Probably but I'm well within fair use

 

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[marklov]

I'm in a product business and thinking about getting into a service business.

What do you dislike about the service business and why do you think a product business would be better?

The ability to scale.

Personally i'm tired of being the secret sauce of what I do.

While I am productizing my service it requires employees to scale effectively and the few part time ones I have who do work are a pain to manage except maybe my VA. I had plans of building a small call center team to scale up but the thought of taking on even more employees sickens me.

I make great money with what I do but the happiness is at an all time low but I know these feelings can be fleeting and I might just be in a slump so I am giving it time to see where I stand in 2017

 

[OperationMyWay]

The ability to scale.

Personally i'm tired of being the secret sauce of what I do.

While I am productizing my service it requires employees to effectively scale effectively and the few part time ones I have work who do work are a pain to manage except maybe my VA. I had plans of building a small call center team to scale up but the thought of taking on even more employees sickens me.

I make great money with what I do but the happiness is at an all time low but I know these feelings can be fleeting and I might just be in a slump so I am giving it time to see where I stand in 2017

Have you thought about outsourcing your call center? If you can systemize your call scripts, FAQ's, etc. you can then take it to an established call center and give them specific metrics they need to hit. That way they handle the employee side, but you still have some control by reviewing daily, weekly, monthly metrics. Will take a while to hone in, but at least you wouldn't have to worry about the managing and hiring of call center reps. I know of a few people who have done this effectively. Just my two cents.

Cheers!

 

[DWX]

I think another thing to consider when choosing a business model is what type of life you aspire to live on a day-to-day basis. For some people, they may want to travel the world and not stay in one place for too long. If that's the case, then perhaps info products, SaaS, etc. would be their best bet.

I can't imagine anything worse than building a business that ties you to one place/country. But then again, that would kinda violate the "Time" commandment

 

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[Andy Black]

How do you decide what type of business is best for YOU?

How do I decide?

By doing, and then seeing how it turned out afterwards.

• Was it working?
• Was there some measure of success?
• Did I like doing it?
• Did it come easy to me?
• Is it hard to do if you're not me?
• Can it scale to hell and back?
• Can I see myself getting more fascinated and motivated as each year goes on (watch this video)

What type of business will it likely be for me?

One that builds on as many of my skills, experience, likes, passions, personality, and other strengths as possible.

One that gives me as big an unfair advantage over others as possible.


For me, it's likely to be built on:

• I've 15 years in IT
• ... doing data analysis
• That I'm good at AdWords
• ... for local service businesses
• That I can combine the IT and AdWords to build millions of keywords and ads
• ... for local lead gen
• That I can explain things well
• That I live outside Dublin
• That I love helping people
• That I love producing content
• That I love telling stories
• That I perform best live and under fire
• That I get bored easily
• That I can get obsessive compulsive when something grabs me
• That I go deeeep when something grabs me
• That I'm good at building teams
• That I'm good at training people
• That I'm a peace-keeper
• That I'll fire clients who're a drag on me and my team
• That I'm a chatterbox
• That people don't seem to mind
• That people trust me
• That I really don't care about the money
• That I love doing new things
• That I love meeting new people
• That I think everyone is interesting
• (You get the picture...)

 

[CPisHere]

The ability to scale.

Personally i'm tired of being the secret sauce of what I do.

While I am productizing my service it requires employees to effectively scale effectively and the few part time ones I have work who do work are a pain to manage except maybe my VA. I had plans of building a small call center team to scale up but the thought of taking on even more employees sickens me.

I make great money with what I do but the happiness is at an all time low but I know these feelings can be fleeting and I might just be in a slump so I am giving it time to see where I stand in 2017

Managing employees is a part of most businesses - even products. It is certainly a bigger piece to a service business, but I don't see how a product business solves the problem - you will still need people in order to scale.

 

[marklov]

Have you thought about outsourcing your call center? If you can systemize your call scripts, FAQ's, etc. you can then take it to an established call center and give them specific metrics they need to hit. That way they handle the employee side, but you still have some control by reviewing daily, weekly, monthly metrics. Will take a while to hone in, but at least you wouldn't have to worry about the managing and hiring of call center reps. I know of a few people who have done this effectively. Just my two cents.

Cheers!

Great idea.

I have given thought to outsourcing the sales process my issue is quality....

Everything I do is already scripted and systematized , it's why I personally sold my own services so I can have first hand experience with the cliche problems and all the other drama.

The thing is this, I plan to start incorporating methods that get clients coming to me and so the focus will shift to fulfillment and customer care rather than having my sales/cash flow live and die by the phones.

Thanks for actually bring this up back to the front burner, so many things on my mind it had been simmering on the back burner for quite some time.

Managing employees is a part of most businesses - even products. It is certainly a bigger piece to a service business, but I don't see how a product business solves the problem - you will still need people in order to scale.

My service business has me talking to people about one thing or another almost ALL DAY that's just how it is when you are the secret sauce that makes the magic happens.

As I did imply even though my service business is scaleable, you are pushing the same boulder up a different hill all the time having to always convince someone why to buy from you and continue buying from you.

Again this might change as I incorporate other media in my marketing so my current opinion isnt set in stone it may change.

so what I'm saying is that in my current situation a product based business seems attractive.

 

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[Jonathan Boyd]

I'm in a product business and thinking about getting into a service business.

What do you dislike about the service business and why do you think a product business would be better?

Same question to you @Cparsons. I'm also in a service based business and would like to go more product based. What is your reasoning for wanting to go into service?

 

[Jonathan Boyd]

How do I decide?

By doing, and then seeing how it turned out afterwards.

• Was it working?
• Was there some measure of success?
• Did I like doing it?
• Did it come easy to me?
• Is it hard to do if you're not me?
• Can it scale to hell and back?
• Can I see myself getting more fascinated and motivated as each year goes on (watch this video)

What type of business will it likely be for me?

One that builds on as many of my skills, experience, likes, passions, personality, and other strengths as possible.

One that gives me as big an unfair advantage over others as possible.


For me, it's likely to be built on:

• I've 15 years in IT
• ... doing data analysis
• That I'm good at AdWords
• ... for local service businesses
• That I can combine the IT and AdWords to build millions of keywords and ads
• ... for local lead gen
• That I can explain things well
• That I live outside Dublin
• That I love helping people
• That I love producing content
• That I love telling stories
• That I perform best live and under fire
• That I get bored easily
• That I can get obsessive compulsive when something grabs me
• That I go deeeep when something grabs me
• That I'm good at building teams
• That I'm good at training people
• That I'm a peace-keeper
• That I'll fire clients who're a drag on me and my team
• That I'm a chatterbox
• That people don't seem to mind
• That people trust me
• That I really don't care about the money
• That I love doing new things
• That I love meeting new people
• That I think everyone is interesting
• (You get the picture...)

Thanks for the video suggestion, @Andy Black

 

[TonyStark]

Just try a bunch of stuff and get better at it. The thing you become most good at is probably the thing that will lead you towards a new job or business.

 

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[CPisHere]

The one that can be monetized and scaled due to a large need, want, or demand in the market, a business that has some difficulty in its execution and can't be copied by shortcut chasers. That's the best business for me.

I get it, but lots of businesses meet this criteria so you have to choose one, and certainly individual strengths play a role in which ones they can succeed at.