«If you don't have your own business idea - you must find it!»

For many people, the idea of not starting their own business - is a direct result of a lack of any specific business idea. It's not exactly easy to cope with an idea that a business can be built out of almost anything. And no matter how simple of naive that may sound to you at first, that kind of approach not only works, but, what is even more surprising, generates profit for those who rely on it. Where to look for the business ideas, and how to properly assess their true potential, was the subject of the master class given by the executives of the MGU business incubator Michael Homich and Yuri Mitin to the students of «Internet Industry Management» RMA educational business school program, as well as to the group of authors and hosts from the TV-channel «Rain» and the radio station Kommersant FM.

«Individual business in Russia - is a form of concealed unemployment. Many do not understand, why are they supposed to risk losing their stable positions working for some large and influential corporation, in order to start something from the scratch and develop some new idea which doesn't at all guarantee you instant profit», – was the main argument against startups that they often are being addressed, when they are trying to convince their audience of the attractiveness of private ventures. «If you are doing your own business, you will probably not succeed in reaching fame, wealth and glory, however, if you work for an average corporation then you CERTAINLY WON'T achieve that. That means that the first option still offers you much better opportunities», – say Yuri and Michael.

Other than low probability of success, glory and fame, starting your own business allows you to realize your own individual potential, it also grants you the freedom to define your own course and direction, as well as, potentially, rewarding you with great profits that other leading specialists working for the big companies could only have been dreaming of. Preempting the skeptic disagreements coming from the audience, Yuri and Michael have supported each of their assertions by the concrete cases.

Instead of searching for «that one» great idea, the speakers rather suggest to start by select a few and breaking them comparatively down by the specific criteria, which will make it clear - how much potential they actually have. One of the most important business criteria, according to Yuri and Michael is contained in an answer to the question: «Are you actually ready to spend the next three years waking up every morning knowing that that is exactly what you do?». If the answer is positive, then you have already half reached your success. The second half now depends on the well educated assessment of the given market volume, where the main criteria is not merely the number of competitors in your selected area, but rather the ratio of the existing demand to that product or service, and the extent to which this demand is currently being satisfied. Of course you shouldn't forget about the specifics of the size of needed investments, as well as possible resale prospects among others».

In conclusion of the class, Yuri and Michael suggested the RMA students not be afraid of taking risk, and not regard the new business ideas too skeptically: «Critics that live within each one of us - they destroy half of the good ideas. The most important and most challenging task is not to allow these ideas to just die down, and instead bring them to fruition».