What Business Should I Start?

How to Turn What You Already Know Into a Business That Gives You More Freedom 

I knew from the age of 12 that I wanted to be a business owner. I had no idea what that would mean for me, though. It was a young girl’s dream, but that dream did not include the kind of business I would own. I just knew I wanted to be “important like Mr. Cox.”

I share the entire story of my first glimpse at entrepreneurship in my book, POWER To Prosper: Six Steps to Building Your Dream Business From Scratch. Robert—Mr. Cox—is still my mentor today.

Fast-forward several years to me as a young mother with a husband who dreamed of creating a great life for his family. He didn’t care how it happened or which business would get us there. He simply wanted his children to have the things he didn’t have as a child.

Phillip grew up very poor. When he moved back to Whitwell, Tennessee, to live with his grandmother, he had to begin school wearing his uncle’s old shoes from the year before. He vowed that his children would never experience that same humiliation.

Phillip sold me on the dream, so we started several different companies—with absolutely no clue how to keep them going.

Each business eventually faded away, but here’s the telling part: none of them spoke to my soul. None of them made me feel alive. And I wasn’t heartbroken when they ended.

We were chasing income without understanding purpose.

The idea had never occurred to me that I could build a business around something I was passionate about—something connected to who I was and what I felt called to do.

In my defense, I still had a lot of healing to do before I could imagine that the world might want or need anything I had inside of me.

It wasn’t until my oldest son, Chandler, came home from college one weekend and shared a process one of his professors had taught him—a process designed to guide people toward the thing they are passionate about.

I went through the process and was shocked by the results!

I had never considered that I could become someone important through a career and a chosen path that made my spirit soar. My search for purpose eventually led me to teach other women how to pursue their own purpose with a powerful belief in themselves.

I didn’t just discover my purpose.

I discovered The Real Me—the coach, the entrepreneur, the author, and the mom who could have greater control over her time.

And once I learned how to recognize possibility, I started other businesses too.

Your Business Idea May Already Be Hiding in Your Life

One of the questions I hear most often from women who want greater freedom is:

“What kind of business should I start?”

Mama, I understand why that question feels so big.

You may know you want more control over your income. You may want to work around your children’s schedules instead of constantly asking someone else for permission. You may desperately want to leave a job that drains you.

But wanting a business and knowing what business to build are two very different things.

You may be waiting for one spectacular, never-before-seen idea to fall out of the sky.

That probably isn’t going to happen.

And the good news is—it doesn’t need to.

You do not have to invent something the world has never seen. You need to pay attention to the clues that have been showing up throughout your life.

Your business idea could be hiding inside:

• A skill you use so naturally that you don’t realize its value
• A problem you have already learned how to solve
• An experience you survived that could help someone else
• A subject you cannot stop learning or talking about
• Something people regularly ask you to help them do
• A group of people whose struggles you deeply understand
• Work that makes you feel useful, energized, and alive

These are not random details. They are evidence.

Stop Dismissing What Comes Naturally to You

Women—especially moms—often discount their most valuable abilities because those abilities feel ordinary.

You may say:

“That’s nothing special.”

“Anybody can do that.”

“I’ve never been formally trained.”

“Who would pay me for something so simple?”

But what feels simple to you may be difficult, frustrating, or overwhelming to someone else.

Maybe you are naturally organized and can create order from chaos. Perhaps you know how to stretch a household budget, decorate a home affordably, prepare freezer meals, advocate for a child with learning differences, manage rental properties, plan events, create beautiful photographs, or help people work through difficult decisions.

You may have developed your abilities through a career. You may have learned them through motherhood, hardship, necessity, curiosity, or pure survival.

Where you learned the skill matters far less than whether that skill can help another person solve a real problem.

Purpose Does Not Have to Look “Important”

When I was 12, I thought being a business owner would make me important.

What I eventually learned is that purpose is not about appearing important. It is about doing work that is meaningful—to you and to the people you serve.

Purpose is not necessarily one job title or one business that you must operate for the rest of your life. It is the common thread connecting the work that makes you feel most like yourself.

My purpose is to help people recognize their possibilities, take control of their lives, and build something better.

I have expressed that purpose through coaching, writing, property management, business development, and other ventures. Those businesses may look different from the outside, but the same thread runs through them: I solve problems, create possibilities, and help people move forward.

Your purpose can also have more than one expression.

