The February issue of INC proclaims it knows “The Best Industries for Starting a Business Right Now”. They list exactly four: fraud-detection software, drone manufacturing, biometric scanning software, and corporate wellness. Three of the four would fall on my “Worst Industries for Starting a Business Right Now.” Only one – corporate wellness – has legitimate potential for new entrepreneurs. If your “Great Idea” falls in one of the industries on my worst list, be sure to score it against the 16 characteristics of a great idea, as spelled out in my webinar. Your idea will probably flunk on too many points to make your plan viable, unless you have a truly out-of-the-box angle. Corporate Wellness is very intriguing for several reasons. There are several openings that can be exploited to gain a foothold and grow a business.
Fraud detection software, Drone Manufacturing, and Biometric Scanning Software fail on several counts. First, they all have relatively high capital costs to get started. This is especially true in the Drone Manufacturing industry. Yet, because it’s possible to create competitive software with a roomful of programmers, the capital requirements will be less than manufacturing. On the other hand, a crew of expert coders isn’t cheap either. All three markets are already crowded so any first mover advantage is already gone. A big challenge will be to come up with a novel angle that will distinguish a startup from the established competition. Even if a unique idea can be imagined, will it be enough to prevent copy cats? Marketing will not be cheap, either. Considering all these barriers it’s puzzling to me that INC would pick these three industries as the “best for starting a business right now.”
Corporate Wellness is different story. While the market is also crowded, it is huge. Ideals are everywhere and can be easily identified. With the appropriate expertise in the field, a novel approach can be devised. The cost of marketing to get started is relatively low. Capital requirements and overhead are much lower, too. With a solid plan advocates can be developed more easily. It seems like a much better industry for new entrants than the other three.
A large market with a rapid growth rate is always helpful. It’s also true that virtually every market can be welcoming to the right entrepreneur. It just takes a great idea and the complete entrepreneurial mindset.
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