Coming up with a business idea that takes off

Ready to take that big idea and turn it into a thriving business? Rachel Rodgers, author of Future Millionaire: A Young Person’s Step-by-Step Guide to Making Wealth Inevitable, shares the ingredients of a successful business venture. The best part? You don't necessarily need a lot of money to get started. Sign up for our newsletter series on credit card debt. Follow us on Instagram: @nprlifekitSign up for our newsletter here. Have an episode idea or feedback you want to share? Email us at [email protected] the show and listen to it sponsor-free by signing up for Life Kit+ at plus.npr.org/lifekitLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:17Marielle Segarra?

  You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

• 0:25Marielle Segarra?

  Hey, it's Marielle. Rachel Rodgers graduated from law school during the 2008 recession.

• 0:31Speaker 02

  Perfect timing. And I mean, every day, there was a news article about how there were too many lawyers, too many new law grads, not enough jobs, which was the story of my life at the time. So I had to figure out, what was I going to do?

• 0:45Marielle Segarra?

  Rachel decided to create a job for herself. She started her own practice. And because she was short on experience, she asked a professor she knew to be her mentor.

• 0:55Speaker 02

  You know, I said, basically, could I call you if I run into trouble as I'm working with clients? And they said, yes. And so that was sort of like the partner-associate relationship. I created it for myself by just asking someone who was more experienced than me to just have my back. And then I started my practice and I ran that for seven years.

• 1:12Marielle Segarra?

  Rachel eventually grew her practice to five employees. And then later, she started her current company, which is called Hello7. It's a consulting firm that teaches women how to build wealth. And she has 22 people working for her now. She's also the author of the book Future Millionaire.

• 1:28Speaker 02

  I think entrepreneurship is a great economic game changer. And many of us have access to use our skills, our talents, to create solutions in the marketplace for other people.

• 1:42Marielle Segarra?

  On this episode of Life Kit, I talk to Rachel about the first step in starting a business, which is coming up with an idea that could actually take off. She'll share four qualities of a successful business offer as she sees it, and also talk about how to determine whether your idea can actually make money.

• 2:04Speaker 03

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• 3:25Marielle Segarra?

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• 3:57Marielle Segarra?

  Is there a right time to become an entrepreneur? Or what do you need before you can do that?

• 4:04Speaker 02

  I think what you need is to take stock and say, who am I? What are my gifts and strengths and talents? What experiences do I have? What unique perspective do I have that I can bring to the table? What creativity do I have that I can bring to the table? So it's really doing an assessment on yourself, really knowing yourself. I think so often we go straight to what's a hot market right now? You know, like someone might say, oh, start a business related to AI because AI is hot right now. I think that is completely the wrong approach. I'd rather you start inward and say, who am I? So doing personality tests, looking at your experiences, looking at what were you drawn to as a child? What did people always ask you for or praise you for?

• 4:49Speaker 02

  Volunteer work that you've done or things that like, you know, sometimes it's just like planning a big event for your grandma. I mean, it could be anything, right? That shows you, oh, I have the skills to make things happen. What else do I want to make happen?

• 5:02Marielle Segarra?

  Yeah, we all have like a magic wand in our pocket.

• 5:05Speaker 02

  Exactly. And this is my point. This is the point of all of my books. We have this magic wand that we are not using. And I'm like, put it to use, friends.

• 5:14Marielle Segarra?

  Yeah.

• 5:14Speaker 02

  Put it to use for yourself and for others.

• 5:18Marielle Segarra?

  All right, takeaway one. When you're brainstorming ideas for a business, think about what you're good at, what you love, and what you have to offer the world. Rachel says that's more likely to lead you to a successful business idea than looking around and being like, oh, AI is hot right now. Maybe I'll get into that.

• 5:36Marielle Segarra?

  Do you need a certain amount of money to be an entrepreneur? Do you need to have worked nine to five for a while and saved up?

