Getting Inspiration

One of the things that people often say to me is "I'd like to start a business but don't have any skills"

I get this all of the time. But normally after a little bit of a chat people are suprised to see just how many skills they have got. It's about viewing business and viewing yourself in a different way. So many people think that in order to have their own business they've got to have a lightbulb moment. But most of the successful businesses I know are started by people who take an existing business model and just do it themselves, some of them do it differenty, some of them do it better but they all do it. This is crucial if you wait for the right time, the right moment or the right opportunity you'll be waiting a very long time. The true spirit of an entreprenuer is to get out there and make things happen, get the ball rolling, get of your arse and do something, anything! Very few business start with one idea that doesn't change over time. Look at Richard Branson, he started out running a magazine, then a mail order record service, a student helpline, now he's involved in banks, airlines, hotels.... basically everything and that's because he gets out there and does it.

So since you may not have had the lightbulb / Eureka! moment what type of business could you start? Well here are a few examples of business you could start without having to have obvious "skills" or qualifications.

• Ironing Service
• Pet Sitting Service
• Gardening
• Catering
• Direct Selling (other peoples products)
• Ebay Trader
• Sandwich Delivery Round
• Small Jobs Service (i.e. picking up dry cleaning, posting letters, buying gifts etc)
• Junk Clearance Services
• Car Valeting Service

All of these business can be seen as unskilled but the truth is the skill may not lie within the work but it certainly lies within anyone running a successful business. In an increasing competitve and service driven economy it has become less important what you do but vitally important how you do it.

Running a business is not about skills it's about attitude being in the right frame of mind, willing to tackle problems and take criticism on the chin. Everything else can be learned but the attitude has to come from within you.

So I realise that this has been a bit of meandering post but the essence of what I'm saying is that we all have the skills and the ability to start our own businesses but it's only with action that we'll be able to achieve anything.