I spent decades, believing that the 'dream job' was something that the lucky few fell upon - until I took the plunge and started working for myself. It takes a little soul-searching, and some solid planning, but being your own boss can enable you to custom-build a job around your passions and abilities, and to find that elusive sense of fulfilment that keeps the business engine running.
But where to start?
Typically, when researching business ideas, we focus more on what we can do, rather than who we are, overlooking critical factors like personality traits, values and psychological barriers that all play a huge role in our personal and professional lives.
That's what I did - until finally, after years of feeling I was always in the wrong job, I decided it was time to shake up the process, and create my own 'dream job'.
A little background...
As a single parent, seeking a sense of fulfilment in work had seemed a luxury against the reality of paying bills. But even now, in my fifties and with two grown-up daughters, it didn't occur to me that joy could be a starting point for setting up my own business. I had always based my jobs on location, salary and skill set - and my skill set involved all the things I knew I didn't want. I'd had enough of high-pressure C-level roles, sleepless nights and cortisol-fuelled days.
With a background in business and psychology - and a chance reading on the Japanese philosophy, Ikigai, I took a small journey towards finding a business idea that fitted who I was as a person, and not just what I could do.
Thankfully, it worked:) So here it is - a simple approach I created and want to share in the hope it might help others to find their own Ikigai!
Ikigai in a nutshell
Flying home from a family visit, I picked up something to read at the airport to keep me from gripping the armrests for the 14-hour flight. The book was about Ikigai, a 1000-year-old Japanese philosophy which propounds the idea of 'finding your bliss' through living a life of value and purpose. In short, this approach comes down to four simple things:
- Doing something you find joy in ...
- ...that you are good at
- ...which is of value to the world
- ...and that you can make money from.
By the time the lush, green hills of Scotland came into view, I had had a revelation; I wasn't just looking for a different way of working; I was looking for a different way of living.
If we want to feel joy in our work, we need to work with our passions; to feel competent, we must work to our strengths; to feel value, we need to be of value ... and all of this should be wrapped up in a business that people are happy to pay for.
Admittedly, it's not rocket science, but then, does it have to be?
I decided to use this philosophy, alongside some psychology and business strategy tools, to work out my next steps - and find a business idea that truly resonated with who I was and what I loved doing.
Below is the process I created, alongside some personal narrative to help you understand the process in context.
1. Identify your passions and skills
Your Passions
What you do to relax, or have fun are often persevering pursuits that you return to, time and again. In positive psychology, this is called 'psychological flow'. These tend to be activities that you completely lose yourself in, absorbed to the point that you're unaware of what's going on around you. By starting with your passions to find business ideas - directly or indirectly related - you are more likely to sustain your enjoyment of what you do, long after the initial rush of running your own business has waned.
Make a list of things that bring you joy: your passions, hobbies and interests.
Your Skills
Your skills are obviously the ideal starting point for your business, but they may also be transferrable to other startup ideas that you come up with. Having them ready in your arsenal will help you find potential workarounds for challenging areas later in the process.
These skills and passions don't have to be work-related. We're talking about you as a human being, not as a business owner. That can come later.
Write down things that you're good at - skills and competencies gained through life or work experience, or through study.
As I'm using my journey here to illustrate, here were my top four skills and passions ...
Now we will use these to do some full-on brainstorming ...
2. Generate your business ideas
The heuristic ideation technique (HIT for short), is a fantastically simple idea, developed by Edward Tauber, father of Brand Extension Research. It's incredibly effective for coming up with new ideas quickly as part of any good brainstorming session.
Draw up a grid, inserting your passions down one column and skills across the top row.
It's best to keep the grid small - around 4 columns/rows at a time. Then, combine each to generate startup ideas that involve both a passion and a skill. Importantly, another part of Ikigai is the concept of going with the flow, so it's important not to pre-judge or restrict ideas for the moment.
Here's my original grid ...
| BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT | WEB DEVELOPMENT | TRAINING/ COACHING | PSYCHOLOGY /THERAPY | |
| ART | CREATIVE AGENT | WEBSITE DEVELOPER FOR ARTISTS | FUN ART CLASSES FOR ADULTS | ART THERAPIST |
| TRAVELLING | FREELANCE TOURISM BUSINESS DEV CONSULTANT | TRAVEL WRITER (BLOGGER) | MOBILE ART CLASSES | MOBILE/ONLINE COUNSELLOR |
| WRITING | BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BLOGGER | COPYWRITER/ WEB CONTENT CREATION | FREELANCE COURSE DEVELOPER | SELF-HELP WRITER |
BUSINESS | BUSINESS START-UP CONSULTANT | WEBSITE DEVELOPER FOR STARTUPS | BUSINESS STARTUP TRAINING COACH | BUSINESS MENTOR |
3. Filter through and shortlist top ideas
The beauty of the first brainstorming step is that, by leaving your judgment at the door, you can come up with some pretty creative ideas you might not otherwise think of. Try this process as often as you like, then shortlist those that resonate with you. However, don't analyse them too much at this point - some left-field ideas could have great business potential if they are tweaked a little!