• 5:44Speaker 02

  No, you don't. I'm accustomed to my clients coming to me saying, I have zero money to invest in this. I want to become an entrepreneur. They're usually becoming an entrepreneur because they need money. And maybe there's not jobs available or for whatever reason, they're in between jobs and they need it to create an opportunity for themselves. And so if you're in that situation, a product-based business that requires... A lot of upfront cash is going to be a nonstarter, right? And so because of that, that's why I usually recommend starting with the marketable skills you already have. So if you're great at marketing, or you're great at, you know, if you're an accountant or designer, right, like you can sell those services directly to customers and make, start making money right away.

• 6:27Speaker 02

  I think sometimes when people want to start a product-based business, or a business where they're building a piece of software or something like that, you know, some of those things might require more resources. But some of the best product-based businesses out there started with services. They were a service-based business. And by delivering services, which you can do for free, right? Because it's you doing the work. They realized, you know, oh, we can create this product to solve this problem. And then the service business funded the creation of the product.

• 6:58Marielle Segarra?

  All right, takeaway two. You don't need to have a lot of money to start a business, particularly if you're offering your services and a skill set you already have. If you want to start a product-based business where you're making a physical object and selling it, that can require some big bucks at the jump. But not always. It can help to offer pre-orders, where people can put in a request for your product, let's say a T-shirt, and pay upfront, and then you deliver it later. Also, consider starting with a services business, and then using the earnings from that to fund a product-based business down the line. So in the book, you talk about a business idea that could really take off as a million-dollar offer?

• 7:39Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 7:40Marielle Segarra?

  Why did you call it that?

• 7:42Speaker 02

  Well, because I want people to think bigger. I think sometimes people start businesses and they sort of go freelance, right? And so they're like, I'm a freelance worker, here's what I can do. And that's the only way they think. So they, once they reach the end of their time, once they've filled up their time with enough clients, then they're done, right? And that's, that's the max that they can do. And sometimes, filling up their time doesn't mean that they've filled up their wallet, right? So sometimes your time is full as a freelancer, but you still don't have enough to cover your expenses, to, to save for the future, to invest in your retirement one day. And so I want young people to create a job for themselves that goes beyond just hitting

• 8:25Speaker 02

  the bare minimums, but actually takes care of them long-term, and that could potentially employ other people. And when you think million-dollar offer, you're creating something that you're not limiting yourself based on your time.

• 8:36Marielle Segarra?

  You have a set of requirements, basically, for what a million dollar offer needs to be. The first is that a million dollar offer will provide a transformation.

• 8:49Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 8:49Marielle Segarra?

  What does that mean?

• 8:51Speaker 02

  It means you have to transform someone from where they're at right now to where they want to be. A person, an organization, whatever it might be. And so if you think about why we purchase things, we purchase things to transform. So in the simplest terms, an example would be, right now, I'm hungry. And I want to no longer be hungry. I want to be satisfied, right? And so then I'm going to go buy lunch from someplace. And maybe I'm buying a quick sandwich because I want a fast lunch, right? Or maybe I'm sitting down at a fancy place with a friend because I want a special lunch. And so it's just a simple transformation from hungry to no longer hungry. The reason why people might buy a designer purse is because, you know, they feel like, oh, I don't want just a regular purse. I want to feel more chic.

• 9:36Speaker 02

  And so they transform from maybe just regular fashion sense to a more, you know, elevated fashion sense. And so whatever we buy, whether it's, you know, I want to improve my marriage. I want to improve my parenting. I want to make more money. I want to learn how to take better care of myself. Whatever it is that we're trying to do, we want to transform. And so I want people to think about the transformation that their potential clients will be going through, because that's really what you're selling at the end of the day.

• 10:04Marielle Segarra?

  And do you have to be the first business to provide this particular transformation?

• 10:10Speaker 02

  No, in fact, I prefer that you're not the first business. Sometimes when you're the first person to have ever had that idea, that can suggest that there's not a market for that idea. Usually, great businesses, there's other people out there, right? You know, so there's not just one eye doctor in the world, right? There's not just one dentist in the world. And in the same way, there's not just one provider of all of the different services that a business can provide.