You are not trying to select the one perfect business that will define the rest of your life. You are deciding which opportunity makes the most sense for the woman you are, the people you can help, and the season of life you are in right now.

That takes some of the pressure off, doesn’t it?

Five Questions to Help You Find Your Business Direction

Take out a notebook and answer these questions honestly:

1. What do people already ask me to help them with?

Pay attention to the problems people naturally bring to you. They may already see a strength in you that you have been overlooking.

2. What have I learned through experience?

Think beyond formal education. Your life has taught you things that cannot always be learned inside a classroom.

3. What problems have I solved for myself or my family?

A solution you created out of necessity could become a service, product, process, or resource for someone facing the same struggle.

4. What kind of work gives me energy?

Every business requires work. But there is a difference between work that exhausts your body and work that empties your soul. Notice which activities make you feel useful, creative, excited, or deeply fulfilled.

5. Who do I feel called to help?

Sometimes it is easier to identify the person before identifying the business. Once you understand who you want to serve and what she needs, possible products and services become much easier to recognize.

A Meaningful Idea Still Has to Solve a Real Problem

Purpose matters, but purpose alone does not create a sustainable business.

Your idea must connect with a real person who has a real problem and is willing to invest in a solution.

Ask yourself:

• Who specifically needs this?
• What problem would I help her solve?
• What result would she receive?
• Would she understand why that result matters?
• Can I deliver it in a way that fits my current life?
• Is there a simple version I can test before investing heavily?

You do not need a complete website, a complicated logo, thousands of followers, or a perfect five-year plan to answer these questions.

You need clarity, conversation, and the courage to test an idea.

You Are Allowed to Begin Small

Your first offer does not have to become a six-figure company immediately.

You might begin with one service for one type of customer. You might offer coaching, consulting, organizing, writing, design, virtual assistance, childcare support, property management, photography, meal preparation, bookkeeping, tutoring, or another skill-based service.

Starting small allows you to discover:

• What your customer actually needs
• What she is willing to pay for
• Which parts of the work you enjoy
• What needs to change
• Whether the business fits your life
• What should be built next

You are not signing a lifetime contract with your first idea. You are gathering evidence and building experience.

Action will give you answers that endless thinking never will.

Freedom Requires More Than Choosing a Business

Starting a business can create greater control over your time and income, but I will not lie to you and pretend that entrepreneurship automatically creates freedom.

Without boundaries, systems, purpose, and a clear plan, your business can become another demanding job—except now the unreasonable boss is you!

Real freedom is built intentionally.

It comes from creating a business that:

• Fits the life you actually want
• Serves people you understand
• Solves a problem that matters
• Produces enough revenue to support your goals
• Allows room for motherhood and the people you love
• Can eventually operate through routines and systems—not constant emergencies

That is why choosing your business cannot be based only on what appears profitable.

The better question is:

What can I build from who I am, what I know, who I can help, and the life I want to create?

Your Next Step Does Not Have to Be Perfect

Mama, you do not need the entire plan today.

You need the courage to examine the clues, choose a direction, and take the next responsible step.

You may discover that your first idea needs to change. That is not failure. That is business development.

You may realize that you need to learn a skill. That does not mean you are unqualified. It means you now know what to learn.

You may feel afraid. That does not mean you are not ready. It means you are stepping beyond what is familiar.

You are not looking for a guarantee. You are building clarity through action.

Ready to Turn Your Idea Into a Business?

If you already believe business ownership is possible for you but need help deciding what to build and how to begin, I created The POWER Blueprint Founders Circle for you.

Beginning October 15, 2026, I will guide 20 founding women through a 28-day business-building experience designed to help them move from an idea to a clear, purpose-driven business foundation and launch plan.

You will receive:

• Prerecorded lessons you can complete around motherhood and real life
• One live kickoff call
• Two live group coaching calls each week
• Two private 30-minute coaching calls
• Practical tools and worksheets from POWER To Prosper
• Selected mindset lessons from Empowered Woman Unleashed
• The POWER Planner
• A Marketing Launch Plan
• Continued access to our Kajabi Community after the 28 days

The Founders Circle investment is $497 paid in full or two payments of $275.

You do not have to arrive with the perfect business idea. You simply need to believe that something more is possible—and be willing to do the work required to discover and build it.

Join The POWER Blueprint Founders Circle

Your business idea may not fall out of the sky, Mama.

It may already be woven into your story, waiting for you to recognize its value.