O, The Oprah Magazine
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Your Great Idea, Whose Time
Has Come
By Polly Brewster

Make the most of a great idea.You have a brainstorm…but now what? Follow this six-part guide to go from concept to reality.
Pinpoint Your Strengths
Marcus Buckingham, author of Go Put Your Strengths to Work, says sometimes people mistake their true strengths for simply "what they're good at." Discover your true strengths, and you can then fulfill your greatest passion.

Identify your strengths with this printable worksheet.

Print and take the strength test!

You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the contract.
Download it here.

Related Resources
  • Microfinance Institutions: For local or state microfinance institutions, go to microenterpriseworks.org. Under "Members Only"—scroll down to "Member Directory". From there you can search by state to find a microfinance institution near you.

The following are national organizations. You can apply for loans from these organizations online:

  • Accion USA (Accionusa.org)
  • Make Mine a Million (makemineamillion.org)
  • Count Me In (countmein.org)

  • For more information on business plans, go to www.business-plan.com.


Get more career advice in the September 2007 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine. Subscribe now!