• 10:38Marielle Segarra?

  Okay, so the second thing that your business idea needs is that it has to be in demand. It has to be something people actually want. How can we figure that out?

• 10:48Speaker 02

  It needs to be a problem that people want to solve and that people are willing to put money and effort into solving. Usually, the best business ideas are going to come from an entrepreneur who might be experiencing that themselves. Maybe they've watched their parents experience it, or someone else in their life experienced the same problem. And so they have an acute awareness of the problem and the need for a solution to that problem. So that's always going to be best. But you don't want to try to sell something that isn't in demand. For example, you know, this probably would work now, but years ago, I was familiar with an entrepreneur who created a course on how to beat a particular video game.

• 11:33Speaker 02

  So a whole program, and it was a couple thousand dollars. And it didn't sell. And that's not surprising because it wasn't in demand, right? The parents are not going to pay thousands of dollars for their kids to learn how to beat a video game. They might pay that for their kid to learn a particular skill that will help them in life, but they're not going to do that to beat a video game, right? It's not an important enough problem that people are willing to pay money to solve.

• 11:55Marielle Segarra?

  And you say in the book, you may need to test a few ideas in the marketplace before you land on the one that really works.

• 12:03Speaker 02

  Absolutely. So it might be, you know, that you do it for free, that you have some market research calls, where you have calls with people who are the kinds of people who have the problem you're looking to solve, and just get on the phone with a few of them and talk to them about their problem and ask them what solution they're looking for, ask them what they've tried before, ask them how much it's costing them to not solve this problem, and then just pitching the offer and saying, hey, this is the solution I have to the problem I've heard you talk about. Are you interested? And whether or not they buy is great information. Ask them why not? Why don't you want to buy this? Is it not worth it? Is the price too high? Do you not believe I can solve the problem? Is this not an important enough problem to pay money to solve? Right? That's great information.

• 12:48Speaker 02

  That's where the real good information is. I think sometimes we spend all of this time thinking about it and never actually doing it.

• 12:58Marielle Segarra?

  All right. Takeaway three, your million dollar offer, or your successful business idea, should provide a transformation. It should also be something that people actually want. After the break, I talked to Rachel about the other qualities that make a successful business idea.

• 13:20Speaker 00

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• 14:08Speaker 03

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• 14:13Marielle Segarra?

  Okay, we're back with Rachel Rodgers, talking about how to come up with an idea for a business. Rachel, you say the idea should provide a transformation, and it should also be in demand. And then the third requirement is that this idea has to be enjoyable for you. Like, whatever you're doing, you have to enjoy it. Let's talk about that.

• 14:31Speaker 02

  Yes, people are always surprised by this one, but I have worked with thousands of entrepreneurs over many years, and I have seen this proven time and time again. If you're having fun doing what you do, if you're lit up by your work, if you feel that you're naturally good at it, and it appeals to the way that you really enjoy working, you don't have to fight yourself every day to show up. You don't have to have so much discipline to show up every day. You're just going to show up and do the work, and be excited by the work, and continue to do it. And that's what leads to successful businesses. It's that commitment and commitment. Consistency. And so this is really about how do I find something that I can stick with long enough to actually see it be a success?

• 15:14Speaker 02

  Because I think unfortunately, most people do dread their work. A lot of people do have the Sunday scaries and don't want to go to work the next day. And so if you can find a job that you don't dread, that's what we're looking for here.

• 15:28Marielle Segarra?

  Well, the fourth requirement of this million dollar offer or this business idea that could take off is that it has to be scalable. So what does that mean?

