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This is a very popular question. What are the best ways to think of ideas for a
startup?
But it’s also not a very good one. I have something better for you.
What are the good startup ideas?
product or service that you have created. Where can I find business ideas?
Step 1: Make a list of your skills What are some small scale business ideas?
In other languages
(Examples: Have you overcome depression, lost weight through healthy
eating, mastered to get into management without burning out) Auf Deutsch: Wie finde ich eine gute Gründungsidee?
For example, if you are great at coding, this is definitely a skill you can 480 Public Followers
make money from. The same is true for writing, for making great videos 379,491 Views
or teaching students higher-level math. Last Asked Aug 21
28 Merged Questions
Step 2: Choose an industry or niche Question Locked
Edits
The next step is to pick an industry and to specialize your offer. The more you
niche down, the more successful you will be in the long run, because it enables
you to offer tailored products/services which your market loves.
To take again the software development example, you could choose to create
software for realtors (again this is quite general, but you get the idea).
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This is what most people don’t do, but it’s the most important part.
The “magic” behind finding a great business idea: Talking to people in your
market and learning about their problems
Make a list of companies you want to talk to (not 5, not 10, better 50 or
100 companies)
Tell me about your business. What are the biggest challenges in the
business you’re in?
Through these questions you could find out what problems are
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Let’s say you find out that some tasks could be automated/improved
or you could add machine learning to reduce errors and increase
predictability in a process, that would be great.
Once you’ve gotten a feel for the problems in a specific industry, you come up
with solutions (e.g. write some software). Ask the people you’ve interviewed
earler what they think of your idea and if they would be interested in trying
out your idea through a small order (they must be willing to pay?).
If you repeat this process several times, test different industries and talk to
a lot of people, there’s almost a guarantee you will stumble across a gold
nugget (a business idea … or at least something that can evolve into a great
business opportunity for you)
My view:
They look for a perfect idea , i.e. a perfect concept (you’ll never find that)
They don’t experiment and they don’t try out a lot of things
They only read business book after business book without taking action
—Adrian
Upvote · 27 Share · 3
Aaron Abram, 80% of The Top 500 Events Use My Surveys to Grow
Updated Sep 2, 2016
Reality Sucks:
A few years ago an entrepreneur who had just sold his startup for $300M+, told
my co-founder and I that an idea was worthless and more important was
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execution. We thought, if our product was great enough- surely customers would
seek us out?
Wrong. The big clients we currently have did not seek us out initially. They
didn’t even know of our existence. The difference for us, was making the cold
calls, convincing them to meet with us, and closing them. It was 100%
execution.
It took some time before we realized that execution was the name of the game.
After all, our competitors had sub-standard products that was making them tens
of millions of dollars. Great products aren’t automatically rewarded.
Great Ideas:
Assuming you know how to execute, then a great idea verse a good idea becomes
extremely valuable. Here are some criteria that can identify one from the other:
1. Look at a business and ask, How long can this last? How can I identify
the status quo and change it? Bigger industries = bigger opportunities
Four Examples
#1: Hotels
How long have they lasted? More than one hundred years. Has the status quo
ever been changed? Yes.
In the olden days a hotel was simply just a rented room. But as it became more
popular, it progressed. The major advancements in this industry came from
Conrad Hilton, Steve Wynn, and Sheldon Adelson.
Conrad Hilton’s (Hilton Hotels) created the first international chain that focused
on tailoring accommodations to tourists. Net Worth = $4.5B
Sheldon Adelson took Steve Wynn’s brilliance and changed the status quo yet
again by understanding the industry’s natural progression. He built The
Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center .
His genius was that he tied luxury hospitality to the convention business. He
realized that when a convention was in town the hotels were full. And so he built
convention centers within his hotels. Net worth = $25.9B.
#2: Television
Before the TV, families used to sit and listen to the radio. Seems crazy, but that
was the reality for millions of people. In the 1920s Philo Farnsworth invented
the television. Then someone created color TV, then plasma and LCDs, and a
million other innovations. Today, television is a $74B industry.
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The genius behind a net worth of $10B came mainly from his “unfair advantage”
than from other factors. What is his unfair advantage? He grew up in a family
whose father was one of the most well-known residential high-rise developers in
the country, but specifically in Queens, NY.
Think about all the conversations about real estate at the dinner table
throughout his childhood. His father, already an expert in real estate, taught
him all the ins and outs of the business. And because of this, Donald Trump
went out to create a fortune in residential high-rise real estate. He trumped his
dad’s $150M fortune by more than $9.5B.
Donald simply played to his strengths (unfair advantages) and won big.
