In my previous blog “10 Tips on How To Transform Your Ideas into a Startup“, I described the current economic condition as an opportunity of a life time.  If history has taught us anything, it would be that it has taught us nothing about forecasting but everything about human nature.

The playing field is getting leveled, the perception of value is shifting.  It is time for entrepreneurial spirit to reemerge again. Let’s be clear, this is a recession NOT a depression! Technology is also changing how business gets done and the concept of entrepreneurship will take on a whole new meaning.

I just finished reading Guy Kawasaki‘s interview with Pamela Slim in which Pamela explains how to quit your job and start a company to change the world.  The interview had some excellent points dealing with emotions and strategies to start your company in her book Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Entrepreneur.

As an entrepreneur I find myself concurring with her statement on “perfectionism will cripple your business and thwart your plans faster than anything”.  Looking back, the successful businesses that I had managed did profit substantially but was never close to optimzed, in fact there were many areas that had major issues from products, resources to management.  And most of the gone-no-where startups I was involved with all had some sort of master plan in place before a real product was developed.

I encourage everyone that’s contemplating about starting up a startup to brainstorm some ideas.  You can begin by simply writing down all the things you’re passionate about or hobbies you really enjoy doing on one side, then list all of your attributes or strength on the other side.  And all you have to do is draw a line to match your strength to your passion and the ones with the most line drawn to should be a good starting point.

What if it’s something that’s been done?  Well, it doesn’t mean you can’t succeed in doing it better or just differently. People want choices and there are many advantages if you can carve out your niche focusing on the things you do best.  First to the game doesn’t necessary give you the edge, before Wendy’s there was McDonald’s, before Facebook you got Friendster, before Under Armour there stood Nike. Even Google is being challenged now by a new search engine – Wolfram Alpha, which shows data in a way Google can’t.

Fear is in the minds of the beholder.

So what do you see yourself doing a year from now when the recession has bottomed?