How To Come up with a Business You Can Stick with

Many multipotentialites want to start their own blog or business but struggle to find an idea that they can commit to but which doesn’t feel too limiting. They’re excited to get started but they’re scared they’ll fall out of love with their business before it becomes profitable or that they’ll get bored of their new interest before they get anywhere with it.

Most traditional advice urges us to pick a niche and dominate it. Niches are usually described as specific topics within bigger areas. For example, to niche down, rather than starting a blog about photography, you might start one about wedding photography. Instead of just writing about travel in general, you might choose to focus on travelling without luggage. And so on.

The problem with niches, for multipotentialites, is that we don’t want to get stuck with one that is too narrow. Could you really stay interested in wedding photography for a long period of time? Didn’t think so. Even photography probably feels limiting, because you’d also want to talk about fitness, cooking, business, and dating, right?

Emilie’s Renaissance Business approach ditches the niches and encourages you to bring all of your interests together. She has managed to help people create businesses out of interests as diverse as wellness, education, and comedy, thanks to the concept of overarching themes (check out the full story here). To do that, you need to look beyond the individual topics you have in mind and start thinking bigger.

Start with an audience

Instead of looking for a topic, start thinking about the type of people you enjoy hanging out with. Are they artists? INFJs? Freelancing mums? People who like body art?

Find a group of people who share your lifestyle or philosophy and start asking yourself what they need. Puttylike is an excellent example of this approach. Emilie couldn’t stick to one interest, so she created resources and a community for other people like her. How could you help people like you?

Find a bigger theme or a principal

Emilie suggests finding an overarching theme for your interests and using this theme as the basis of your business or blog. But how do you find your theme? Try asking yourself the following questions.

• What do I believe in?
• What experiences have I had that have changed the way I view the world?
• What lens could I use to discuss almost anything?

A great example of an overarching theme is Chris Guillebeau’s Art of Non-Conformity. Chris discusses life, travel, and entrepreneurship through the lens of unconventional living. Tyler Tervooren’s Riskology covers topics as diverse as work, psychology, social skills, and running. What brings all these topics together is his overarching theme of living a better life by taking smart risks. Leo Babauta of Zen Habits applies minimalism to all aspects of his life, from decluttering his home to the way he eats. Perhaps you have a way of viewing the world that could allow you to explore your many different interests in one project?

Find a framework

Rather than a theme or a philosophy, is there a tool, a framework, or a system that has helped you to accomplish difficult things in your life? Yes? Then use it!

Tim Ferriss uses the Pareto principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) to find success in business, to get fit, and to learn how to cook. Is there a tool or system that you’ve had great results with? Could you teach others to apply it to their lives?

Become a leading learner

Start a blog that can become your playground. Use it to take people through your journeys and discoveries. Then take your learnings and package it into books or courses, so that others can learn from your experiences. This is a great way to explore freely, to learn, and to have something to show for, even if you move straight on to your next interest.

Your Turn

Have you used one of these approaches to start a blog or business? Or have you found another way to bring all of your interests together without limiting yourself?

Jessi Frey is a product developer and a former musician who writes about starting a business like an artist at worklikearockstar.com. In the past she has started a band, an indie label, and a natural cosmetics company. She currently works as a product manager in a tech company. For fun, she created a renaissance blog at thechallengist.com, where she aims to complete twelve 30-day challenges in one year. Connect with her on Twitter @jessifrey.

Want to combine ALL of your interests in one business, check out our digital guide, Renaissance Business.