As the economy continues its agonizingly slow recovery, many people have been out of work for an extended period of time. If you’re one of them and have the desire to own your own business, rather than returning to the workaday world, finding the right fit in a business can be daunting. For a few people they know exactly what they want to do, as they’ve dreamed about it all their life. However, for many their dream job was the one they just lost. Now they feel like a boat without a rudder, just drifting in circles.

Selling Local Is All the Rage

Keeping Your Business Local May Improve Your Image

I found what looks like a pretty cool idea stimulator on the Internet. It’s a PDF document entitled “20 Small Business Ideas for Small Towns.” I think the ideas will work in big towns, too, especially in the area of creating locally focused businesses. People want to buy local, they want to keep the money in their local economy, so having a business that can tout that it’s local in some aspect, such as manufacturing, growing produce locally, or something along that line, will help you have a sure in with the sustainably conscious, which is growing rapidly.

Remember though, it’s harder to keep a business going if you’re not really excited about it. Owning your own business is a lot of work in the beginning, because, unless you have crowd funding or a sugar daddy, you’ll end up doing almost all the work yourself. So, while brainstorming keep tabs on your internal excitement meter.

If possible meet with some people who are doing what you’re thinking about and find out the real ins and outs. Once you’ve made your decision check with your local Small Business Administration office and see if they have any resources you can use. Also, local community colleges often have courses, at low or now cost, to help people get up to speed on opening a business.