Mystery to Me

The Fit

How do you know if a business concept is the right one for you? There's no freeze-dried answer. It takes a measure of self-examination. List your business and personal goals on a piece of paper. Are you looking for part-time or seasonal work, or a full-time career change? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What do you most enjoy about your current work? Do you like talking to customers, dealing with machines, organizing information, working on computers or working outdoors? Using the theory that no one is happier than the person who works at something he or she loves, think hard about your passions in life.

The reason this process is so important becomes evident only on the back end of the business-opportunity purchases. Virtually all business-opportunity programs involve the buyer getting off the couch and making sales of one sort or another (yes, it does sound like work). The difficulty of this task is easy to play down in your mind. "If the product/service is attractive enough," you say to yourself, "it'll sell itself." No one who has every been in sales would make this claim with a straight face. It simply isn't true. In fact, it takes energy, enthusiasm, drive and simple hard work to make a sale. If you aren't highly motivated by the business concept, the product or the service-if the business just isn't a good fit for you-the challenges of selling will quickly defeat you.

Talk to a spouse, family member or trusted advisor about your assessments of your strengths and weaknesses. Does he or she agree with your perceptions? Use the people closest to you as a reality check-if you're way off base, the people who care about you will help you refocus and be objective.

·Learn More:A Step in the Right Direction