Where to Find Small Business Opportunities

Entrepreneurs have a number of important business decisions to make before investing in a new opportunity. Finding the right small business idea takes research, financial forecasting, and sometimes a reality check.

How to Decide What Type of Small Business Opportunity to Invest In

Depending on the start-up budget, business skill level and desired time investment, an entrepreneur might choose to search for a turnkey operation, franchise, established small business, or new business idea.

Turnkey operations allow the entrepreneur to buy a ready-to-launch physical or online business. A business plan, marketing strategy, and inventory are already in place. Similarly, established small business opportunities may require training from the previous owner, but should be ready to operate immediately.

Franchises are a good choice for small business entrepreneurs who want to take advantage of a larger company's marketing, inventory or services, and business experience. Examples of franchises include restaurant chains, optical stores, and automotive repair businesses. While there are several advantages to opening a franchise, the corporation also expects franchisees to adhere to their standards of operation.

Starting a new small business from the ground up is a dream for many. Unfortunately, approximately 50% of small business fail in the first five years, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, who cite lack of experience, insufficient start-up capital, and poor location as the top reasons new small business ideas don't take off.

Where to Find New Small Business Opportunities

Entrepreneurs interested in local small business opportunities can visit an area small business center for advice and access to business listings. Network with local business owners to stay abreast of trends, events, and small business sales.

While the internet is an excellent resource for entrepreneurs, it is also rife with small business opportunity and loan scams. Use a reputable business opportunity search engine to browse franchise and home-based business ideas.

Entrepreneur.com, a popular business magazine, offers a Business Opportunities Marketplace to match entrepreneurs with small business opportunities in business services, health care, cleaning, retail, and more.

6 Steps to Finding and Evaluating New Small Business Opportunities

Use these six steps to decide if a new business opportunity is really as great as it sounds before investing time and money to ensure a successful launch.

1. Take a skills assessment test to see if there are entrepreneurial skills in need of improvement before starting a new business.

2. Set a realistic start-up budget based on available personal capital, seed money, and available loans or grants.

3. Search for business opportunities online or in the community.

4. Evaluate each idea by first comparing start-up costs with the set start-up budget.

5. Prepare a business plan for each idea before investing a penny. Use financial forecasting and research the target market and competition to see if it really is a feasible business idea.

6. Get legal, accounting, and any other required professional advice before signing up or launching any new business idea. The expense of these services should be included in the start-up budget.

Take the time to work through these steps carefully to avoid making a rash decision destined for failure. Work on any areas of concern, such as a poor personal credit history or lack of practical business skills, before jumping in with both feet.

For more information on choosing an e-commerce business, see Best Online Business Opportunities.