According to the CNNMoney article, Rise in foreclosures ‘a shock’, “February [2009] filings jumped 30 percent compared with last year [2008] . . .” Figures like this have spawned a cottage industry of small business opportunities.

Everything from foreclosure cleaning businesses, to junk hauling services, to second-hand thrift sale opportunities. While these business ideas present lucrative opportunities, many are jumping into them for the wrong reasons. Following are three reasons not to jump on the “foreclosure business” bandwagon.

To Make Money: Owning a small business is one of the quickest ways to get rich in this country. In fact, self-employed individuals, on average, earn more than their corporate-world employed counterparts.

But, you can’t go into business “just” because it’s a way to make a lot of money. While owning a small business is an excellent road to wealth, it is not an easy one. If making money is your only motivation for entering a “hot industry” — like the foreclosure niche is right now — then you’re going to be out of business before you start if you don’t have a love for what you do, which brings us directly to the next point . . .

It’s a Hot Niche Right Now: Hot niches eventually become cool ones. It happens to every industry. No business is “hot” all the time. Business is a long-range investment. Take for example foreclosure cleaning. It’s an excellent business to start right now — and well into the future. The services will always be needed.

However, you must prepare yourself for when things cool down again. How is your business going to outlast the competition? What’s it going to offer customers day in and day out that will continue to make them use you?

If you don’t have a long-range game plan, the business that you may have gotten just because your niche was hot will soon disappear — and that’s where the real work of owning a small business starts.

You Don’t Know How to Market: If you don’t know how to market, you’ll never succeed in business — it doesn’t matter how “hot” your niche is. Marketing is a consistent, ongoing activity that every small business owner must make a part of their efforts.

You must develop a a stick-to-it-ness attitude unlike any you’ve ever possessed. If you’re easily frustrated or discouraged, don’t jump on a hot business trend. Right now, for example, many foreclosure cleaning business owners are learning this firsthand.

They’re discovering that they’re not the only ones who realized that cleaning foreclosures for a living would make a great business. The competition is stiff. And, the only thing that can level the playing field is a consistent marketing effort and a stick-to-it-ness resolve.

If you want to own a business, look beyond the “opportunity of the day,” (eg, foreclosure cleaning) and look to your loves, your passions and your resolve. For when the going gets tough in business — and it happens to every small business owner at some point — these will be the only things you have to pull you through until your type of business is “hot” again.