Identifying your strengths and niche

- [Narrator] You know, we all have a shockwave that sets us on the road to starting a business. For some, it's sudden and big. For others, it's less intense and builds over time. Mine happened when I was a staff writer for a TV variety show. I came into work one morning to find we were cancelled and had about an hour to leave the building. At the time I had a wife, a three-year-old, and another child on the way. So I naively decided to take control and start my own business. I didn't realize at the time that that was easier said than done, especially since I didn't quite know what I wanted to pursue. So I asked myself two questions. One, what do I love to do? And two, who might pay me to do it? It helps if you visualize this as a Venn diagram. And it occurred to me that where the answers overlap is where my entrepreneurial journey could begin. I didn't realize it at the time, but I was looking at my strengths and opportunities. I thought about what I loved and the answer was easy, writing. And I'd had enough confidence in my abilities to know it was something I was a pretty darn good at. So I settled on Entertainment PR because it required limited overhead and I'd had some experience working as a publicist in the past. Of course, had I known better, I would have developed a full-blown SWOT analysis rather than just thinking about the why and the who. In fact, personal SWOT is a great first step on the road to becoming an entrepreneur. Reflect on your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and be brutally honest with your answers. Keep each quadrant in your SWOT simple and include no more than two or three points. My main strengths were writing and creativity. My weaknesses were procrastination and perfectionism, and yes, I still battle those, probably like a lot of you. My opportunities were independent businesses who were looking to generate awareness and my threats were my competitors and the possibility of a weak economy. Take the time to work on and refine your SWOT and prioritize what's most important to you and your business. That gives you the clarity you'll need to determine your point of differentiation and niche. Ask yourself, how will you stand out in the marketplace? Which clients will you serve? How will they find you? And above all, why would they choose you over a more established brand? And when you do decide a marketing business is a real possibility, you need to have an open conversation with your partner or spouse to find out what they think and whether or not they're on board. And you'd better be prepared to answer difficult questions, like how much will this cost? Where's the money coming from? And what if you fail? Without sounding defensive. I was lucky because my wife was very supportive. So I borrowed money to buy a telephone and a new computer, printed business cards, and sublet an office. I scrounged old furniture from family and arrived on the first day knowing I had no clients, no leads, and a very nervous stomach, but I did have energy, optimism, and drive. And I started calling everyone I knew to tell them what I was up to. My idea was to create an entertainment publicity firm and that's what I did. It was scary, but I never looked back.