Where Do I Start???

So you are considering starting a business? BUT you have no idea, what kind of business, All you know is that you are sick and tired of your task master of a boss, your shady coworkers, and being UNDERPAID & OVERWORKED by your company. Instinctively, you just know, it's time to become your own boss. Deciding on becoming an entrepreneur is a BIG STEP but deciding what business to start is perhaps an even BIGGER STEP. I will not pretend to have all of the answers or even possess the absolute best answer for you, but I do believe I can provide a starting point that will satisfy most. When you are unsure of what business to start, you must ask yourself 2 questions. These 2 questions must come before considering anything else. Without answering these questions, it would most likely not benefit you to proceed.

1) What am I good at or what talents do I have? or What are my biggest strengths?

This question is important because it would greatly increase your chances of having a successful business if you are utilizing your strengths rather than trying to form a business around your weaknesses. Many experts agree that starting a business around your strengths gives you a jump start in the right direction. For example: John has always been good with his hands, especially when it comes to fixing appliances. Would John be better off starting a mobile handy man service or a dry cleaning business? I believe most of us would agree that the odds are that John would be more successful as a mobile handy man than as a dry cleaner. Now John may have some knowledge of the dry cleaning industry, but his greater strength is fixing appliances, so why not utilize his greater strength? Of course we are not considering the opportunities that are available in his area because we are not trying to be to analytical in this example. My point is that any many cases, it would be better to consider your strengths and/or talents when starting a new business.

The next question to consider is just as important as the first:

2) What do I love to do or at least what I am interested in? (Another question could be: What are my hobbies?)


Perhaps you love to go bowling, play poker, travel, meet people, redecorate rooms, paint, play  in a band, etc.. Maybe you love children or animals. Perhaps you are interested in becoming a private detective or a real estate agent. It doesn't matter, doing what you love does not seem like work, even if it is. Have you ever met someone who loved their job? I mean really loved their job? These days it is becoming very difficult to find people who love their job, but believe it or not, they still exist!!! But what if you found someone who loved what they do  and was the business owner instead of the employee? That would be even more impressive!!! Loving what you do gives you that extra boost of energy to go out and do it and do it well, while hating what you do can cause you not to perform at your full potential, cause problems  (please refer to Former Gators Head Coach Urban Meyer), cause you to become irritable, depressed, or even angry, etc... So why be miserable doing what you hate or working where you do want to? By starting your own business, you can control what you do, so why not decide to do what you love? Hmmmm sounds like a no brainer to me.

Now that you have asked yourself both essential questions, isn't it a lot easier to decide what business you would like to start (please place picture of yourself nodding your head right here). After asking the right question, the answers start to appear.

Have you consideedr how wonderful it would be if you both loved to do it as well as it being centered around your strongest skill sets. WOW!!! That would be great to be able to combine what you love and your talents together in the same business. It happens and you never know if it will happen to you, until you start asking yourself the right questions.

Edward "Drew". Andrews                                          
Senior Marketing Consultant
E.M.C. Marketing Solutions
614-388-9660
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The Best Four Letter F Word!!!!

As hard as money is to come by these days, people are very suspicious of the word FREE. It has become the new F-word. As high as gas prices are and how much we all continue to pay in taxes, you would think that the word FREE would be elevated to Biblical status by now. The word FREE should be as refreshing as finding an oasis in the middle of the Sahara Desert. We should be happy to hear the word FREE as much as being surprised to find an extra $500 in our bank account on the last pay period before Christmas. Or receiving our tax refund check right before the rent or mortgage is due.

Unfortunately, many of us have tuned ourselves out to the word FREE. It’s like that ugly x-girlfriend that we never like to talk about. If you were raised by a parent that was similar to my grandmother, you would have been popped in the mouth for using the f-word in her presence. I was always taught that the f-word would get you in trouble. You couldn’t use it in front of adults, at school, at work, and certainly not in church. Many people get offended by it. But that f-word was actually profanity. The word FREE isn’t, although it is often treated as such.

As an adult, as well as a consumer & businessman, I often like to hear the f-word. Sure even the non profane f-words can get you into trouble (such as: food & FREE); but only if they are misused. And that is perhaps the main reason why the word FREE is often ignored, feared, or not trusted. Advertisers often misuse the word. My grandmother often said there is nothing in this world that is FREE. Have you been told that too?

I’ll be the first to admit that there are many occasions where you should walk away from something FREE. For example: If a drug dealer offers you your first nickel bag of crack on the house, you should walk away (maybe even run). If your best friends’ wife invites you over to her house for a FREE dinner while your best friend is out of town; then you should walk away. If you see an ad in the paper that offers you a report that teaches you how to make a million dollars in the next 5 days, you should walk away. Or if you are a young attractive and voluptuous young woman looking for a place to rent and an elderly man with a lustful look in his eyes offers you a FREE room, you definitely should walk away.