Reed Hastings was a seasoned entrepreneur who had already built and sold a
company for $750M before he had the idea of Netflix.
At the time, the competition was Blockbuster who although made millions, in
Reed’s opinion didn’t have a sustainable future. Late fees and due dates didn’t
make sense in a world where the subscription model was already successful.
He took the subscription model from the gym business and applied it to the
movie-rental business. With execution, Reed turned Netflix into a mega-
company (valued at $45B) which eventually forced Blockbuster into bankruptcy.
The brilliance of Netflix was that he used his 1) “unfair advantage” of knowing
how to grow a business and combined it with 2) a non-sexy business that no one
was paying attention to and 3) where he identified how to change the status quo.
Key Takeaway:
Knowing how to execute is the prelude to finding your idea and creating your
fortune. Acquire this skill and the keys to the kingdom our yours.
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Sponsored by Tipalti
The first step is always the hardest. The same goes for starting a business.
Do you ever wonder how Elon Musk came up with the idea of PayPal? How Larry
Page came up with Google? Or Evan Spiegel with Snapchat?
It might seem like magic (or complete luck), but there’s actually a specific
approach to coming up with good business ideas.
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Maybe it’s you, or maybe it’s a friend who’s always talking about being “sooooo
close” to creating that 7-figure affiliate business and only working 3 hours per
week.
These wantrepreneurs are people who play business and dream about starting a
business “someday”… but mostly end up doing nothing.
Here’s what goes through the minds of wantrepreneurs trying to come up with a
business idea:
“Digital products are the trend now! It’s low cost, high margin. What a
no brainer! I’m going to make a lot of money, travel the world, and work
from the beach.”
All wantrepreneurs want is to make money and get rich; full stop. And they want
to do it as quickly as possible.
When their plan doesn’t work out at the end of the day, wantrepreneurs blame
everything else except their half-assed business ideas or lazy action plan.
Not to brag, but my old boss told me AppSumo would never work.
7 years later, AppSumo reaches nearly 1 million people a week, SumoMe helps
over 150k sites a day, and the Sumo Group as a whole is an 8-figure business .
Your first step is to recognize what you truly want. Before getting into market
research, building a business plan, or setting up a LLC, there’s an easier
solution…
Figure out your own paint point where you desperately need a solution.
Then, build the solution.
I’ve used this approach myself. For example, here’s how I came up with the parts
of Sumo Group, which have become an 8-figure business collectively:
AppSumo : Daily deal site, getting discounts of the best digital tools
for entrepreneurs. Why? Because I love free stuff!
SumoMe : Free tool to increase website traffic and build your email
list. We made it because we want to grow traffic and sales of AppSumo.
ME!
And in most cases, there will be lots of people like me who have the same
problem and want a solution.
These are some great examples of businesses that solve a problem for
themselves:
Barbell Apparel. A denim wear for athletic people is built because the
founder can’t get a denim to fit his lower body without compromising
the style and comfort.
If you’re thinking, “Wait, Noah… How do I know the idea is going to make me tons
of money?”
You’re in the very first step, and your ONLY focus right now is coming up with a
valid business idea.
Focus just on finding ideas you want. Validating your ideas , marketing your
products, and branding your website? It comes later.
What are all the problems you have where you can’t find a solution?
Even if the product exists somewhere, that’s OK. If you haven’t heard of it, it
means there’s room in the market — or you can beat any competitors doing
better marketing down the line.
These business ideas are what I call “shower thoughts.” Write down any idea
that comes to mind, even the dumb ones.
You’re not trying to come up with the most brilliant idea worth billions right
now. Step one is: look for a problem you’re facing yourself, create a solution.
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The best tip is to make sure you broaden your own horizon. Being able to draw
on multiple experiences will make it easier for you to connect the dots and come
up with new business ideas.
John Cutler's answer to How do I find a good startup idea provides 10 awesome
tips to broaden your horizon. Exploring unknown territories should become
your new daily habit. It is a way of living.
That said. There are various exercises you can use to find a good business idea.
Below I am presenting three of my own top methods for generating new
business ideas.
These exercises work best when you apply them to a specific industry and/or
business environment. If you don't have any preferences, just pick one you find
the most fascinating.
When doing the exercises consider to invite some other people to join the
brainstorming. Multiple view-points allows for better ideas, as long as you
structure the brainstorming properly. I recommend you to: a) postpone
judgment, b) capture all ideas and c) follow the rules of hybrid brainstorming.
Apply a future tech trend to a current problem/your current job. What new ideas
emerge from this? Currently many people are looking at 3D printing, Google
Glass and drones, but don't forget to look at advancements in materials too.
