Rekindle the fire

This week I had an opportunity to rekindle the entrepreneurial fire through a couple of experiences at school and with one of my friends.

An old friend of mine talked to me on Facebook during the week asking how things were. He asked me if I had already quit my job; I told him that I haven’t done it and then he asked me: ‘’then… what is your plan for financial freedom? How are you going to do it if you are still tied to your full-time job?’’ This really made me think about my life, my goals and my plans to achieve them. Am I keeping my job for now as a part of my goals or because of fear? That is something I need to think about.

At school I brainstormed ideas for businesses. It was interesting to see how a few of them have changed since the last time I did something like that. I had to think about problems that I see in daily life in Mexico, things that are missing or are uncomfortable to obtain. It was much easier to come up with ideas keeping those questions in mind.

Here are some criteria that helped me come up with ideas. This was provided by my BYU-Idaho class on entrepreneurship:

1. Complaints people have or gripes they hear from friends or people in the community.
2. Inconvenience experienced when purchasing a product or in acquiring a service.
3. A product or service “flaw” that is difficult to deal with, such as packaging that takes way too much time to unravel.
4. The pain that comes from paying way too much (i.e., getting “ripped off”) for a product or service.
5. Money that seems to be “lost” with little value returned.
6. Something that can make life easier.
7. A product or service that can contribute to health or well-being (literally removing pain of one kind or another).
8. A simpler way to access a product or service (less hassle).
9. Dreams that you’ve had as a child.
10. Successful businesses around you, maybe one that you feel you could do a better job with.
11. Hobbies and activities that people invest a lot of time and resources into.
12. Businesses or services that need simplification.
13. Read this article for more ideas.