Chapter 2 -

Read: The Four-Way Test (shown below) is an ethical guide for Rotarians to use in their personal and professional relationships. Rotarians recite it at club meetings.

Discuss: Why is it important for business owners to live the 4 Way Test with their customers, suppliers, and employees?

Video: Selecting-the-right-business (click below)

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Review the list of business categories below. Choose the 3 that interest you most and that have customer needs you could potentially meet. If none of the categories interest you, type your own ideas into the Other box.

Your Name

First

Last

My #1 interest

My #2 interest

My #3 interest

Other (optional)

Notes

Customer Need #1

Customer Need #2

Customer Need #3

Business Opportunity #1

Business Opportunity #2

Business Opportunity #3

Step 3: Divide into pairs and share the list of business opportunities that you wrote down.

Read: To have a good business idea, you need to find a problem that people will pay you to solve. To know if people will pay for your product or service, you need to ask them about it. When you talk to people who might buy from you, you can see if there is enough interest to make your business work. Their thoughts and ideas can also help you make your business better. You should start asking people about your business idea right away, before you spend a lot of time or money on it. Many business owners have to try different ideas and make changes before they find one that works.

Remember, God has given each of us special abilities (D&C 46:11). Many successful business owners choose a business that matches their abilities, what they’re good at, what they love to do, and what they’re passionate about. They don’t do it just for money, but because they care about solving a problem or helping people. They often spend their free time thinking about their business because they want to make a positive change. This makes them work hard and stay focused on quality and doing their best, even when things get tough. Many successful business owners have experience working in their field or in a related field, or they have used the same products or services they now sell. This helps them know their competition, make important connections, and understand what customers need and what problems they have.

ACTIVITY (20 minutes)

Step 1: This activity will help you see how your likes and skills can turn into a good business idea. Answer these 5 questions on your own:

If I had a whole day to do what I wanted, what would I do?

Where can I use my talents to help others in a meaningful way?

What are 3 skills I have that I could use to make money?

What are 3 fields or jobs where I have a lot of experience or I’m really interested in?

What problems or needs are there in these fields that haven’t been fixed yet?

Step 2:

Pair up with someone. Share with your partner a problem or need that you’re really passionate about solving. It could be a problem or need that you have personal experience with or know a lot about.

Step 3: Based on the conversation you’ve just had, fill in the lines under “Passions and skills I have” in your Personal Business Planner (below).

My Passions

My Skills

Individual Activity

Think about your BEST customer. Be as specific as possible in describing your best customer, and write this information below each question:

My Best Customer

Age (Don’t say “all adults.” Be specific)

Gender? Do women or men usually decide to buy this product?

Marital status

Occupations of the BEST customers

How much money would you guess they make each month?

Where do they live?

How many people like them live in the area you will be selling to?

What is the personality like for the BEST customers?

What do they do for fun?

What is their family like? How many of them and what ages?

What is your customer good at doing?

What is your customer NOT good at doing?

What are their religious beliefs?

How does your customer spend their money?

How and where do they shop for the product or service you want to sell?

Do they already have a favorite place to buy the product you want to sell?

Why do they choose to buy from their favorite shop and not from another?

Group Discussion: Have a few group members quickly share some aspects of their best customer.

DOES MY BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY HAVE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

Read: All businesses have competitors, so your business needs to have a competitive advantage to earn a profit and keep customers. To have a competitive advantage, your business needs to be different or better than your competitors. A competitive advantage often provides an obstacle that makes it difficult for competitors to copy your service or product.

Your Email

Supervisor Name

First

Last

Supervisor Email

Divide into groups of three.

Step 1: Identify and discuss one or two competitive advantages in a business opportunity that you are considering (or in your current business). Write down the need or problem you’re going to solve under “Customer need or problem I will solve” in your Personal Business Planner below.

Step 2:

BUSINESS NOTEBOOK

Individual Activity

Think about five different businesses in your community that interest you and think about the specific competitive advantages they have. Record these advantages in your business notebook (below) and be prepared to share them with the group.

Five businesses that interest me are:

Which of these 5 business you selected have a competitive advantage like:

1- They earn high margins. Which of the 5 businesses can sell products at a high price with a low cost to make? Write names of these businesses below if they earn high margins.

2- Which are inflation-resistant? Inflation-resistant means that even when the economy goes bad people still need to buy from your business. For example, people must eat staple foods like corn meal or bread, even though they might stop buying candy. Write names of these businesses below if they are inflation resistant.

3- Which businesses sell to middle class or wealthy customers who have money and are not as sensitive to higher prices? Write names of these businesses below if they sell to middle class or wealthy customers.

4- Which cannot be easily copied by someone else? Write names of these businesses below if they cannot be easily copied.

5- Which businesses could have started small using market tests before spending a lot of time and money to start the business?

6- Which businesses offer a unique value that is clearly different from competitors? Write names of these businesses below. What is the unique value?

7- Which businesses are scalable? This means that it has the ability to increase revenue without an equal increase in costs. Airbnb created 1 website (an expense) that it can add many properties to without growing expenses? Write names of these businesses below if they are scalable.

8- Which businesses have long term financial viability? This means they can remain profitable even if the cost of inventory or supplies go up significantly or competition increases. Remember Airbnb, they do not carry inventory (their own hotel rooms), so they can easily adjust prices if the cost of hotel rooms goes up or down. However, a hotel business has a lot of risk because it costs a lot to build and maintain rooms. If a newer, better hotel is built next to theirs, the first hotel can only compete by lowering prices, which means they make lower profits and might run out of money long-term. Write names of these businesses below if they have long term financial viability to overcome hardships like strong new competitors or a bad economy or increased costs from suppliers.

Video: Talking To Business Owners (click below)

Commitment:

Talk with 3 business owners about (1) what their customers buy most (2) what do they do differently and better than their competition (3) how do they source your products?
Each day this week, record in your business notebook any unmet customer needs you observe. Create a list of your top five unmet customer needs in your business notebook and be prepared to share them with the group next week.

Top 5 unmet customer needs:

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