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To make this exercise easier, I recommend you to use tech maps. Envisioning
has several good tech visualisations you can download for free.
Example: Drones used by real estate agents to show potential buyers the view
from a building before it is finished.
Similar to the one above. Just look for societal trends instead of tech trends. This
can, for example, be changes in values or demographics. Recently sustainability
is getting a lot of traction. How would this influence your industry? And how
could you profit from this?
To steer the exercise you can download a free trend map from What's Next (as
a bonus it can also be used for the tech trend exercise).
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Example: Consider for example the army of startups copying elements from
Airbnb and Uber.
Of course there are plenty of other ways to find new business ideas. Below I
share 5. Some of them less serious than others.
...(more)
For most of my adult life, I worked in creative departments, both online and
offline. I’ve always spent time with people labeled as creative, some who even
considered themselves masters (aargh!). Nowadays, at the peak of my maturity,
if there is such thing, I firmly believe that the term “Creative” is totally
inappropriate.
I say this without the fear of being wrong and remembering what Antoine
Lavoisier said over 200 years ago: “Nothing is created, everything is
transformed.”
Totally immersed by such thought, very few, or even better, few rare exceptions
create something in the full meaning of the word, and I’ll include myself in that
group.
I believe we observe, absorb, and transform things that attract our attention,
either positively due simply to their existence or negatively because they bother
us. The latter creates a gap, and in order to solve such “issue,” we get an idea
(which I still don’t know how it happens). But we end up thinking of a solution,
something that innovates or gives a new perspective to same situation.
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Picasso once said “Good artists copy, great artists steal”, while Steve Jobs
himself, in an interview given in 1994 about the Apple Macintosh, stated “We
have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.” He was probably
referring to Xerox PARC (who knows?).
But it was the same Steve Jobs who decades later sued those copying Apple,
saying back in 2010 “I’m going to destroy Android because it is a stolen product.”
That is a very ironic statement, but a subject for another time.
If something already exists, then we should say that we copy (I know many will
hate me for the term that I am using, but it is true) and transform, or as some
might say, we are inspired to adapt to a new vision.
I extend this thought to all artistic areas — for many years I worked in the music
industry and I’ve heard a lot of music using sampling (1), several of them very
well produced. Nonetheless, taking a sample then changing the pitch and
adding filters and other features is not a creation, but a transformation with
props and still a copy.
Daft Punk, the French electronic music duo formed in 1993 by Guy-Manuel de
Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter is a great example. Video
There is a video called “Everything is Remix ” , which shows much better and
in more details what I am talking about; a video that was also copied and
transformed.
In fact, this article is nothing more than a copy adapted to my optics of the video
above. Transformers.
(1) Sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and
reusing it as an instrument or a sound recording in a different song or piece.
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Over 500,000 new businesses are started each month, however less than 50%
are still up and running after the first year. This shows you that while it’s fairly
easy to come up with a business idea, finding a sustainable, lucrative idea is not
as simple. In this article, we’ll go through the steps of how to come up with a
business idea that will actually work. We included top tips from entrepreneurs
who have been in your shoes and know a thing or two about coming up with a
business idea that takes off.
Once you come up with a great idea, test it by writing up a business plan. Access
over 500 business plan templates and examples with LivePlan. Click here to
learn more.
There is no real formula to coming up with the next great business idea. The key
is knowing how and when to look for good ideas. Your eureka moment can strike
at any moment, so you need to be able to recognize it when it comes.
“I’ve seen people find business ideas as a spin from their current job, from a
hobby or simply from a moment where they were frustrated and thought
something could be improved. If you really want a business idea and don’t know
where to start, try to come up with one business idea each day for a month and
see if you can train your mind to identify areas of opportunity.”
Not every idea that you come up with is going to be a good one. The point is to
train your brain to notice a potential opportunity when you see one. The first
step is simply learning how to identify a gap in the market.
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Once you are tuned into looking for areas that can be improved upon, you will
want to start writing down the problems that need solving. The process of
making lists will keep you focused on finding areas of opportunity.
You will not be able to come up with problems if you are not looking in the right
places. You need to be actively looking yourself, asking friends and colleagues,
and considering products that can be improved upon.
“Our business was started when we routinely serviced safes and vaults that we
were called out to open and found that the safe industry had been taken over by
cheap imports. Clients were constantly asking us for recommendations for a
high quality safe that wouldn’t leave them in a lockout situation. That’s how we
came up with our safe manufacturing business”
“There are very few truly original ideas. That said, the opportunity to improve
on an existing product concept (or business model) is ever present, so my advice
is always to look for ways to really innovate—to ‘build a better mousetrap,’ so to
speak. This may be technology-driven (like Uber’s revolutionizing ride-sharing)
or it may be customer experience-oriented.”
