Here is a checklist on how to select the best small business opportunity that matches your capabilities and interest. You can make your own luck by matching your capabilities, for example, your knowledge, skills, and experience, with the opportunities that are presented to you.

Your success will be dictated by how well your capabilities match the opportunities. Use the following checklist to maximise your success chances.

1. Identify a big trend that really interests you or you care passionately about e.g. Healthcare of a growing ageing population, Environmental pressure. 2. Make sure your will enjoy working in this area and it's worthwhile and satisfying 3. Seek out an area with good growth potential within your big macro trend e.g. managing harmful drugs, optimising energy use in industrial processes 4. Ensure that your solution addresses a real need or problem, and your product/service idea is really needed and wanted. This measure is very important. 5. Build on what you have, rather than making big new leaps into the unknown. 6. Find a new or unfilled gap, be first or be different in your chosen area. Create a new category for your business so you're first in that field. 7. Go for the highest value added product or service. Be distinctive or unique - offer the highest value added solutions you can - not commodity products. Be different - at least have one major competitive advantage. 8. Aim for niches and specialist areas there is less competition and higher prices. Note, niches sometimes offer opportunities for markets in the mature and decline phases of the sales cycle. 9. Contrive your product or service to Generate Repeat Revenues - the customers keep coming back for more to make your life easier 10. Does your Product/Service have global or regional possibilities? 11. Keep it simple, low risk, with few threats

Best of luck.

Syd Stewart is the author of "Smiling Owner - How to Build a Great Small Business - An Evolutionary Approach". He has been an owner and manager for over 30 years. Visit his site to find out how you can Build a Great Small business. http://www.smilingowner.com or mailto:syd@smilingowner.com

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