How to Get Started in a Business

Every business on this planet started as an idea, someone’s idea. Fact is, any business became a business because someone saw a problem or a need; found a Service or Product that solved the problem or satisfied the need and a business was born. This is the only time-tested pattern of establishing a business and be self-employed. That you can not find a business for yourself does not mean there is business scarcity. The only scarcity is that of ideas, your ideas. This is why I am always bold to say that nobody has a money problem. It is only ideas problem that most people have hence they remain poor. If you can identify what someone needs desperately and you are able to deliver it to them at the time and place convenient for them, you will be paid for your service. That is what business is all about.

The late world-renowned psychologist Dr. Abraham Maslow was able to clearly identify five needs of man which he arranged at levels of their order of importance beginning from basic biological needs and ending at psychological needs. These needs became popularly known as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He posited that if a lower need is fully satisfied there is need to move up the ladder to satisfy another need. Thus from the basic Physiological needs of food , air, water, shelter etc, you move on to Safety and Security needs of protection, order and stability then Social needs of affection and friendship then Ego needs of prestige, success and self-respect and finally Self-actualization needs of self-fulfillment. There is no business known to man that is not tailored to satisfy one or more of these needs.

People any day and any time will pay for any Product or Service that tends to satisfy any of these needs. The desire to satisfy the very nature of these needs will make people pay you if you can do anything for them that will:

o    Help them to make or save money.
o    Help them to save time.
o    Provide them with basic physiological needs like food, shelter and clothing.
o    Help to enhance their security, safety and comfort.
o    Amuse, entertain and generally help them to relax.
o    Make them feel good about themselves and their environment.



Any Product or Service you can develop along these lines and people pay to have it is what puts you in business. When people say businesses are scarce, it means ideas are scarce. To go into business, it is imperative for you to find a way of offering a cheaper, better, safer, tastier, cleaner, faster, healthier, fresher, higher quality Product or Service relating to any of these needs. If you can, you are in business. The price you charge depends on the quality of your Product or Service and the competence of your competitors. The more of your Product or Service you are able to sell, the more money you make. This is the beginning of wealth accumulation and better life. Once the right ideas are in place, there are unlimited opportunities to make money. That some people end up not making it in spite of these unlimited opportunities is one of the puzzles of wealth accumulation. “The way you take yourself, the way you value yourself and the way you apply yourself are the primary determinants of your ultimate station in life.” You are therefore what you believe you are and what you apply yourself to be.

The ingenuity of humankind is a wonderful gift from God. It is in us all. How we deploy it is what separates the poor from the rich. God is a just God no doubt, but our inabilities to use His gifts for our own benefit is our own fault not His. All His gifts to us have equal potentials. How we deploy these gifts to beneficial use is what separates us as humans. This is what makes the difference between the rich and the poor. “The world only pays for results not efforts.” The result of what you do is what you get paid for. This is what enables you to get ahead in life. Napoleon Hill capped this argument finally with his brilliant conclusion that: “There are no lazy men. What may appear to be a lazy man is only an unfortunate person who has not found the work for which he is best suited.” If you have not found yours, this article will assist you to take the all-important decision to do something to help yourself.