Now that you’re about to graduate, you’ve decided to open a new business in the local community where you’ve been attending college. We won’t ask where you got them, but we’ll assume that you have enough funds to start a business without having to worry about finding investors. 

Based solely on your personal interests, list five businesses that you might want to open and operate. For the moment, forget about such technicalities as market potential or profitability. If, for example, you like riding your bicycle, think about opening a shop that caters to cyclists. 

Next, without regard to any personal interest you might have in them, list five businesses that you might want to open and operate. In this case, your only criteria are  market opportunity and profitability. What types of businesses might be profitable in your chosen community? Use the internet to gather information on such factors as population, local economic conditions, local competition, franchising opportunities, and so on. 

Finally, evaluate the prospects for success of each of the 10 businesses that you’ve listed and jot down some notes to summarize your conclusions.  

Exercise Task 

Reviewing your lists, the information that you’ve gathered, and the conclusions that you’ve drawn, do the following: 

1. Form a small group of four or five classmates and discuss your respective lists. Look for instances in which the same type of business appears either on (1) both of your lists or (2) on one of your lists and one of a classmate’s lists. Also look for cases in which the same business appears on more than one list with either similar or dissimilar prospects for success.

2. At this point, how important do you regard personal interest as a factor in small-business success? 

3. How important do you regard market potential as a factor in small-business success?