A great way to get out and find problems in an industry is through networking.
Go to events in the industry that you are interested in learning more about and
talk to people there. Learn about their pain points and what they wish could be
improved upon. Networking will give you insight on what common problems
people are having in a specific area.
You should now have plenty of problems listed, so the next step is to start going
through and coming up with solutions to those problems.
If you have one or more people whose opinions you respect, then it may be good
to bring them into the room with you for this ste...(more)
Upvote · 21 Share
Have you ever thought about a company and been like "OMG if only I would
have had the idea for Instagram... or Reddit... or Starbucks..."?
You want to start your own company but don't know how to come up with a
good startup idea?
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[DISCLAIMER: business ideas are worth nothing without execution. In the end,
it's about the work you put into your company not the idea... but anyway, you
need to start somewhere]
Spoiler: MANY of them are in HR, payroll, taxes, accounting, and finance (access
to capital for companies and individuals)
There are many new technologies on the rise right now. You don't have to be the
first to invent them. Sometimes, it's enough to join the game and just do it
better.
3) Ancillary services
During the gold-rush in the US, the people that made the most (and most stable)
income were NOT the gold miners... it was the people who sold ancillary
services TO gold miners and expatriates: the people who sold equipment,
entertainment, food, accommodation and garment to the evolving industry.
Bitcoin >>> "Antminer" computers (Bitmain the company that makes the
specialized computers required for mining bitcoin just filed for one of the
largest IPOs in the world (18 billion USD) and makes more money than most
direct investors in Bitcoin....)
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Again, you can use the Gartner hype cycle graphic to identify attractive
industries and then build ancillary services around them.
Why let somebody make a cut when you can connect the consumer with the
provider directly through technology (and make a new kind of middle-man or
sell ads)
Upvote · 11 Share · 3
In this article, we will only mention all business ideas online and offline we
have
13. Microbrewery
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14. Milling machine business READ HERE ALL 400 BUSINESS IDEAS
Upvote · 1 Share
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For most people starting a business , the issue should not be coming up with
something so unique that no one has ever heard of it but instead answering the
questions: "How can I improve on this?" or "Can I do this better or differently from
the other guy doing it over there?" Or simply, "Is there market share not being
served that makes room for another business in this category?"
How do you start the idea process? First, take out a sheet of paper and across the
top write "Things About Me." List five to seven things about yourself--things you
like to do or that you're really good at, personal things (we'll get to your work life
in a minute). Your list might include: "I'm really good with people, I love kids, I
love to read, I love computers, I love numbers, I'm good at coming up with
marketing concepts, I'm a problem solver." Just write down whatever comes to
your mind; it doesn't need to make sense. Once you have your list, number the
items down one side of the paper.
On the other side of the paper, list things that you don't think you're good at or
you don't like to do. Maybe you're really good at marketing concepts, but you
don't like to meet people or you're really not that fond of kids or you don't like to
do public speaking or you don't want to travel. Don't overthink it; just write
down your thoughts. When you're finished, ask yourself: "If there were three to
five products or services that would make my personal life better, what would
they be?" This is your personal life as a man, woman, father, husband, mother,
wife, parent, grandparent--whatever your situation may be. Determine what
products or services would make your life easier or happier, make you more
productive or efficient, or simply give you more time.
Next, ask yourself the same question about your business life. Examine what
you like and dislike about your work life as well as what traits people like and
dislike about you. Finally, ask yourself why you're seeking to start a business in
the first place. Then, when you're done, look for a pattern to emerge (i.e.,
whether there's a need for a business doing one of the things you like or are good
at).
They Delivered
Here's a business startup story that's a great example of seeing a need and filling
it. Entrepreneur magazine is located in Irvine, California, a planned community.
Many years ago, there weren't many fast-food restaurants in the business area.
Most were across town, where the neighborhoods were. Two young men in
Irvine found this lunch situation very frustrating. There weren't many
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affordable choices. Sure, there were some food courts located in strip centers,
but the parking lots were really small and the wait was horrendous.
One day, as they were lamenting their lunch problem, one of them said,
"Wouldn't it be great if we could get some good food delivered?" The proverbial
light bulb went on! Then they did what many people don't do--they did
something about their idea. Coincidentally, they purchased one of
Entrepreneur's business startup guides and started a restaurant delivery
business.
To date, their business has served more than 15 million people! It's neither a
complicated business nor an original one. Their competition has gotten stiffer,
and yet they're doing phenomenally well. And it all began because they listened
to their own frustrations and decided to do something about them. Little did
they know that research cites the shrinking lunch hour as one of the biggest
complaints by American workers. Some only get 30 minutes, making it nearly
impossible to get out, get lunch and get back on time. So while these young
entrepreneurs initially thought they were responding to a personal need in their
local area, they actually struck a universal chord.
