People First - Idea Second
A question you should ask if you're starting a business.
It's a dream of many people to start a business, be their own boss and build a successful company that they can be proud of. I've started a few myself with varying levels of success, and it's been an amazing experience - despite the ups and downs, I'd recommend it wholeheartedly. I've also learned that it's definitely not for everyone!
There is so much great advice out there on starting a company, getting customers and scaling a company - it will all help you on your journey (but you have to actually make the journey, not just read about it!). However, to add my own piece of advice to the mix - who you start the business with is so important, not just what the business does.
When I was younger, I wanted to be my own boss and build a business that was profitable while having an outsized impact relative to the number of employees - 37 Signals was/is a great inspiration to me.
When the opportunity to get involved in businesses came along, I evaluated it at a very basic level, boiling down to:
I wanted to set up a business + opportunity to start a business with others = go.
What I now tell others is a more nuanced company (especially with co-founders is):
Do I want to start this company with these people doing/making this idea/thing/widget?
I learned this lesson in a different way than I would have liked and while I wouldn't change any decisions I've made in the past, I don't want to re-live it and I take a much more different approach to it now.
That question is deliberately ordered as well - people is the key part - the idea can and probably will change but if the right people/team are around you, it will probably work out!