Action Step 8: $1,000 and a Working Vehicle What business can you start with little money and no employees? What if you only have $1,000 to invest and a working vehicle? Ask friends what they need and look around elsewhere What are people accomplishing with small investments? What opportunities can you explore further? Can you purchase products to resell online? Can you tap into a skill you already possess? Compile a list of your potential opportunities & share them What are people willing to pay for you products & services? How often would they purchase? Who are your competitors?

Action Step 9: Opening Your Mind to New Information Don't just think outside the box - get outside it! First stop: Large bookstore Read new magazines & bestselling books What did you learn? Any new opportunities or genres? Second stop: Twitter & iTunes What's hot? What's not? Opportunities? Third stop: Local mall Find out what's new & hot Investigate service, prices, selections & long lines Do you want to compete? Fourth stop: Your favorite store Look for new products & services Can your guesstimate shelf velocity? Internet competition? Fifth stop: Your television set Watch CNN World Report and make a list of stories Surprises? Opportunities? Problems to be solved? IDEO, TrendHunter, TechCrunch, Science Explore new technologies What's innovative? What problems need solving? Final stop: Stay logged on Surf unknown topics to find opportunities and surprises

Action Step 10: Changes = Trends = Opportunities Pick up the last six issues: The Economist, Time and The Wall Street Journal Goal is to spot changes before trends develop Being at the forefront of trends makes businesssavvy people rich Look for Changes, Trends and Opportunities: Social/Cultural, Competition, Technology Legal/Political, Economics

Action Step 11: Spotting Trends in Your Selected Target Markets Select the target market of your choice Search the net for info staring with census data Go through a day in the life of your selected target market & interact with the social media they use What trends do they identify with? What products & services do they desire? How can you meet their needs? Ask questions and listen to the answers Compile a list of products & services your Target Customer identifies with

Action Step 12: Have Fun Identifying Problems and Opportunities Seek information by asking friends their wants and needs Look for gaps in the marketplace but don't judge Adapt questions to fit your market: What frustrates you most about your daily life? What products do you need or want but cannot find? Which ones would enhance your life? What would make you happy? How can you increase productivity without working more? Project the gaps out as far as you can into the marketplace Respond to your friends wants and needs Are the needs local, national or global?

Action Step 13: Investigate New Technologies Read tech industry magazines & look for articles that amaze you Watch TED talks on technology - what did you find? What opportunities did you discover? Share your findings - a breakthrough in one industry may lead to a breakthrough in another Search out research on your selected industry What ideas can you follow up on? Better prepared to focus on technology opportunities Never stop reading - follow emerging technologies

Action Step 14: Launch Your Industry Research Locate your industry's trade associations as well as those that your potential suppliers & customers may belong to Contact the associations and request information Attend a meeting of an association relevant to your industry Read magazines for your industry & those that reach your Target Customer and suppliers Read online media kits Do this now - you will need it to complete later Steps

Action Step 15: Just for Fun Start to Decode Use "new eyes" to uncover the lifestyle of your customer by analyzing a shopping cart What can you deduce about each shopper's lifestyle? What do other things say about them? Put your deductions with a demographic checklist to decide if any shoppers are your Target Customers Look for "heavy users" in your business Another alternative is to create this assignment using a social media site like Facebook

Action Step 16: Match Trends with Life-Cycle Stages Pull out your notes with your trends, products & services and problems to solve Draw a life-cycle chart What stage is each item it? Embryo/birth? Growth? Maturity? Look for opportunities in the embryo & growth stage If entering the embryo stage, be prepared to "beat the pavement" If entering a mature or declining market, be prepared to meet & beat the compeition head-on