That is one way to get ideas--listening to your own (or your co-workers', family's
or neighbors') frustrations. The opportunities are all there; you just need to
search them out. If your brain is always set in idea mode, then many ideas may
come from just looking around or reading. For instance, if you had read an
article about the shrinking lunch hour, and if you were thinking
entrepreneurially, you would say "Wow, maybe there's an opportunity there for
me to do something. I should start researching it."
Inspiring Moments
Inspiration can be anywhere. Here's another classic startup story: Ever get
charged a fee for returning a video late? Bet you didn't do anything about it.
Well, when Reed Hastings got a whopping $40 late charge, instead of getting
mad, he got inspired. Hastings wondered "How come movie rentals don't work
like a health club, where, whether you use it a lot or a little, you get charged the
same?" From this thought, Watch TV Shows Online, Watch Movies Online , an
online DVD rental service, was born. From its start in 1999, Netflix has grown
into a big business with revenues topping $1.3 billion.
Getting an idea can be as simple as keeping your eyes peeled for the latest hot
businesses; they crop up all the time. Many local entrepreneurs made tons of
money bringing the Starbucks coffeehouse concept to their hometowns and
then expanding from there. Take Minneapolis-based Caribou Coffee. The
founders had what they describe as an "aha moment" in 1990, and two years
later launched what is now the nation's second-largest company-owned
gourmet coffeehouse chain. Other coffee entrepreneurs have chosen to stay
local.
And don't overlook the tried and true. Hot businesses often go through cycles.
Take gardening. For the last few years gardening products and supplies have
been all the rage, but you wouldn't consider gardening a 21st century business.
In other words, you can take any idea and customize it to the times and your
community. Add your own creativity to any concept. In fact, customizing a
concept isn't a choice; it's a necessity if you want your business to be successful.
You can't just take an idea, plop it down and say "OK, this is it." Outside of a
McDonald's, Subway or other major franchise concept, there are very few
businesses that work with a one-size-fits-all approach.
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One of the best ways to determine whether your idea will succeed in your
community is to talk to people you know. If it's a business idea, talk to co-
workers and colleagues. Run personal ideas by your family or neighbors. Don't
be afraid of people stealing your idea. It's just not likely. Just discuss the general
concept; you don't need to spill all the details.
Just Do It!
Hopefully by now, the process of determining what business is right for you has
at least been somewhat demystified. Understand that business startup isn't
rocket science. No, it isn't easy to begin a business, but it's not as complicated or
as scary as many people think, either. It's a step-by-step, common-sense
procedure. So take it a step at a time. First step: Figure out what you want to do.
Once you have the idea, talk to people to find out what they think. Ask "Would
you buy and/or use this, and how much would you pay?"
Understand that many people around you won't encourage you (some will even
discourage you) to pursue your entrepreneurial journey. Some will tell you they
have your best interests at heart; they just want you to see the reality of the
situation. Some will envy your courage; others will resent you for having the
guts to actually do something. You can't allow these naysayers to dissuade you,
to stop your journey before it even begins.
In fact, once you get an idea for a business, what's the most important trait you
need as an entrepreneur? Perseverance. When you set out to launch your
business, you'll be told "no" more times than you've ever been told before. You
can't take it personally; you've got to get beyond the "no" and move on to the
next person--because eventually, you're going to get to a "yes."
One of the most common warnings you'll hear is about the risk. Everyone will
tell you it's risky to start your own business. Sure, starting a business is risky, but
what in life isn't? Plus, there's a difference between foolish risks and calculated
ones. If you carefully consider what you're doing, get help when you need it, and
never stop asking questions, you can mitigate your risk.
You can't allow the specter of risk to stop you from going forward. Ask yourself
"What am I really risking?" And assess the risk. What are you giving up? What
will you lose if things don't work out? Don't risk what you can't afford. Don't risk
your home, your family or your health. Ask yourself "If this doesn't work, will I
be worse off than I am now?" If all you have to lose is some time, energy and
money, then the risk is likely worth it.
Determining what you want to do is only the first step. You've still got a lot of
homework to do, a lot of research in front of you. Buying this book is a smart first
step. Most important: Do something. Don't sit back year after year and say "This
is the year I'm going to start my business." Make this the year you really do it!