YES, some things that are FREE should be avoided, come with strings attached, or are just not worth it because they are just plain worthless. A popular belief is that you get what you pay for and that is often true, but there are many FREE products, services, or pieces of information that are worth having. That belief and suspicion may be hindering you from finding good fortune and experiences.

It’s ok to be suspicious, in fact; it’s wise to be suspicious when offered something FREE. But it’s foolish to be so suspicious that you don’t investigate or research FREE opportunities or information. We can all learn something new, no matter how old or young, rich or poor, or educated or non-educated we are; there is still more to learn.

As much as most people fear or despise telemarketers & door to door salespeople, some of them actually offer quality products, services, or information. Before you write me off as a crackpot, stop, drop, & think!!! What company do you work for? What do you do for living??? Isn’t there a sales department somewhere in your organization? If everyone thought all your sales people were deceitful or incompetent or just hated them for trying to sell to them; then your company would be bankrupt. Someone, somewhere has to sell to somebody so that your company can grow its business. Without sales people and sales ads, no company could make a profit. Therefore, if your company is paying you, it’s reasonable to believe that someone, somewhere thinks that your company offers a valuable product or service. The next time you think about being rude to a salesperson solely because he or she is trying to sell you something, REMEMBER they may be sharing something valuable with you. At least take a minute or 2 to listen before giving them the brush off. It doesn’t mean to waste time examining every offer you get, but it does mean you need to be able to discern what’s worth listening to from what’s not worth listening to. But to be able to tell the difference, you must first learn to listen.

I bet some off you reading this are saying to yourselves that you have no time to listen to nonsense. That you just are to busy. Then you are the ones that have the biggest problem. Successful people always keep their ears open to new opportunities, trends, products, and discoveries. Unsuccessful people never make time to learn new things and take advantage of opportunities presented to them. My point is that you will not be able to tell the good free stuff from the bad without taking time to first listen to what is being offered and then researching it later. I am not advising you to drop your suspicion, but I am asking you to make time for finding FREE services and information that you could use to improve your circumstances or financial position. I’ll be frank; if you are not RICH than you need to make the time to find new opportunities. Even rich people seek out new opportunities.

There is a true power in the word FREE. I am attempting to drill it in your skull because the word free has and still is making me money. I have found several FREE as in NO COST & NO INVESTMENT opportunities that make me money. But if I had not examined or tried them, I would be like everybody else. Avoiding the word FREE because I would be to busy working for someone else to have any FREE Time for myself.

I worked for a boss and was sick of being told when it was ok to take vacation, when it was it ok to be sick, when it was ok to be given a raise, or when it was ok to use the restroom. Therefore, I looked for other ways to make money. I continued my education, but realized that college didn’t teach me how to make money and it would be long term before my education would earn me more money. I wanted to start my own business, but didn’t have enough capital and quickly realized how expensive it was to pay for everything myself. I tried network marketing and realized that all the MLM companies do is sell a dream and have no useful products. Finally, I was shown how companies often pay people to sale their products for them and it was FREE. They provide the product, usually provide the marketing materials, often the training, sometimes even a website, and pay you. There is no overhead, no boss, no set schedule, no sales meetings, no need to recruit, and working from home is often possible. The best part is that, it’s FREE. Like I said earlier, there are some FREE things worth looking into.

How would you like to get paid $110 if someone you knew or even a stranger signed up for Satellite TV?
Or make $45 every time someone visited your website (paid for by the company) and bought a cell phone.
These are just a couple of FREE products available.

If someone reading this has no time to at least look into the information that I just shared, than that person deserves to have a J.O.B. (being Just Over Broke) He or she deserves to work for 40 years, retire on social security and then realize social security is not enough to live off of and have to take a job as a Wal-Mart Greeter to make ends meet.

For those readers that want to learn more about the FREE opportunities that I mentioned earlier can learn more by either visiting my twitter page at http://twitter.com/edwardeandrews or subscribing to my newsletter. By the way, they are also FREE. In the newsletter my colleagues and I coach you on how to turn FREE resources into money making profits. Oh and that’s FREE too!!! No Hidden Charges!!! I promise!!! I may not be rich but I enjoy the money that I am making because it didn’t cost me anything and I have a lot of FREE time now because of it. My boss is fired!!! Yours can be too. Reading is also FREE. Feel FREE to check them out for yourself.

Edward "Drew" Andrews
E.M.C. Marketing Solutions
Senior Marketing Consultant
Follow Me On Twitter