1. Discover something you can do better than anyone else.

2. Figure out how to sell your product or service cheaper than anyone else.

Start by asking yourself, "What product or service am I unhappy with?"

If something is bothering you, chances are others feel the same way. If the feeling is widespread enough - and you have a way to solve your own problem - you may have a multi-million-dollar business idea.

Then ask yourself, "How can I provide my better product or service for less than the competition?"

That's what the founder of Save-A-Lot supermarkets did. He noticed that stores like Wal-Mart and Kroger had no interest in going into blighted (see Word to the Wise, below) urban neighborhoods. So, by taking on a market that the bigger chains ignore, The Wall Street Journal says, Save-A-Lot has "quietly become one of the nation's most successful grocery chains."

Save-A-Lot is part of a boom in low-frills supermarkets known as "hard discounters" that are undercutting the Wal-Marts and Krogers by stocking mostly their own brands and focusing on high-inventory items. (A typical Wal-Mart, for example, might stock 30,000 items, while a Save-A-Lot might stock 3,000.) The stores are sold as franchises. (75% of them are run by licensees.) Already, Save-A-Lot has 1,229 stores in 39 states and is adding more than 65 stores this year alone.

Over the weekend, see if you can come up with an small business idea for your million-dollar business. Start by thinking about all the products and services you regularly use. Have you ever said something like, "If only that widget had a _____, it would be so much easier to use"? Or "If only that company would _____ instead of _____, it would make my life so much easier"? That could be your breakthrough idea. And if you can figure out how to provide your better product or service at a better price than the competition, you're ready to leap into the wonderful world of entrepreneurship.

David Davis
Small Business Resource