Tough to read? Click here and view the presentation in full-size

“What kind of business should I start?”

Most aspiring entrepreneurs ask this very question during the beginning of their journey into business. If you are like most people, the idea of starting your own business probably involves a restaurant franchise, a coffee shop, or a retail store of some sorts (such as selling clothes or books). Or, if you’re a little more in-tune with the times, you’ll be thinking of starting a technology company of some sorts and hoping to secure some venture capital funding.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with these types of businesses. However, if you’re a first-time entrepreneur (and likely, you are if you’re asking this question) these businesses are a bad idea to start with. They are very risky, take a lot of start-up capital, and you’ll most likely end up doing 12-hour work days, 7 days a week. Even more so, you are betting your most important resources (time and money) on an unproven strategy.

Instead, I challenge you to think of your first business as a pet project of some sort. Something that you are passionate about, and don’t mind spending a little bit of money here and there. You’ll never “fail” — you’re simply learning.

And to maximize your chances of success with your business, here are 6 rules you should follow when you’re launching a new business.

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Tough to read? Click here and view the presentation in full-size

Note to readers: This post marks the beginning of this blog officially being an interactive business blog. Future “meaty” posts on Startup Launchr will include Classrooms™, an interactive presentation such as the one included above. For more on Classrooms, click here.

You’ve got that million-dollar business idea, and can’t wait to put it to action.

This idea probably came to you in less time than it takes to snap your fingers at first. But you’ve nurtured this concept, and over time its evolved from a vague idea to a full-grown brainchild.

You’ve taken down your notes, and whatever spare time you have are spent with visions of your new company up and running. Any book with “how to” and “start business” on its front cover probably catches your eye. You’re thinking about subscribing to Entrepreneur magazine (if you haven’t already done so) and follow a huge set of blogs about business.

And there’s only one thing stopping you from pulling off this plan of yours.

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Photo by davidciani

Let’s take a quick look at one of the more popular websites of today and see how the power of the written word propelled it to one of the most successful companies today.

Amazon.com

• Number of visitors: 50.9 million people
• Revenues for 2007: $14.84 billion

Just from memory, can you remember what Amazon.com looks like? Most people can. Go ahead, picture it.

Now imagine if Amazon looked a little like this:

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Photo by wookiewookie

This article was originally posted on Geekpreneur on July 2nd, 2008. Check the original post here.

***

You’re two weeks away from launch date.

You’ve slaved and toiled and labored for months, and now here you are. Finally, with your latest product ready to roll. It could be a book you self-published, it could be a new website for your business, it could be software which took you months to develop. It could be anything, really.

You decided to outsource your web design, and the Indian guy you hired on E-Lance did a surprisingly good job for the $150 you’ve paid him. You snagged a snappy domain name, and now you’re sitting down in front of your laptop to write your salesletter.

Then… Blank.

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