Dear Mobi

Dear Mobi

Question: a MOBI student asks: "I live in a very small town where most large businesses have been moved internationally. I am among the unemployed as my employer sold their business to Mexico and China. Our town consists mostly of small businesses and a lot of unemployed people. Being a vegetarian, I want to open a natural foods store but am worried because the cost of specialty foods is considerably higher than regular foods. How can I be sure that my business would do well before investing a lot of time and money? I can answer the questions you provide in the online course but don't have an answer for that one.

MOBI's Answer: First, while we recommend strategies to minimize risks such as working for someone else first and starting small, there is no way to avoid the possibility of loss irrespective of any endeavor. Our concern in your case is you could be making the most common mistake made by entrepreneurs: no picking the right business to begin with. (Be sure to review Session One: How to Pick a Business!) Selling premium priced food in a depressed community appears to be a high hurdle. But on the other hand, in many areas independent "farmers markets" operate successfully by buying produce from local growers and underselling the supermarkets by avoiding expensive overhead. A business like this could be started on a very small scale and feature natural foods as well.

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