#5 A Radically New Definition for the Word “Business” (and How to Find Your Right Idea)

About the Episode:

In this episode, I want to offer up a radically new definition for you—of what a business really is. A new take on how you should think about being an entrepreneur.

I’m going to argue that a business is nothing more than a format for channeling your skills, experience, abilities, and interests—into a neat little package that helps people accomplish something meaningful.”

A business should be incredibly simple—at least in the early days. No fully baked products, fancy websites, email marketing tools, hi-tech automation systems, or Facebook Ad campaigns. When you’re looking for the right idea—and just getting started, any moment spent NOT directly helping people is a waste of your time.

In today’s episode, we’re talking about one of the most common questions I get from friends, family, and readers on my blog—the question comes in various different forms, but it always boils down to, “How do I find a profitable side hustle idea?”

Well, to help answer that question for you, I put together a free course, Finding a Profitable Business Idea.

Today, I’m going to make the case to you that the best businesses—the ones that’ll last for years to come—start with just 1 focus: helping people.

On top of that, the best business for you actually comes from what you’re doing already. Your hobbies, interests, favorite conversation topics, the activities you do in your free time outside of your day job.

Because when you don’t do that—and the initial excitement (the “idea” of being an entrepreneur) wears off, it’s easy to find yourself in a business that you really don’t care about. You don’t want to be scrambling for motivational quotes to keep yourself excited about your business—you’ll want that interest to be self-sustaining. I know, because I’ve been there.

In Today’s Episode, I’m Talking About:

[04:39] We take a look at 3 of today’s most popular types of businesses.
[05:05] I talk about my personal favorite type of side hustle, freelancing.
[spp-timestamp time=”05:42″] The best thing about choosing to start freelancing on the side of your day job.
[06:34] Why I’m not a fan of freelancing marketplace sites like Upwork and Fiverr.
[09:54] Next, I talk about the 2nd type of business you should consider—selling physical products.
[spp-timestamp time=”12:35″] I dive into details on the development of my very first product—the iStash—and why it failed.
[14:49] And finally, I talk about the last type of business that’s hot today—digital products.

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Relevant Resources:

My free course on Finding a Profitable Business Idea (That’s Right for You)
My in-depth guide to getting started as a freelancer on the side of your day job.
My compilation of the 101+ Best Side Hustle Ideas for aspiring entrepreneurs today
My list of the 76 Best Business Books for Entrepreneurs
My breakdown and review of the 100 Best Online Courses for Entrepreneurs and Creatives
My roundup of the 58 Best Pieces of Business Advice from World-Class Entrepreneurs
My step-by-step guide on How to Start a Phone Case Business

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If you enjoyed this episode of The Side Hustle Project, I would love your support. Head over to the show on iTunes or in the Apple podcast app and give us a rating please! And as always you can catch every episode on the Apple podcast app, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for tuning in.

For those of you that love Pinterest, here’s an image I put together that plays nicely over there 😊

Shoutout:

Special thanks to our sponsor for this episode, Freshbooks: Cloud accounting for freelancers, solopreneurs and side hustlers.