Starting a small business using your personal and professional background

If you're asking “what business is right for me to start?” then I suggest evaluating your own personal and professional background to determine your interests and capabilities.

As I’ve met and spoken to different business owners over the years, I see them successfully starting businesses often based on personal experience. The business owner, or consultant, saw a need in their own life and started a business to fulfill that need.

Professional experience and hobbies are also ways small business owners will choose to start a business they see as “right” for them to start.

A word of warning: I recommend not starting a business that is not in a field of expertise or strong interest unless you can surround yourself with people who are knowledgeable. They would also need to be paid so factor that in to your cash flow or ownership interests.

Here are examples of people who have started a business based on their personal experiences.

Melissa Marks launched Sis Meliss Family Recipes based on recipes from her grandmother and mother. She’s been operating the business for five years. Her goal was to help people eat healthy salads and her salad dressings are gluten-free and great for diabetics. She distributes through her website and various stores in Southern California including Whole Foods and the local vendor program.

May Hui started a business connecting single professionals: Catch Matchmaking. She based it on her personal experience of working in the corporate world and having little social time. She felt it was difficult to meet quality people for carefree dates; yet it was also difficult to meet single professionals and build a serious relationship. You can read a Hub about her company here.

Sometimes owners will combine personal and professional experience in starting a business that is a right fit for them. Rodney and Jason Carr of Softline Home Fashions in Gardena, California grew up in the retail business watching both their mother and father in different phases of retail operations. They even participated in their father’s business for a period of time.

The Carrs, both in their 30s, launched their polyester fabric business using the knowledge they had previously gained. The business now has more than 70 employees and distributes throughout the United States and Canada to both brand-name retail outlets and independent shops. I featured their products in this Hub on using polyester fabrics to decorate a home.

Tamara Kato in Arcadia, California is a franchise owner in Comfort Keepers. Her passion is helping seniors stay active and live longer in their homes. Tamara had previous experience in the field and professional experience in corporate marketing.You can read a bit more about what she does here in this Hub on Keeping Seniors Safe at Home.

Here are ways to choose a business that is right for you:

• Assess your skills – what do you already know and what are you willing to learn?

• Count your money – how much capital do you have to invest without borrowing?

• Check your credit score – does your credit report have some low marks which could make it tough to borrow additional capital?

• Check your time – do you have 10 hours per week to work on starting a business? Or do you have 40 to 50 hours per week for the next six months before finances get tight?

• Do you prefer working primarily alone or do you want to work closely with others?

Start a simple business to generate cash flow. If you’re good at washing windows but you really want to launch a company that produces software for the airline industry then get the window washing company going. It will generate cash and is much easier to launch. Even work it three or four days a week and then focus on the more complex business until the right people are in place.

Don’t start a business to chase a fad. Start one that is right for you and that offers a product or service people will either want or need over a long period of time.

Remember this: “a startup is a work in progress with every element of the company in play on a real-time basis,” writes Joel Kurtzman in the book “Startups that Work.”

Remember that you are unique. And the more closely the business fits your unique traits, then the better are your chances for longer term success.