What is a business opportunity? It can be a great variety of things. One example: vending machines are being touted as some fantastic business opportunity. Well, go out and get rich by setting up gazillions of those!

According to Wikipedia, a business opportunity exists if there is a need, and you have the means to fulfill that need while making money doing it. Take an example: skin problems — such as acne, which many people have problems with. So what you do is offer these folks some kind of solution to the acne problem — a piece of useful information for example. There you have it — a fine business opportunity.

Another simple example: dog training. Dogs are very popular pets — and there are always some of those dogs that have behaviour problems. Then you can sell these folks a book on how to train your dog. So — help real people solve their problems, and you can make some cash. This is a classic win-win situation.

Another big niche is the self-help area. Indeed, everyone wants to become a better person nowadays, in one way or another. Examples: stop smoking, lose weight, find happiness, discover the meaning of life. Suppose you are able to offer some remedy for such problems — if so you are on a roll.

Look at it this way: rather than offering people problem-solving things; you are giving them dreams. What I mean by that is that oftentimes the important part is not what a product really does, but rather how it makes people feel.

What people do is buying things to feel better. Some products really have no other function. So, why do you think women like to use perfumes? The reason is of course that they feel better about themselves by using perfumes and such cosmetics.

Companies which have understood the human feel-good urge are raking in truckloads of cash. There is the trivial example of product packaging. Companies spend a great deal of money just to find out stuff like what color a box of laundry detergent should have to be most appealing to customers.

Which means: when you compare the merits of business opportunities, then consider if they have the potential to make people feel better. Heck, go ahead and make an ebook which tells the story of how you became slim and fit by eating potato chips. Do you think you could make it so your readers get a warm fuzzy feeling about themselves — if so you are right on track.