Source
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https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-find-a-business-idea 19/34
10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
I’m not going to give you advice on finding a problem to solve that people are
willing to pay for? That is the one approach that everyone thinks of and can be
extremely frustrating if you can’t think of a new business. Even if you do, it is
untested, and you really don’t know if it is ahead of it’s time or just not going to
make it. Of course if you hit just the right thing, it could be the next Facebook.
This is the high risk, high potential reward route.
This is what I suggest as an option. It is not as sexy, but it is a lot more sure route
to become a millionaire in 3-7 years. Start your research on an everyday business
that has some interest to you, preferably something you have done before to give
you a headstart. It could be commercial cleaning, a plant nursery, a tour
company, a pottery making business, a construction company or any of
hundreds of everyday businesses.
These businesses have track records, you just need to do it well and scale
enough to make some real money. It may take 3-4 locations, one of the secrets is
that before you start, figure out what you need to be able to clear after taxes
$300,000 or so a year.Don’t just stumble into a business and just make yourself a
job. You can also get experienced mentoring from SCORE and the SBDC of
people who have actually owned your type of business. That is great insight.
If you can’t decide on the exact business, which people will tell me often, then
start a business plan on anything that might interest you. I am not talking about
your passion, just something that might be fun. This is the action that will move
you forward in the right direction and start you doing the kind of research you
need to do. So many people do nothing while they try to think of the perfect
business. Also start taking classes, reading books, and taking seminars on the
skills you will need, marketing, sales,websites, quickbooks . By doing this it
keeps you thinking, and gives you great opportunities to get lucky.
Michael L. F. Slavin Author of 6 time award winning One Million in the Bank:
How To Make $1,000,000 WithYour Own Business, Even If You Have No Money
Or Experience
www.onemillioninthebank.com
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https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-find-a-business-idea 20/34
10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
What are your passions and what are the biggest problems you see in the world?
At the intersection of those two questions is the business idea you should
pursue.
In order to have a business you need to be interested in the thing which you are
selling. Overnight successes are extremely rare, if you’re not willing to hustle
and graft for 5–10 years you’re wasting your time.
We get an idea, run with it until we reach the first obstacle and give up. If you’re
not willing to stick with it, to climb the mountains that will rear up
unexpectedly in front of you give up now, save yourself the time and effort.
It’s like trying to raise a child, who’s trying to bankrupt you and ruin your life.
Every single day. When thing run smoothly you’ll love it more than anything in
the world, but the majority of the time you’re fighting to avoid catastrophe.
If you lack the perseverance to continue to put one foot in front of the other
when everyone else is sniggering you have no chance. To find a business idea it
is critical you possess the above. Adversity is inevitable.
The ability to relentlessly pursue an idea is the most valuable tool any
entrepreneur can ever have, more important than any idea. Implementation
trump ideas and obsession will always beat interest. Normal people cannot
compete with obsessions, you need to find yours.
What is your obsession, what obsession can you cultivate? That is the business
idea you should find.
Sure, you can pursue an idea that that you aren’t interested in and it might be
incredibly profitable, but you most likely won’t have fun doing it. If you’re
enjoying what you are doing, if you cultivate interests aligned with the business
you envision and pursue you’ll never truly work a day in your life. You can
succeed without happiness, but without joy what is the point.
You have to love what you do, find what you love and do what you love. Never
settle.
Interest in the area your business operates within is the first prerequisite of
establishing a business.
What unique insight do you possess? The true voyage of discovery is not in
seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes. It’s about seeing the same things
from a different perspective, things that other people haven’t noticed. It’s about
reinventing an existing business model or innovating and creating something
new. The former is the safest route, the latter often the most profitable but far
more dangerous.
It’s about love not exploitation. The internet has ensured transparency on an
unprecedented scale, your customers are your new marketing team. If they
don’t love what you do they’ll tweet about it. If your product is terrible quality
they’ll Instagram it. If you campaigns are terrible they’ll mock you on snapchat.
If they love you their whole network is advertised to willingly for free. You need
to create things people love, if you can do that you’ve found your business idea.
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10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
Stop being so precious with your ideas. We hide what we are doing for fear that
other people will steal it. If they would, great, it means you have a chance. Most
likely people won’t care of see the value. Their questions will enable you to
develop and iterate on your idea. To your business idea it is essential you get
feedback, perhaps more important than anything else.
Find out how you’ll fail, find out the problems and fix them.
It’s about solving real problems. If you can help someone you can make money
from it.
But it shouldn’t just be about solving problems people tell you they have. The
problem is people only think they know what they want. If they could dream of
the next development they’d be creating it. Sometimes products are so far
beyond the realms of comprehension that it doesn’t catch on. History is littered
with products that were before their time and their use never grew in popularity.
To find a business you need to make sure people are ready for it.
