Enterprise Nation

Some useful tips here from Jo Hill of Open Gym, on the criteria she applied when coming up with the idea for her perfect home business. You could apply them too – and take a great idea and turn it into a great home business.

You’ve got the right idea

In order to find the right idea, I was looking for something that met the following criteria.

1. It solved a problem. In my case this was providing outdoor exercise classes for people who want to get fit but who hate the gym.
2. It had relatively low start up costs and low overheads / running costs. For me the biggest cost was training as a fitness instructor in terms of time and money. I have also used my savings to get the branding, website and systems in place. However, compared to some start ups, the initial investment was manageable without the need for external investment. Also, I can now work from home so my ongoing overheads are very low.
3. It is a replicable model. The idea is to develop a robust working model for Open Gym and then licence it for other people to run in different parks around the country. So I wanted to develop an idea that was simple but had a really strong and distinct brand.

Wise words from Jo Hill.

• Open Gym