Shortlist those ideas which you feel have potential or which resonate with you.
My Shortlist
Having gone through the HIT process a few times, with various other interests, I came up with around 30 business ideas - some of them, solid, others, real doozers:) After eliminating ‘Mystic Web developer’ and ‘Plant therapist’, amongst others, I settled on the following:
Creative Agent for new artists
Mobile art classes for adults (BYOB)
Art therapist
Travel writer/blogger
Web content creation
Now that you have an exhaustive list of business ideas let's look at which of your business ideas fit with who you are as a person.
4. Revisit your personal values
Personal values are so undermined, and many of us live for decades with values we have acquired as children and never revisit. This can mean that we are looking in the wrong places for fulfilment and can't understand why we don't find it. What we often don't realise is that personal values are not static; they change as we go through life and experience new things.
I connected with my personal values for the first time during this process and realised why I had felt so 'trapped' by the jobs and life situations I'd been choosing. Far from learned beliefs around 'respectability', 'obedience, and 'conforming' I valued almost the opposite - creativity, freedom, and innovation. For me, all of my chosen ideas fit perfectly; they all required an element of creative thought, and could all be designed to include the freedom of travelling.
Even if you have already settled on your business idea, I'd say spending time looking into your values is essential. They can help or hinder your business dramatically, so understanding how they impact you may change how you develop your ideas.
Take some time, and write down what you feel matters most in life.
You can learn more about how to find your personal values if you're not sure where to start. Then, compare your business ideas, and find which fits them best.
5. Consider the value of your ideas to others
A key part of the Ikigai philosophy lies in doing something valuable to the world. Now, a little chronological and cultural relativism is needed here, as chopping logs or making pots doesn't translate for everyone in today's western world. However, the same basic principles of doing something the world needs still stand. And the ripple effects of 'good business' travel far - whether it's a social enterprise or a sole trader with strong ethics.
For example, do each of your shortlisted businesses make life easier or better for others? Perhaps offering them security, entertainment, well-being or more free time? Together with your personal values, knowing your value to the world can be the thing that gets you through difficult times and builds your resilience to keep going - and, as importantly, enables you to come from a genuine and authentic place in your business.
List briefly what local or global needs your business ideas can fulfil.
This is not your business offer (eg., counselling) but rather what your offer means to them (eg., well-being, or healing).
6. Call out your dealbreakers
What parts of running your own business put a knot in your stomach? These are often the very reasons people shy away from taking up self-employment. So let's meet them head-on, instead.
Too often, we ignore the signs of overburdening or over-challenging ourselves in our working lives until it's too late. The simple truth is that not all challenges are 'opportunities to grow'. Working for yourself enables you to navigate elements of your business that don't align with your abilities, to keep yourself healthy and prevent burnout.
If we identify and address our known fears before we start, we will have greater capacity to manage unknown issues that arise later.
Dealbreaker v Doable
Of course, every business will have tasks that you don't like. These are not dealbreakers. And if a dull or difficult - but doable - task is not a core part of your offer, then you can probably handle it in small doses. Working for yourself is often impetus enough to get through the frogs on your to-do list.
What we're looking at here are elements that are so far outside your comfort zone or skill set that they compel you to drop the idea. Don't be too hasty!
Write down likely tasks within your business idea that cause you concern. Look at each in-depth, and rate them by the following:
Dealbreaker - Things you absolutely won't or can't do.
Tolerate - You have the skills/experience, you just don't like it
Work on - with a little time and effort, these will be ok
My personal dealbreakers ...
Having spent a long time working in roles that were just not me, I listed what I knew didn't fit with my personality, and which would seriously impact my business motivation:
- Managing staff (I prefer to collaborate with associates rather than hire)
- Public speaking (unless I'm delivering training!)
- Repetitive roles (ADHD brain needs fresh challenges)
Note: 'giving up' rather than 'growing and learning' around certain challenges might seem defeatist! But if there are certain aspects of a business concept that you know simply lie outside of your abilities - even with time and effort, acknowledging these can help you shape ideas to work to your strengths from the outset.
8. Finding workarounds
Consider the tasks from the list that seriously stress you out. Could you outsource them? Can you change the parameters of your business idea to circumnavigate them? Or perhaps partner with someone with these skills, knowledge or traits?
For example, if you're worried about your numeracy skills around invoice/proposal development, take a deep dive into current CRMs; tax, VAT, discounts, and instalment calculations are fully automated and negate the need to take off your socks to count:)
Perhaps, instead you are a gifted artisan with the organisational skills of a pug? Why not consider partnering up with someone part-time, or hiring a VA to take on some of your admin tasks for you? There are many in the gig economy (eg., Upwork, People per Hour) who provide services at a reasonable rate, and it may just be the difference between gaining and losing clients!