“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”―
Henry Ford
So your business idea needs to be more than what other people tell you they
need.
Most of all you have to be relentless and view failure as a bedfellow you will ride
on the path to success.
9 out of 10 businesses fail, so start 10 and you’ll eventually arive across your
solution.
But never have a plan B, if you do you’ve already started to entertain the thought
of failure.
Greatness most frequently arrives from prolificacy. It’s about quantity not
quality because quality is bred through quantity.
It only matters that you don’t fail the last time your are willing to try, so keep
trying and you will find your business idea.
Be relentless and unmerciful and persevere with obsession as you watch others
jump ship.
Upvote · 11 Share
This trucker has turned his seemingly mundane Indianapolis 2BR home into a
Wonderland-themed “artist frat house ” rental .
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-find-a-business-idea 22/34
10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
This Vancouver native has decided to share her hippie lifestly with the world
by turning her camper van (which is also her primary residence) into a rental .
(It’s almost always booked but guests are on their own when it comes to finding
a bathroom!)
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-find-a-business-idea 23/34
10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
This Berlin couple created a rental furnished nearly entirely from recycled
wooden floorboards.
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-find-a-business-idea 24/34
10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
This group created some interesting artistic, short-term rentals out of odd
urban spaces in Austria, like converted soup kitchens and former working-class
apartments.
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-find-a-business-idea 25/34
10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
This couple has turned this historic home into a rental by heavily marketing
its historical past, including the fact that the home was originally the residence
of a notorious murderer in the 19th century nicknamed “War” (this was
profiled on the HGTV show “If Walls Could Talk”).
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-find-a-business-idea 26/34
10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
I would encourage you to do the same for your area of focus whether it’s
browsing new items in-store at Wal-Mart or online at Amazon (CPG or retail),
checking out recently sold homes on Zillow (real estate), being old fashioned
and spending a day in clothing stores at the mall (fashion), etc.
In the words of T.S. Eliot: “Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal.”
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-find-a-business-idea 27/34
10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
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Business ideas are the output of two factors: problems and passion.
There is a simple formula I use when speaking with other entrepreneurs and in
analyzing my own businesses:
In this simple formula, the stronger each variable can be, the greater chance of
success of you will have.
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-find-a-business-idea 28/34
10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
solved a painful problem and he had the passion to talk about his
product everyday on its road to success.
Stepping back in your life, what are you passionate about and what problems
can you identify?
To help you get started, you can use following Lean Canvas template to
organize your list of problems and build them out to a business model.
Upvote · 55 Share
While I do think innovating is great, you could also try to improve an existing
product or service.
See what’s missing out there and if you can’t really come up with your own idea
then simply see what you can do better than an existing business in a particular
industry.
Do a research on an industry. Let’s just say coffee industry. The coffee industry is
evergreen which means it never ends, it’s not seasonal. There are billions of
people who drink coffee everyday and are addicted to it. From this, you might
get inspired and decide to start a coffee shop .
https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-find-a-business-idea 29/34
10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
The thing now is that you should provide good quality and service for people to
come at your place. But if your quality is not as good as another competitor’s
doesn’t mean you’re not going to realise profit. That depends on other factors
too.
When you go out with friends ask them what can be better or what ideas they
have. What can be improved. Explore more and more and read books.
Upvote · 8 Share
Looking for a business idea? Stop googling “business ideas” and start mastering
the process of idea generation itself.
One of the best ways to generate a consistent flow of new ideas is to approach it
from as many different angles as you can think of.
Need some inspiration? Here is a list of different angles including specific idea
generation strategies for each one to get your creative juices flowing!
2. Create a better solution for something that you do every day — e.g.
make the process more efficient, less expensive or more enjoyable.
3. Build an email list around a niche topic and survey them about their biggest
challenges about it.
4. Analyse the activity in niche forums and on platforms like Quora and
Reddit to discover the pain points and desires of niche groups.
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10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
5. Look at the internal processes of the company you are working for
(Human Resources, Finance & Accounting, Marketing, Management, Sales,
etc.): What are processes that could be made more efficient? How could they be
improved with the use of technology?
6. Look at the people working with you: How could they get better at what they
do? How could they be happier at what they do so the company can keep their
best-performing employees?
7. Look for improvement potential of the company’s core service. How could
its product or service be made better, cheaper or more efficient? Think of out-of-
the-box ways that the big companies are missing as well as business ideas that
benefit from small agile startup teams instead of big capital and resources.
9. Look for improvement potential in its supply chain: How could processes
of its suppliers or customers be made more efficient?
