It’s important when you are considering the best business for you to begin by widening the number of businesses you’re considering before we begin to narrow them down. A good place to start is to get to grips with how you feel about the careers that you’re aware of and to find out if those feelings are realistic.
Prejudices

Most people have some business prejudices, there may be some you’re aware of and some you aren’t. If your parents owned a shop and really hated it then it may have put you off retail businesses. Prejudices can also be less obvious, for example you might feel quite sure you don’t want to run any businesses that involve technology but this could just be because you had a bad technology teacher at school who made you feel you were no good at it. If you looked at technology businesses in more detail you might find that they involved in some areas actually really appeals to you.
Exercise

Write a list of businesses that you have no experience of but really wouldn’t want to run. When you’ve done that take each one in turn and consider why you wouldn’t want to do it and whether or not it’s a valid reason or just prejudice. Choose three of the businesses to find out some more about so that you can see if they are what you expected them to be. Look in particular at the skills and knowledge needed for them as it will often give you the best idea what the job involves on a day to day basis.
Positive prejudices

As well as being prejudiced against some businesses we are also often sometimes prejudiced towards them. This is often because they involve something we love and so we imagine we’d really enjoy them however this is sometimes not the case. For example, you may really love animals and imagine running a pet related business would be great but if you look at the work in a bit more detail you might not find it so appealing, it often involves long hours, working out in the cold and dealing with the public. You may also find businesses that you’ve seen portrayed in the media appealing but it’s important to find out if those businesses are really the way they seem on TV or in the movies.
Exercise

Write a list of the businesses you’ve always found appealing but have no experience of. For each one try to remember how the idea of it first entered your head, did you see it on TV or know someone who was involved in it? Find out what all the businesses involve and then highlight any that still appeal to you.