• 15:39Speaker 02

  Yes. Scalable is one of those words that's really like, it's hard to define. How do we know whether something is scalable? And so I try to define it in three different ways, just to make it obvious for people. So it's something that you could deliver one to many, right? And an example would be, you know, Beyonce sings a new song that she's created, and she's not going to sing it in our living rooms every day for us, right? And she's not going to perform it every day. She's going to record it, and then we get to listen to the recordings over and over and over. So it's a one-to-many style offer. The other way to make an offer scalable is to build a team. So if you've got a service business, for example, this might be like an agency model where maybe you're the person that, you know, does design work for your customers,

• 16:24Speaker 02

  and you want to expand, and so you hire another designer. And then they can help you deliver some of the design work. And then before you know it, it's a team of 10 designers. And, you know, maybe you're still designing, or maybe you're now managing the team. That's what I did in my law firm. I hired other lawyers so that, you know, together we could do more work than I could do by myself. So it's really just thinking like, how can I make this one-to-many? Or how could I build a team that could help me deliver this, and I don't have to do it by myself?

• 16:55Marielle Segarra?

  Takeaway four: Your business idea should be something you enjoy. Now, as Rachel says in her book, that doesn't mean it needs to be the most exciting thing you've ever done. It doesn't need to make you sob with joy. It does not need to be your greatest passion in all of life forever and ever. It just needs to be somewhat enjoyable. Also, the idea should be scalable, so it can grow beyond you. How do you figure out realistically what you could charge for this service or this product?

• 17:26Speaker 02

  Well, it's based on value, right? It's about thinking through what is the value that someone is going to get from working with you? Let's say you're offering tutoring that's helping kids get really great grades on standardized tests that allow them to get into better colleges. So you have to think of the end goal. Maybe it's, you know, you're thinking, oh, well, it's five tutoring sessions and I'm going to charge them $100 per session, so it's $500. That's one way to think about it. Or maybe another way to think about it is after these five sessions, they're going to, you know, get a grade that is 300 points higher. With a 300 points higher grade on this test, they're going to be able to get into this

• 18:08Speaker 02

  tier of colleges and this tier of colleges is going to lead to this level of salary, right? And so you start thinking through what is the end game for this and what actually matters to the client? And then, you know, you could charge based on the value. So what is the value to a parent of helping their kid get into the best school possible?

• 18:27Marielle Segarra?

  And then I imagine you're also going to want to think through what your expenses will be.

• 18:32Speaker 02

  Correct. Typically with this type of business, if you're just getting started, even if it's a side hustle for someone, usually your main expense is you, right? It's your time that is going to be most of the expense if you're the one delivering it as you get started. Usually we're not starting with 10 employees and an office and all kinds of overhead. Maybe it's the cost of getting a simple website up and delivering your services directly. Maybe you need a computer, you know, to be able to do that and you don't have one now, things like that. But for the most part, if you're starting a service business, there's not a lot of expenses involved to get started. And in fact, when, you know, clients come to me and say, well, I don't have a lot of money to invest in starting my business. And I say, good.

• 19:16Speaker 02

  And the reason is, is when you're a new entrepreneur, you waste a lot of money on things that you absolutely do not need. So I'm glad you have no money to invest in this business because that means you don't have money to waste on this business and you can really spend your time, using your time, right, to get paid. And then, once you start making money, then you can take some of that money and start reinvesting in the business if it makes sense.

• 19:41Marielle Segarra?

  Takeaway five, when you come up with a business idea, you want to make sure it's something that can actually make you money. So think about what value you're offering to your potential customers and what they might be willing to pay for your service or product. Also, consider your expenses. If you're spending a boatload of money to make something or provide a particular experience, you're going to need to charge a boatload of money for that thing. Otherwise, you'll be losing money or barely breaking even. You know, some folks, whether they're just out of high school or just out of college, or maybe they lost a job, they were laid off, they're currently applying for jobs in a certain industry, but they already have a skill set.

• 20:23Marielle Segarra?

  So I wonder like how to decide if you should keep applying for jobs, like a nine to five job, for instance, versus trying to start a business offering that service, those skills.

