Hi, I am 48 years old and working in an IT company. I am really not able to cope up with the uncertainty of my work and hence wanted to work on starting a business. I tried getting started with a cab service, but there is a lot of dependency on driver and I could not find a solution to that. I am okay to purchase a taxi and hand it over to an agency, please let me know if you are aware of any such business option. In parallel, I was thinking of taking distributorship of a company and try to establish a network, could you also help me with what is required to start a distributorship, e.g. (Nestle, or some other household items)?

Ans: First, assess your current situation overall - personal and professional and be sure that own business is the most viable/ sensible option.
Then, make a list of ideas that resonate strongly with you, refine it, do some initial validation and shortlist on the final 1/2 that are most appealing.
Figure out the finances required, personal (for the family) and for the business. Ensure that it will not create issues that can derail you.
Time now for more on the ground market research including prospective users/buyers, assessing competition/ alternatives, checking with suppliers, regulatory environment etc.
Make an initial business plan with key assumptions clearly spelt out and validated as much as possible. Also see if you want to have partners/ co-founders who share this vision and have complementary skills/ experience.
See if you can make an initial prototype of your offering (MVP minimum viable product) and again test it with your potential customers; iterate to see what changes are required including revenue models, go to market approaches etc.
Now is the time to formally register your business - single person company, LLP etc. Get professional expertise as required.
Revisit your Business plan and change as required.
Formally launch, test market, make changes and then go full steam ahead

All the best.

Ans: The first trait about an entrepreneur is the ability to solve problems through innovative solutions. If you have no idea about what to do , how to do etc. how will you ever do business. Please don’t waste time in finding an idea.. look for a job. It is more safer and easier to do a job.

Ans: Dear Mr Anon, you have given me very little to go by to help you. One way is to go to a trusted friend who is already running a business and see if he is interested in taking your idea forward and actively participating in it. That can help de-risk you and also give you required support. I presume you have already done adequate on the ground research on your idea and validated it?