Analyse Trends
10. Look at the trending topics on Social Media Sites like Twitter, Reddit,
Buzzfeed, YouTube etc. Remember the Fidget Spinner? If you are able to jump
onto trending topics fast enough by creating or reselling related products or
services, you can build a valid business.
11. Become a trend spotter yourself: Read, read, read. Pick an industry and
spend a couple of months reading everything about it. Do it until you get to the
point where you are able to spot and predict upcoming trends yourself.
12. Look at your past jobs and analyse what you liked/did not like in your
role. Think of industries and types of businesses that would allow you to do
more of what you like. For example, if you loved working with people in your
customer service job, why not build a coaching or consulting business?
13. Make a list of things you love to do and would do for free. Think about
how you could turn these things into a business. For example, if you are
passionate about healthy living and spend your free time researching recipes,
finding new ways to workout and read up on the newest health trends — why not
start a blog or coaching business with your expertise?
14. Look at your past jobs and analyse what you were really good at.Think of
industries and types of businesses that would allow you to use your skills and
strengths. For example, if you were really good at writing blog posts in your past
marketing job, you could start a business as a freelance writer.
15. Think of businesses and industries that you would have an unfair
advantage in. This could be based on extensive industry experience,
knowledge, skills or network. How could you use this advantage to build a
business?
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10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
16. Train your brain to come up with ideas on tap by writing down 10 ideas
about one topic every day. They don’t need to be business ideas but they need
to be related to just one topic. This will force your brain to get really creative. For
example: write down 10 ideas to make cooking easier, 10 ideas to loose weight,
10 ideas to sell books, etc.
17. Read, Read, Read. The more you read about different things in all sorts of
areas, the more ideas will come to you naturally. By expanding your knowledge,
you are expanding your realm of business ideas.
18. Build the Uber for X, the Airbnb for Y or the Warby Parker for x. You get the
point.
19. Find a niche and resell products on your own dropshipping store, Amazon,
eBay or other market places.
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Entrepreneurs who come up with good ideas are more observers than they are
thinkers. In other words, they aren’t sitting down looking at data or researching
online. They are out in the world doing something and see something that
sparks their curiosity.
Disintermediation: Cut out the middleman. If you find a way to better connect
suppliers and producers to customers, you can generally unlock value because
you increase contribution margins.
Look for sunk costs to exploit: This is a really good way that can be applied
across any kind of market and operations. When businesses have capital
equipment or assets which aren’t being used those fixed costs are sunk costs.
Unless the equipment, warehouses, machines etc are being used at full capacity,
they have an incentive to use them to fill capacity. Think of Uber. They went to
black car drivers who were looking for time to fill between their client’s rides.
AirBnB went to to people on Craigslist who were trying to rent out their homes
they owned. Flexe renting out warehouse space. AWS, Google others in the cloud
infrastructure services business. IDM Foundries moving to Pure play
Semiconductor Foundries.
I saw a few answers that said don’t think of a product, go listen to the market.
That can be true. But there are two sides to that argument, product first vs
market first. Market first is as described by many. Go listen to customers, which
can be very successful since you sometimes can identify people’s pain and
create value from that.
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However the problem with market first is sometimes customers don’t know
what they want. Steve Jobs was famous for saying Apple never did customer
surveys. The reason he didn’t is because early on he tried and realized quickly
his potential customers had no idea what they wanted, because it didn’t exist.
How would you have come up with the iPhone in 1999 by asking people what
their problems with their cellphones were?
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2: Ask why – Ask: why do you do it this way, why do you have to go that way, why
do you have to buy that, ask why!
4: Make them lazy –People love to have more time at their disposal so that they
can do what they love. Why can’t you make people lazy or give people time?
5: Celebrate when you see problems –When you see problems, roll up your
analysis sleeves and find the solution to it.
6: Create A Need, And Fill It –If you have an innovative mind, you can create a
need (or activating a dormant need) and create the product to meet the need.
7: Jump onto the bandwagon - Keep up with current events and be ready to take
advantage of business opportunities.
8: Who are you? – Examine your own skills to find business ideas. Look at your
skills and leverage on them to offer a service for value.
11: Make wishes come true – make wishes come true really!
2: How much are you willing to lose – what are you willing to lose. To act on your
ideas without risking it all, you start risking what you are willing to lose. That
means, if you lose that money or time, you will not lose sleep, curse yourself or
commit suicide.
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10/11/2018 (7/1) How do I find a business idea? - Quora
3: Learn from what you experience – the key to success is learning from what
you are experiencing. Measure and re-act. Start new action, Stop what’s not
working and continue what’s working.
Business ideas, Unchained: Just how you can find viable business ideas and take
the entrepreneurial action, an Ebook by Kudzai Munyavi
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