Take each dealbreaker in turn and consider how you might work around it. Try to remove your emotional attachment to each barrier to establish a practical approach, treating each as a problem to be solved rather than a critical judgement of your abilities. Use the HIT technique for this too.
7. Assess your business idea viability
Whilst a business idea may seem a perfect fit for you, it must naturally also be sustainable. Let's look at the final Ikigai element - commercial viability.
Consider the practical elements of your business idea in terms of:
Outlay - what costs will you have to start up? (e.g., training, equipment, etc.) What, if any, financial resources do you have? Are there cheaper ways to get what you need? (eg., second-hand equipment, funding for training,
Overheads - what regular costs will you have to factor in? (e.g., rent, insurance, etc) Depending on your business area, these can mount up. Be thorough and be brutal!
Available market - how much demand is there for your services? Do some online research, check with keywords, engage on social media, ask questions of those in know.
Competition - who else is doing it - and what makes you stand out? (your USP) Look at what rival outfits are doing, how they're selling, who they're selling to ...and how you could be better.
Target audience demographics - who will be using your services? Identify your customers by segmenting your audience, and considering their wants and needs.
Location - are you home-based, do you need an office, or will you be mobile? A business takes time to grow, so keep your costs low in the early days if possible.
You'll also want to consider other practical considerations, such as family and financial commitments, long-term plans, and health.
My viability check
From the list, I now had a few good ideas that sounded feasible. Now, it was time to look at how workable each would be from a business perspective. Whilst your selection will likely be wildly different from mine, my workings below will hopefully provide some insights:
Art Therapist
This could be the ultimate form of my Ikigai, helping others with my passions for art and psychology. However, looking into professional art therapy qualifications, I found that the cost was around £16K for the most basic certification of a 2-year course. In total, an MA would be around £22K and 3 years’ study - not viable.
Online Counsellor
Instantly, this had a lot of mileage for me; I had enjoyed running a psychotherapy training centre and already had a background in psychology and counselling. Moreover, it aligned with the Ikigai concept of world value. However, researching further, there were significant time factors around additional training, and the huge issue of time needed to build reputational momentum sufficient to survive. I removed this option from my list.
Content Creation/Business Coach
These ideas played to my skills and experience, and incorporated, jointly my passion for all things business. Further, they could be in motion immediately. I combined both - creating content for businesses and providing advice as an organic part of my service. I researched the current landscape, what others were doing, and who they were targeting. Despite having worked across both for over 20 years in one guise or another, I had a bit of catching up to do, but that was ok. I moved
Write a basic business plan
Opinions can vary dramatically on the value of a business plan, but it is, hands down, the most effective way to get a clear outline of your aims and objectives, opportunities and barriers, and critically, business concept viability. Using a business plan, you methodically work through every aspect of your setup and leave far less to chance. It doesn't have to be fancy, and you don't have to spend weeks doing it.
Download the free business plan template from Business Gateway to get started. You will likely dip into different areas with concrete ideas, and this will help to inform other elements of the plan. However, as you get deeper into the details, other factors will crop up. For this reason, wait until you've completed the key concepts of the business plan before diving into the financial projections. (The viability check, above, should provide a general idea of whether the business is likely to viable, with outlay costs, available savings, etc).
Have you found your Ikigai?
Hopefully, you will now have a workable business idea that encompasses your skills, passions, and values. Of course, finding a sense of fulfilment in work depends upon so many factors that are unique to you. Take a breath; imagine yourself on a normal day in your new business. Does your business idea pass the Ikigai test? Does it involve something you love, that you're good at, that is needed and viable?
If it does, perhaps it's time to make your move 🙂
My next steps ...
At the end of this process, I shelved my books, binned my notes and reviewed my business plan. Content creation ticked all of my Ikigai boxes and seemed a viable path to finding that yearned-for sense of fulfilment. It would be something I loved, that I was good at, and that had value to others. There was only one thing left to do: launch.
That week, I started working freelance alongside my day job on various online job platforms. My client base grew rapidly - with good people I wanted to work with (another perk of working for yourself!). Possibly for the first time, my genuine passion and enthusiasm for my craft, burned brightly. And, finally, I took the plunge. Handing in my notice at my daytime job - and suffering a few (ok, many) sleepless nights - I set up Blue Moose; a modest, happy business which gets me out of bed in the morning with a smile - rather than a panic attack.
Of course, there have been some real clangers over the last eight years, and occasionally, things will dull my sparkle. But it has all been worth it - so far. And I think I could honestly say I've found my Ikigai.
I hope you do, too:)
Want to know more? Head over to my Blue Moose - Travel Edtion blog for more startup insights and musings about being a self-employed part-time vanlifer.
