When trying to come up with new business ideas, you need to have diversity in your life, which includes knowing a wide-ranging group of people who will help you foster new ways of looking at the world and open your eyes to new opportunities.

Here are some tips on finding people outside your immediate circle who are good to listen to so you can get more seeds that might grow into business ideas:

1. Tradeshows and Conferences

If you are lucky enough to live in a city that has a convention center, you should use that opportunity. Look at the calendar of events to identify some that might interest you and go. Chatting with exhibitors and talking to other attendees can help you understand things about an industry that would otherwise take you a long time to research. Ask questions, listen and look for additional resources.

2. Business Groups

I am talking about organizations like chambers of commerce, trade associations, local meet up groups of a particular profession or business subject. Unlike professional organizations that require membership fees or professional accreditation, simple meet up groups are a great place to start.

3. Professional Development Organizations

These organizations can help you develop yourself by allowing you to associate with other people who have a similar mindset of improving themselves. A successful example of these kinds of organizations are mastermind groups. These groups are not a class or a networking group. Instead they are platforms that can offer a great combination of peer accountability, education and creative thinking in a supportive environment. A mastermind group can help you develop your professional and personal skills at the same time. Another organization that can introduce you to interesting people is Toastmasters International.

4. Service and Civic Organizations

These are groups like Rotary International, Kiwanis or Lions. These groups are dedicated to serving both their local communities, as well as undertaking international endeavors like eradicating certain diseases.

I do not recommend joining these groups unless you really want to enlist for serving the main purpose(s) of the group. (If you really do want to support the many great causes they stand for, definitely join.) But, even if you don’t want to enroll in them, you should at least go to some of their events as a guest to learn more about what they do and meet interesting people from diverse backgrounds.

5. Business Networking Events

Each city with more than a few thousand people should have multiple business organizations that hold business networking events. These events can cover a variety of subjects like investment, software, biotech or franchising. There are expensive ones and inexpensive ones, boring ones and not-so-boring ones and, of course, there are those weird ones, i.e. “Keep Austin Weird.”

Going to these meetings without any specific agenda like selling something, looking for a job or finding an investor is a great advantage, especially if you ask smart questions and are ready to genuinely listen to people. You will expand your world by meeting many people who could potentially bring a lot of value to your life.

6. Self-Improvement Events

There is nothing like being around people that want to improve themselves and are open to suggestions to do so. That is why I love these events. I compare it to running a marathon versus running on a treadmill in your home. Sure, you could run the equivalent of a marathon on a treadmill inside your home, but the chances of doing so are slim because there are no other people around to keep you motivated. But, when you are at an actual marathon, there are tons of people vying for the same goal you are, which keeps you motivated and inspired.

It’s the same kind of motivation and inspiration you find at self-improvement events. When you are surrounded by people who all share your goal of self-improvement, it’s much easier to get into that mindset of making yourself a better person. And all the speakers and other people you meet and get the opportunity to listen to will be a bonus. Keep in mind that this only really applies to the events you go to in person. The online ones just don’t have that same atmosphere (in fact, they really don’t have any atmosphere).

Diversifying the range of people you interact with can open you up to a whole host of new viewpoints and information that can turn into seeds of thoughts that will (hopefully) lead to you coming up with a great business idea. At the very least, you will meet some amazing people and expand your knowledge, so it will be worth it no matter what.

Where do you recommend entrepreneurs go to diversify their social circle?

The post Diversify Your Social Circle: The 6 Best Places Entrepreneurs Can Meet Influential People appeared first on Cross Ocean Ventures.

Deciding to start a company is the first step toward entrepreneurship for most people. But, you also have to decide what type of business you are going to start.

Here are two types of business first-time entrepreneurs generally start and the pros and cons of each. (Note that I’m only talking about independent companies here and not franchises.)

Lifestyle Companies

These businesses are set up and run by people who have a passion to be in a particular industry, who want to be their own boss and earn a decent income from their own business. Growth isn’t a huge priority for these companies. Doing something that you will love for the rest of your working life is the top priority.

Examples of lifestyle companies include:

• coffee houses or restaurants;
• niche retailers and service providers; and
• niche product manufacturers.

Pros:

There is little pressure to grow these companies. Obviously, they need to grow enough to be sustainable and make a profit, but once they’ve hit a comfortable level, they don’t need to constantly be thinking about getting bigger. They just need to address any threats in the market.

Another big pro about running a small lifestyle business is the fun of working in an industry you really want to be in.

Cons:

Since these businesses tend to stay small, it can be real struggle to keep them going through rough patches in the market. You don’t have the resources of a big company to ride out major fluctuations.

There’s also a real chance that you might suffer from burnout if you’re in an industry for a long time and you haven’t grown to the point where you can step away from the company and hire a competent team to run it.

A lifestyle business usually isn’t going to bring in massive amounts of revenue, so when it comes time to exit the business, they generally don’t sell for huge sums of money.

Build-Up Companies

Unlike a lifestyle company, a build-up company is not started to support an individual’s lifestyle, but to make a change in an industry or create value for the founders and shareholders with some sort of exit strategy in mind, preferably a sale of the company.

Growth is a priority for these companies and the ultimate goal would be to grow the company so it is valuable enough to be purchased by a larger corporation for a handsome profit.

Examples of buildup companies are:

Any type of business that can be grown. Usually, these companies will sell one type of product or offer one type of service for as long as they’re in business. They are often purchased by larger corporations and kept as a subsidiary of the purchasing corporation or they go public.

Pros:

If you’ve managed to identify a gap in the market and grow your business well, it could net you a handsome profit.

Burnout isn’t likely because build-up companies are meant to grow to the point where a founder can hire a team to run the company. If the business owners grow it properly, they won’t own it indefinitely, which will allow them to retire or move onto other projects.

Cons:

Since these businesses are started with the goal of eventually selling them or passing them along to family members, growth is always a key priority. This constant focus on getting bigger can get weary, especially if the company doesn’t grow quickly.

If the company isn’t in an industry the founder is particularly passionate about, it seems much more like work than if the founder was starting it purely out of a desire to get into that industry.

Growing a company quickly and efficiently enough to sell it for profit requires stellar leadership and business skills. If you are not a natural leader or you lack business acumen, it can be a real struggle getting this type of business to flourish.

Which one is for you?

Deciding which type of company would work better for you depends on whether you want to build something with the potential to provide you with some equity and establish a sort of legacy (build-up) or if you would rather have a modest income, but do something you love (lifestyle).

If you’ve identified a gap in a market that you feel confident you can exploit, getting a build-up company off the ground quickly can lead to relatively swift success. If you just want to turn one of your hobbies into a business, that can just as easily lead to a successful entrepreneurial career.

For the lucky ones, they will identify a gap in a market that they are truly passionate about and reap the benefits of both.

The post Doing What You Love or Leaving a Lasting Legacy? Deciding Which Type of Startup is Right for You appeared first on Cross Ocean Ventures.