How did you choose your business area?

[Business Brian]

My big service is SEO - search engine optimisation services.

I never really planned to go into that - actually, I was on the verge of trying to become a general webhosting company, but then I was offered a decent contract to do SEO for a certain company.

Nowdays I'm looking at my options and have a couple of quite active forums in niche areas - good be very good places to set up ecommerce sites.

Point is - I seem to drift into business ideas and opportunities, rather than make cold calculated judgements on untapped business areas.

I guess in another sense - I work in the fields and areas that most interest me.

Would you agree this is the approach you've taken?

Or has anyone here simply jumped feet first into a market segment with little previous experience of it?

[Slashmire]

As a games programmer, I cannot say that I have jumped feet first into the "unknown"...but there were many aspects of the industry that I was not aware of; as of what the future hold, I do not know  , but I know that it'll be accomplished by a more radical move...

[OneofaKind]

I'm an HR professional, i started of doing temp work in different areas until I got to an area that I found interested in and enjoyed. I then went on to do my professional exams and develop a career

[Melos]

I found a product I really really liked, thought that other people would like it, and decided to sell (or try to sell) it to them. 

My most complete and actually running business is an ecommerce store that sells t-shirts.  Pretty basic, but effective and making me some money.

[solar]

This is going to sound funny if your brain doesn't work like mine...I'm a Gemini..I have varied interests that are all over the board and i get bored easily...on that note..

I chose businesses that would keep my interest
i chose to do something i understand and know, or believe I can learn easily enough
I chose variety for the plain fact that if i sit on one project only, i'll lose interest

It doesn't work for everyone, and my husband would go nuts, but it works well for me...
as for my books, i wrote those because i'm in an industry that lacks books for beginners...
(non-internet related)

[Grace]

If you get bored easily then you must chose something you're interested in and something somebody needs.  Then making money is a side product of that not a main focus.

[taiarain]

I'm a writer and I got into it because writing is an important part of my life.

Taia

[hokeshel]

I definately work in areas that interest me. It is so much easier than having to conjure up excitement about something and having to learn about a subject of which I probably have little knowledge.

[Melos]

That is a really good point.  If you try to get into business with something you know little about, you waste time (and therefore money) learning about the topic before you can convincingly sell something.

I have one website that is about something I really enjoy - flea market sales - but it is hardly a hot topic on the internet, so I don't expect to make much money from it.

[hokeshel]

 I guess that is where finding balance between doing what you enjoy and doing what can earn a  living comes in. I have one job that I do pretty much for money, but, I get to do it from home so that scores a lot of points for me and my others are for the love of the products, so I can share them with other people.