"Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming."
--- Richard Branson
For those with their finger on the pulse of business know that there is always an opportunity around the corner. It may not be the one you had hoped for or had your sights on, but if you are looking, they are there. Many business leaders stick to what they know and trust, and that is fine. If they are in love with their product, service, industry and the community they serve, they will always be a success. But for those always looking, always searching for more creativity and more doors that need to be pushed, and sometimes kicked open, the world is their oyster.
Business 101, or the foundation of what business is about, is sometimes forgotten. We tend to easily keep our nose to the grindstone with our chosen paths and miss some of the golden opportunities in our backyard. These are the simple things that are in plain sight if only we will allow our eyes and our minds to see them.
"Selling cookies helped me to realize that you needed to have a certain way to communicate with people. You also needed business skills. You knew you needed to sell a certain amount of boxes, so that gave me some business sense."
--- Maria Bartiromo
Getting back to our roots of business is helpful in finding new or different opportunities for expansion in our current businesses. The gas station owner who allows a vendor to supply disposable gloves for customers to use while pumping gas to avoid germs, is opening up a new stream of revenue via advertisers for those gloves. The sign shop that prints banners for baseball field fences notices that numerous teams have faded and outdated uniforms. This could be an opportunity for learning screen printing for uniforms and jerseys.
Piggybacking with other contractors for major government contracts, opening a training class for new sign shop owners, furnishing supplies for trade shows, and freelance writing for associations and magazines are just a few of the many creative ways to expand your business and stretch into new realms.
"I started my first business when I was 19. I learned a valuable lesson as a small business owner. You are the first one to work, last one to leave, and last one to be paid."
--- Kevin McCarthy
Ownership can be a lonely position, but it can also be one that allows you to coordinate the direction of your future. Like a conductor in an orchestra, you are looking for business opportunities that harmonize with your current business and stay in key with your business values and mission.
"I was a writer for 'New York' magazine. I had attended business school, but what did I know? Still, everybody from the receptionists on up to the editor would ask me what they should do with their money."
--- Andrew Tobias
The more you grow your business, not just vertically, but also horizontally, the more you are seen as an authority in various subjects. People respect the person who has rolled up their sleeves and gotten down in the mud, only to come up with a fish. You can find opportunities in everything. They are there.
"My dad has been a big influence on me, because he's always had his own business. He really taught me business sense and how to be a focused individual, but also how to have fun and make everyone around you have fun."
--- Wiz Khalifa
Finally, if it isn't fun, stop doing it. To grow in other business areas requires time, talent, skill, patience, and a lot of luck. If you invest that much time into it, it ought to be fun and exciting. Find those things that make sense to you and brings joy and profits.
