GETTING STARTED:

You've decided that you want to start your own business, but you don't know what the business is going to be. You're looking for a great idea. The best advice is to being by breaking down the bigger picture into more manageable pieces. First, look at your own skills and knowledge. Consider your present occupation, and whether you could do your present job working for yourself rather than being employed by someone else. Successful businesses are frequently started by people with practical experience in the type of work that they new venture is entering. They go into business because they decide that they want more independence in their working lives. Going into business in an industry where you already have a network of customers, suppliers and in-depth knowledge of the market can be a great advantage.

Of course, it may be the case that you feel that the skills you have are already oversupplied. If this is the case, it's possible that there's no room in the marketplace for yet another joiner. Or it may be that you simply do not want to carry on doing the same thing for yourself that you've done for others in the past. It's natural for people to grow, change and want different things for themselves - and starting a business doing something you're bored with is a recipe for disaster. You perhaps then need to think of ways in which you could modify the skills and experience that you've acquired while working for somone else.

Take a careful look inside yourself; it could be that your personality or strengths suggests a business idea.  People with good communication skills and charm naturally gravitate to sales and marketing, for example. No matter what, though, a passion to solve a problem, to be connected to an insdustry or a product you beleive in, or to fill a need that is not being met adequately are going to be keys to any entrepreneur's success.

 How do I identify new ideas?

Try brainstorming with friends and relations to see if you can identify any totally new ideas and needs that Bahamian consumers have that arent being addressed. There are hundreds of opportunities for entirely new products or services --  the Bahamas is full of niches to be filled. According to the U.S. government, The U.S. currently has 80% of the import market share to the Bahamas (http://www.buyusa.gov/caribbean/en/othercontact_bahamas.html), which isnt surprising given that the Bahamians import the majority of consumer goods. Our main industries are tourism and financial services. There are thousands of opporunties just waiting to provide the ever-growing populations of Bahamians in our 700 islands with basic services and products that dont fall under those categories. Who knows, you may have an idea for a simple device which you think poeple might use. It might be worth commissioning a search at your local patent office to see if anyone has thought of the idea already.

 CAN I LOOK AT AN EXISTING IDEA IN A NEW WAY?

Contrary to popular beleif, there are few original ideas. Most successful businesses come from modifying, refining, or rethinking an existing business idea. Most importantly, it's a valuable exercise to set time aside when you (and your business partners) can think about innovative product ideas. Try to think laterally about existing products or materials you know about - can things you use every day be used in a new way for a new purpose? Great ideas dont come overnight - take heart - Post-it notes resulted from a glue product that went wrong!

WHAT GOODS OR SERVICES COULD I PROVIDE LOCALLY?

Think of problems and difficulties you've experienced in getting things for your home, garden, or at work, or in your leisure activities. Analyse what the problems were which caused you most inconvenience or cost you the most to put right. Thing about times when you've urgently required a service, and then found that it was not available or the service that was available only got you half way to fixing the problem. Alternatively, you might be able to think of parts or products that are hard or impossible to obtain locally. Did you know that the Bahamas import over 90% of all their consumer goods? How's THAT for a wide open market! Think about the things you and your neighbours complain about the most frequently. Listen to poeple talking at the gym or in the supermarket checkout line. Then ask yourself whether there is any way to providing a local service or product for any of these markets and you may just stumble on your next great idea. The bottom line...Be a problem solver and people with the problem will seek you out!

WHAT GOODS OR SERVICES COULD I PROVIDE TO LOCAL COMPANIES?

Do some research among local companies. Find out whether there are any goods or services that they have difficulty in obtaining. A group of local businesses out west in a development that just went up might have hundreds of new employees that need a place to eat at lunch, for example. Perhaps it would be a good place for a restaurant with well priced lunches? There may be room in the market for a messenger or delivery service linking the new businesses with others downtown. The lesson here is that the first people who identify opportunities like these are usually the ones who become established the quickest and thrive because they have the smallest amount of competition.

TOURISM IS THE BAHAMAS' PRIMARY INDUSTRY - HOW DO I FOUND OUT MORE ABOUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR TOURISM OR LEISURE BUSINESS IN MY AREA?

The type of tourism business you consider will depend on whether the area is more urban and developed (i.e. areas such as Nassau or Freeport) or rural (like the out-islands), whether it's a popular tourist region, and the demographics of the local population. Also, it pays to go online and do research about what kindof activities are being pushed by U.S. and other companies trying to attract tourists to their new Bahamian developments -- A business, like boating & fishing tours in Andros, may thrive in the next 5 to 10 years because U.S. hotel chains have started spending millions in advertising on the web to draw thousands of fishing enthusiasts to Andros because of our fantastic bone fishing. The takeaway here is -- Find out what the new trends are in toursim and travel and try to capitalize on the work of others. Hotels and Airlines especially are trying their hardest to market themselves to the world to get people to use their services - what better way to start a business than to provide a service that tourists are already coming to our country to find!

MAKING IT HAPPEN:

Entrepreneurs are the type of people who lose sleep over their ideas - they lie awake at night deaming of the chance to do something new, to enjoy their life doing something that makes them excited to wake up in the morning and, most of all, to live an all-round independent lifestlye (financially & spiritually). If you're an entrepreneur at heart, you have countless options. Here are some more things to consider when you get to the point where you want to really go for it...

TURN YOUR HOBBY INTO A BUSINESS:

You may have skills that you acquired as a hobby, but which could form the basis for a business. For example, if you like gardening, you might consider starting a garden design or landscaping business (Lord knows there are tons of places and communities in this country that could use a touch-up). If you're good at cooking that good-ol' Bahamian cuisine we all love, you could think about starting a catering service for people entertaining at home.

WORK FROM HOME:

This is a very common dream, especially if you're a parent, and consequently at home at lot of the time (if space allows). It might be possible for you to set aside space to sew, knit or perhaps make soft toys, for example. I bet you'd be surprised at how high the demand for local Bahamian craft is on the Internet through auction sites like e-Bay (if you've never heard of e-Bay, dont worry I'll be writing a lot of articles in the future on how Bahamians can set up their own Internet Businesses and make a killing - stay tuned and check my blog often - http://bahamiansonline.blogspot.com ). If handicraft isnt your thing, you might consider one of the many increasing opportunities for people like you who do office work from home, using a computer and a modem - many companies are figuring out that they can cut costs tremendously, and keep the morale of their employees high by affording them the opportunity to work from home on their own schedules. This can include anything from word processing letters and keeping accounts up to date, right through to free lance writing and consulting.

BUY AN EXISTING BUSINESS:

Another option is to consider buying an existing business. However, if you do, make sure you find out why the owner is selling - you owe that much to yourself. Even if the seller is retiring, make sure you find out why it wasnt worth his or her while to continue the business's accounts, and that you understand them thouroughly. Businesses for sale are often advertised in the local paper -- make sure to look out for Thursday's - that's the day that the most readers pick up the paper because of the obituaries (sad, but true, Bahamians love the 'sip that comes along with death)- the advertisers know this and will most likely advertiese on days when readership is highest.

FINAL WORD:

WHAT TO AVOID:

Not giving it enough time - dont expect an idea to come to you in a flash; sometimes ideas take time to develop. Also remember that the time you spend on planning will be time well spent when you finally do come up with a great idea.

Not doing enough research - if you fail to do any research, you'll have far less chance for success. Be prepared. Research will save you time and money in the long run.

For more articles by this author on Bahamian Business & Entrepreneurship, Technology and Society, visit http://bahamiansonline.blogspot.com.