In this Ask Evan episode, Evan Carmichael answers a viewer’s question about how to decide what business to start. He emphasizes that the most successful entrepreneurs choose a path they are passionate about and that can make a significant impact, rather than chasing money first. He advises listeners to identify their interests, hobbies, or activities they already do for free that help others, and consider how those can be turned into a business. Evan shares his own experience of creating free video content for entrepreneurs, which he loves doing, and how he built a backend business model around it, occasionally earning sponsorships. He warns that when money is the primary goal, businesses often stay small or fail, whereas providing high value leads to proportional revenue. He encourages viewers to reflect on what they would do even without pay, build a business around that, and share their own stories in the comments.
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Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael. Welcome to another edition of Ask Evan. In today's episode, I'm going to answer a question from one of my newsletter readers, Hopson, who wants to start a business but isn't sure what business to start and wanted my advice on how to get started. So Hopson, thanks for the question. I think it's a lot— there's a lot of people who go through that same thing and trying to figure out what business do I want to start. The most important thing I think you could do is follow a business path that you're really passionate about and you think you can have a significant impact on. So if you look at all the famous entrepreneurs and how they got started, they always talk about not the money that they're going after, but the impact that they hope to have. They have a vision of the world that they want to see, and they can make that happen. They think they can help a lot of people. So providing value and helping people is at the core of every successful business. So what is it that you're really excited about, you're really interested in, and you think you can really help people with, and then how can you build a business around that. So look at things that you're passionate about, look at things that are your hobbies, think about things that you do for free anyway to help other people, and is there a way to turn that into a business or not. For me, for example, I love helping entrepreneurs, and I do a lot of work helping entrepreneurs, and I make these videos helping entrepreneurs. Most of the stuff that I do, even these videos, I don't get paid to make these videos. I love helping entrepreneurs and making these videos is something that I love doing. I look forward to every week when I'm making these videos, putting them together. Now some of them I do get paid for, that might be sponsored, but most of the stuff that I do building up the content is free and I do it because I really love doing it and I've been able to build a backend business model around it. So what do you love to do? What would you do even if you weren't getting paid for it and is there a way to turn that into a business opportunity? So that's where I would start. A lot of entrepreneurs start the other way around. They look for just a way to make money. And if you look at the most successful entrepreneurs, they didn't start trying to make money. Yes, you need to make money as part of business, right? You need to put food on your table, you need to pay your bills, you need to live the lifestyle that you hopefully want to live. And that comes from having a successful business where you're making money. But money isn't the number one goal. Whenever money is your number one goal, you don't tend to see those businesses do very well. A lot of them will shut down. They may make enough just to kind of support, you know, a one-person shop, but you don't see them really taking off and becoming big businesses. So don't chase the money. You'll find a— you want to find a way to make money from your passion, but follow a path, follow something where you feel you can really help people and provide a lot of value. And if you are providing a lot of value, you'll start to make money. The amount of money you make will be in proportion to how much value you provide to people and how helpful you are. So you want to build it around something that you are super excited about and can help a lot of people with. So hopefully that helps, Hobson. I'd love to hear what you guys have to think. If you want to leave a comment under the video, if you want to share how you started your business and why you started your business, it'd be great to hear from you. And if you like the video, please give it a thumbs up. I always love seeing those come in, so thank you, and we'll see you in the next episode. Mm-hmm.
