You can start with a simple hobby or an idea that plays to your strongest skills.  It’s always going to be unique to you, but here are a few fun business ideas to start with.

• Host parties!  Get into independent consulting with companies like Partylite, Beachbody, Mary Kay, Avon, Pampered Chef, etc.  These are businesses that already have a plan set up for you, but you can tailor details to fit your personality and your life.  They also only require a minimial investment to get started.  You can run them entirely out of your own home, on your own schedule, and get paid to host other people’s parties.  If you’re excited about the company you choose, it will never feel like work.
• If you love kids, start a daycare.  Especially if you can offer cheaper prices than the bigger local businesses, you’ll have parents practically begging you to take their kids while they go to work or have a much needed night out alone.  If you’re of the mindset that you’re getting paid to play with kids, this can be a lot of fun!
• Perhaps you’re into physical labor, or you’d just love to work outside during the warmer weather.  Get into landscaping or home repair.  Many people simply don’t have the time, talent, or energy to do the work themselves.  Enter you to save the day and make money.  Just as with the daycare, if you can offer a competitive rate and quality work, you’ll have so many jobs lined up that you’ll have to turn some people away.
• Do you like to write?  Do you always have a lot of ideas floating in your head or an opinion on almost every topic?  Start a blog.  It will take some time to build a following and be able to make any significant income, but if you can market yourself well and stay interesting, you can have a high chance of success doing something that you love.
• Sell on ebay.  You can sell your old “junk,” scour rummages and sell other people’s junk, or sell unique items that you’ve created yourself.
• If you’re handy and creative with a camera, you can start your own photography or videography business.  Get the word out that you’re available for weddings, bands, corporate and special events, family functions, etc.  You can do this part-time or work to turn it into a full-time gig, too.

Coming up with your idea might be one of the most difficult parts of starting a business.  You have to make sure it can be profitable and that you’ll be excited about it everyday.  What are your strengths?  If you’re much better with numbers or money itself and therefore not into a so-called “creative” idea, become a financial consultant or a wealth coach or even a personal accountant.  If you find your passion, run with it.  Your chances of success skyrocket when you start a business that you believe is fun!

Elderly services and e-commerce appear to top the list.  Society is always talking about the baby boomers and how they’re starting to edge into their senior years, meaning the demand for services in that industry is high.  This doesn’t mean you need to invest in a new nursing home; really, it’s about offering services that people may have more trouble doing for themselves as they get older, such as landscaping, home improvement projects, in-home medical support, etc.

If e-commerce appeals to you, keep in mind that it’s not just teenagers and twenty-something that are interested in social networking.  The older crowd is also looking for contact with people their own age.  Many are creating their own Facebook accounts, and they welcome other sites that cater to their age group where they can discuss advice about mortgages and raising children and even look for a date.

Parents are also demanding better school food choices, so if you can get into food services and provide some healthy options, you could have a successful business on your hands.  Business opportunities like this one and elderly services can be easy, but don’t confuse that with low start-up costs.  With any option you choose, you need to create a business plan and weigh the potential returns against your initial required investment.  Sometimes you might need a large amount of money to start, but the profits can start rather quickly.

If you’re looking for east-to-start small business with low initial investments, consider things you can do out of your home, such as opening a bed and breakfast, being  a dog-walker, using your truck for a hauling service,  becoming a wedding planner, or even a professional organizer.  Yes, I said professional organizer—there’s even a National Association of Professional Organizers.  There are plenty of people who just can’t do it for themselves, so why not do it for them for a profit?

Finally, be sure to choose a path that you can be passionate about.  If you get into elderly services but you’re not excited to be helping them, that’s not the right business for you.  Even when looking for a passive business to run, you’re still the one ultimately responsible for its success or failure.

As with most things in life, the answer depends on a number of different variables.  Your first task is to choose a franchise that sells a product or service that you are or could be passionate about.  This will make it easier to stick out the start-up phase while you wait for your investment to turn into profit.  Do some research to find which franchises have been the most profitable recently and see if the one you’re thinking of ranks high enough for you to want to move forward.

