Ever wondered what defines a business opportunity? It could be several different things. Even something as mundane as vending machines is being marketed as the best business opportunity under the sun. OK, fine; put up 1000s of such gizmos all over — and retire early!
According to Wikipedia, a business opportunity exists if there is a need, and you have the means to fulfill that need while making money doing it. For example — some people have a skin problem, like acne. OK, you sell them some information on how to deal with acne, or a product that gets rid of acne. There you have it — a fine business opportunity.
Another simple example: dog training. Dogs are very popular pets — and there are always some of those dogs that have behaviour problems. Now go out and offer this audience a book with dog-training advice. So — help real people solve their problems, and you can make some cash. It is a real win-win situation.
A different example is the plethora of self-help information. Indeed, everyone wants to become a better person nowadays, in one way or another. There are many examples — from weight loss to finding your soul mate. Suppose you are able to offer some remedy for such problems — if so you are on a roll.
Remember that you don’t really sell things to people, you actually sell dreams. What I mean by that is that oftentimes the important part is not what a product really does, but rather how it makes people feel.
The reason for people to buy something is they think it will make them feel better. And with some products, this is very obvious. So, why do you think women like to use perfumes? The reason is of course that they feel better about themselves by using perfumes and such cosmetics.
Those businesses that have a feeling for how to adjust to fundamental human instincts like that, are raking in the dough. Take a simple thing like how a product is packaged. Companies spend a great deal of money just to find out stuff like what color a box of laundry detergent should have to be most appealing to customers.
So, when thinking about business opportunities, think in terms of how you can make people feel better. You could for example create an ebook on how to lose weight while eating your favorite foods. If you manage to write it so the readers feel good about themselves, you may have a winner.
