June 28th, 2006 by 
Brandon Hopkins Find Your Business Focus.
You have the dream; however, in order to turn that dream into a reality you must pin it down, make it specific. Not only that, you must decide how much effort you are willing to put into achieving your goal and how much risk you are willing to take. You will be asked to put your money on the line but more than that you will be asked to put yourself on the line. Are you willing to do that? Can you take the criticism that comes with having ideas? Do you have the strength to shoulder the responsibility that comes with ownership? Have you considered the possibility of failure? Before you face the business world, you must face yourself. You must discover if you are up to the hard work required to realize your objectives.
There are three reasons most people want to own their own businesses: Money, freedom and control. Many would be entrepreneurs see only these three rewards, not the planning, hard work and peril that a person often encounters when striving to reach the prizes. Therefore, before investing money or time in a business plan, it would be wise to put thought into a life plan; to discover if you really want to spend your energy and resources to strike out on your own. Sitting down for a few hours in a quiet space with a pen and a notepad is a good place to start your journey.
What are your goals?
• Start with a little free form thinking. Don’t try to organize the process just let it flow. What things are most important to you? Family? Friends? A social life? Political involvement? Financial rewards? Houses? Cars? Travel? Free time? Control of your life? Try writing your own obituary. How do you want to be remembered? After a few minutes, stop writing. Read your musings. You may be startled to find a pattern. What does that pattern say about the kind of life you want?
• Now think about how to go about getting what you want. What do you have to do now to put where you want to be next year? Five years from now? Ten years from now? Twenty years from now?
• The next step is to objectify your thinking. State your vision and identify what you will need to do to claim it. Don’t make the mistake of just having an idea in your mind accompanied by hazy goals. Write it all down. Craft a personal mission statement and list specific ways by which you will bring it to fruition.
You have now clarified what you want to do and the things you will have to do to accomplish your goal. With this concrete definition in hand, it is now time to refine your idea and to develop it into a format which can be presented to potential investors.