Are you able to set up your franchise in a profitable area?  In other words, will you be located in a place where customers are likely to patronize your services?  If not, you may have to work a little harder to bring in the business, despite the proven advertising set up at corporate.

Most research dictates that you should expect to see a 10-15% return on your investment over time, and that’s if you’re a passive franchise owner.  The theory is that the more active you are in your business, the higher your potential income can be.  One thing to be cautious about is the idea that a high-investment franchise should bring the highest return.  That’s not always true.  This also depends on your location, your overhead, your personal involvement, etc.

You can likely bring in a comfortable income with a franchise, but the real money can start rolling in if you open multiple locations.  Many people find that that’s the best way to reach their desired income potential.  Of course, you want to make sure your first franchise succeeds to the point where you can realistically take a stab at another.

Most importantly, don’t treat franchises like a free ride.  If they were immediately profitable, I’d bet that the only existing businesses would be franchises.  Despite the fact that the initial planning has been done for you, you still need your own personal plan on how to make the existing principles work for you.  As always, do your homework, and remember that the more time and effort you put in, the better your return can be.

As Richard Branson said during an interview with Seth Godin, entrepreneurs know how to build new businesses and create money. How many opportunities do you see every day to profit in this economy?

By taking action in order to improve, expand or start your small business, you can contribute to saving America and potentially make a fortune while doing it.

Here are a few strategies that you can put into action right now to improve your success — the first is a strategic, actionable method, the second method describes how to keep your goals on track, and the third is the Super Ninja Method to quickly reaching your goals.

These strategies are not limited to creating wealth either. You can use these methods to improve your relationships, increase self-confidence, or push yourself to lose more weight.

First the strategic method…

The first step is to identify your goal. What is it that you want to accomplish? Make sure these are measurable goals that you can achieve. Go ahead and write it down — even if you think it is a far fetch goal, give it a shot.

Now, paraphrasing Timothy Ferriss, if you you absolutely had to achieve this goal, you would find a way to reach it. If a gun was to your head and the trigger would be pulled unless you achieved this goal, your creativity, resourcefulness and motivation would reach new levels.

1. Think about your goal and what the outcome will be like. What circumstances need to be in place in order to help you reach your goal? What has to change, what do you need, what resources do other people have that you could tap into to help you reach your goal? Write them down.
2. Now that you know the circumstances that need to be in place in order to make your goal a reality, start thinking backwards from the end result to where you are today. Try to “reverse engineer” the achieved outcome in your mind and think about what steps will you need to take?
3. Now take action and and move the gears in motion. If your goal is properly set, it will require you to step outside your comfort zone, make yourself growth and think in new directions, and will require a level of determination that you may have not realized you had.

Creating the right mindset…

To keep yourself engaged and on task, it will take as much mental energy as it does physical. Reaching your goal will take planning and preparation, some sacrifices, and at times will be exhausting. There may be days you lost track of benefits and decide to give up your pursuit.

The only thing worse than not achieving your goal is looking back 10 years from now and thinking to yourself “I can’t believe I quit then. If I just stayed the track I could have accomplished this a long time ago.”

Now there are a couple ways you can keep yourself motivated:

1. Keep a picture or some reminder with you at all times that triggers an emotional response
2. Create additional goals that go beyond your primary goal, which cannot be accomplished without first reaching this primary goal
3. Generally speaking, we will do more to avoid pain than to gain pleasure. Set up a system to reward yourself when you accomplish tasks, but also have a system that punishes you for going off track

Super Ninja Method…

Some of the most successful people I know create their own reality. By visually achieving your goals, you can accomplish things you had no idea you were capable of. Watch this short video from an Aussie named Ryan Higgins to see what I’m talking about…

 
==> Make Your Mind Movie
 
 
There’s literally hundreds of Mind Movies on YouTube. Visit Mind Movies to get started with making your own (they have a 2 month test drive), or just borrow a movie already posted on YouTube. Here are a couple I enjoy…

Make Mind Movies Here