Creating and operating profitable solo work-from-anywhere digital businesses

A lot has been written over the past ten years about business owners, risk-takers, and the characteristics or qualities that they possess which allows them to be successful in what they do.

But very seldom does this skill show up on the lists that writers prepare extolling the virtues of the top entrepreneurs.

Yes, persistence, attention to detail, willingness to take a risk, and determination are all candidates for the usual list of "must have" qualities for the successful business man/woman.  But there is another ingredient that I have found to be most important - even crucial - to the success of the creator of small business.

I will call it "opportunity identification."  Sometimes this skill is referred to as one having a "knack" for business.  Or the "midas touch" - every business the entrepreneur gets involved in becomes successful.

In my mind, the very top entrepreneurs, the ones that are outstandingly successful in starting companies, are those that easily and intuitively learn to see opportunities and identify or recognize them for their inherent business potential and value.  It is a talent worth millions!

It seems to me that very few businesses are actually created as a result of some invention that has been built or some totally new innovation that comes onto the scene that turns the industry upside down.

Rather, and most often, a skilled entrepreneur sees an opportunity that others don't recognize.  He identifies the opportunity for what it is and figures out a way to make a profit from his idea.

Entrepreneurs aren't necessarily inventors.  They are opportunists that see what others don't see.  And that skill can be acquired, learned, and honed over time as the business owner gets experience in his trade.

So, how does one go about becoming an opportunity identification expert?

Here are a few simple suggestions:

Don't be quick to accept the status quo.  So many businesses these days are simply mirror images or "knockoffs" of existing businesses.  Often, the new business has a very difficult time competing against the business it was patterned after.  There is a first mover advantage that usually resides with the original business.  They have branded themselves as the innovator, the "first", the "original."

The successful entrepreneur will instead, be unsatisfied and unaccepting of the status quo.  He will be interested in looking for advantages that lie outside the sphere of the normal, usual systems and processes of the already functioning business community.

The top entrepreneurs will also have a keen eye for discovering areas or places of added value.  Many businesses are built on the notion that they can deliver more value and worth to the customer than their competitors because they have integrated additional and important benefits into their product or service that others don't have.

Finally, great entrepreneurs see simple solutions to problems that others have overlooked.  They have trained themselves to see beyond the conventional wisdom and thinking of the masses.  They are trained to look deeper than others, or in non-traditional environments for solutions from other disciplines or industries.

Great entrepreneurs have minds that are constantly looking for business opportunities and they have the ability to identify those ideas that are most likely to be monetized successfully.

Post#290