Deciding on what business to start now..
For a number of years in the mid to late 1990's, every other person who came to us in the Business Department was looking to start up a business relating to pets. Consumers, it seemed, had lots of money to spend on their pooches or cats.
What a difference a few years makes. An article that recently appeared entitled "Pet love on the cheap: Downturn takes bite out of pet product market, once thought recession-proof" by Matthew Boyle (Toronto Star, March 4, 2012, p A13), indicates that owners who once lavished their pets with customized pet food and deluxe services, are now, because of the down turn in the economy, shopping at discount chains such as Wal-Mart and Target.
So how does someone, who is considering starting their own business, decide what type of business to start? One of my favorite sources that I refer people to is Profit Magazine's annual issue entitled "The Next Big Thing" This issue, which usually appears in the magazines December/January issue each year offers up the best bests for start-up and expansion. North York Central and Toronto Reference Library both have previous years issues (as we all know, everything old is new again) for more ideas.
Some ideas from this issue include:
- Services to the stay at home consumer
- Development of apps for small business
- Tapping into the "buy local" movement
And once you have decided on a business to go into, try searching the catalogue for books on that particular business. The library has a number of books in different series. There is a "How to start a home-based" type of business, as well as "How to start and run" type of business and "How to start and operate" type of business.
And have a look at a couple of titles from TPL:
And while it is important to have a business that is timely, being passionate about whatever business you go into is equally important. Good luck pursuing your dream!
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