• 20:38Speaker 02

  Well, I think you can do both at the same time. So I highly recommend that people build a business as a side hustle instead of their full thing. And that way, they can take their time really building it out and do it in a smart and strategic way, rather than a pressured way of like, I've got to make this income by this time. So I say, keep the day job if you have one. If you don't have one and you're looking for one, yes, actively look for one, but you can also be actively looking for clients. And I will say too, I think it's important for people to know that when I graduated during the recession as a brand new lawyer, I was struggling to find the kinds of jobs that I really wanted. And so I started my practice. I went solo.

• 21:22Speaker 02

  And within a couple of years of going solo, I started getting tons of job offers. Like firms were coming to me and saying, hey, we'd love to recruit you. And they just, what they were offering wasn't better than what I already had. And so I turned them down. But there were definitely lots of opportunities that came from me pursuing my own business. And I've seen this happen for my clients as well. So it might be that the way that you wind up getting your dream job is by building it as your business first and then getting noticed in the industry.

• 21:52Marielle Segarra?

  Yeah, I love that. I'm a big believer in like, when the doors aren't opening for you, just try to start doing the work in any way you can. I've seen that pan out for me in my career. Like, I was at a financial trade magazine for a few years and I really wanted to be working in radio, but I wasn't getting radio jobs. I had radio experience, but just as an unpaid intern and in college. And so I bought equipment, which cost me maybe like $800 at the time. But I knew that when I pitched freelance pieces, they would say to me, what kind of equipment do you have? So I bought the equipment and then I pitched

• 22:34Marielle Segarra?

  a few freelance pieces and I got them on, you know, like WNYC and WHYY. And I only did maybe three. And then there was a job that opened at WHYY and I had some clips to show them and I had worked with them. And then I got that job. But it felt like, okay, I need to start doing the work that I'm really excited about.

• 22:56Speaker 02

  Exactly right. This is what I want. How can I get there? Right? What are my angles? This door is closed? Okay, great. Let me try this other angle. Who else do I know? Who can help me? Right? And just having that energy, you're going to be successful when you approach whatever you approach with that energy.

• 23:12Marielle Segarra?

  Rachel, thank you so much. This has been a great conversation.

• 23:15Speaker 02

  Thank you so much.

• 23:16Marielle Segarra?

  I learned a lot. It's exciting. Like, even thinking about it is exciting.

• 23:20Speaker 02

  Yay! I love that. This is my litmus test. If the interviewer is excited, then that's a good sign.

• 23:30Marielle Segarra?

  All right, time for a recap. Takeaway one, when you're brainstorming ideas for a business, think about what you're good at, what you love, and what you have to offer the world. Takeaway two, you don't need to have a lot of money to start a business, particularly if you're offering your services and a skill set that you already have. Takeaway three, your million dollar offer or your successful business idea should provide a transformation and it should be in demand. Takeaway four, this thing should be something you enjoy and it should be scalable. And takeaway five, your business idea should be able to make you money. Think about the value you're offering to your potential customers, what they might be willing to pay, and then consider your expenses and how much you'll

• 24:12Marielle Segarra?

  net in the end. Also, if you're currently unemployed, remember that you can apply for jobs and start a business, offering your services at the same time. Often doing one can help you do the other.

• 24:26Marielle Segarra?

  And that's our show. By the way, did you know that Life Kit has its own newsletter? I think you're going to like it. We have so many smart, supportive listeners that send us great tips, and they are often featured in our weekly newsletter. If you want to be a part of that community, subscribe at npr.org/lifekitnewsletter. This episode of Life Kit was produced by Claire Marie Schneider. It was edited by Sylvie Douglas. Our visuals editor is Beck Harlan, and our digital editor is Malika Gharib. Megan Cain is our senior supervising editor, and Beth Donovan is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Tagle and Margaret Serino. Engineering support comes from Jay Siz. I'm Mary El Segarra. Thank you for listening, and good luck out there.

• 25:15Speaker 00

  Stay tuned for the following announcements and messages from our sponsors.