Finding a Business Idea
So, you want to start a business but you’re struggling to come up with business ideas. Don’t stress about it, it’s quite normal. During this process, you’ll probably come up with several ideas, then you’ll think they have been done before, or that they wouldn’t work.
This often makes it challenging to find the right idea. So, what do you do? You turn to Google, of course. And this doesn’t make it any better because there’s so much information out there that, before you know it, you’re caught up in a whirlwind of information that you can’t make head or tail of.
Fortunately, we’re here to help and with this post, we’ll show you how to find a great business idea for your business.
No, You Don’t Have To Reinvent the Wheel
Yes, that’s right, you read correctly. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel to come up with an excellent business idea. Sure, some companies have launched totally revolutionary products or services that were something completely new in the market and it led to great success. And if you can come up with an idea like this, great, but you don’t need to.
And that’s where many people get hung up when they’re looking for ideas. Simply put, they’re looking for the next big thing.
Now, to illustrate the point, let’s look at Apple. Years ago, when they first launched their Apple I computer, personal computers were already the thing. They just improved the existing concept.
Likewise, when the iPhone was launched, cell phones had already been on the market for years. Apple just found a way to improve it, make it more intuitive to use, and gave it new features.
And if you look at the other Apple products, most are extensions or improvements on existing products. And it worked for them, considering that Apple is now the most valuable company in the world. So, no, you don’t have to come up with something totally new to find a great business idea.
What Do You Find Annoying?
Considering that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel, it’s often helpful to look at something in your life that you find really annoying or complicated to use. Chances are that if you find it annoying, other people will too.
Once you’ve identified it, you can think of ways how you can improve these things to make them more efficient, less expensive, or more enjoyable to use.
So, for example, let’s say you use an app every day that you love. Despite this, there may be one or two features you don’t like. Then think of ways in which you can improve on these features. This can either lead you to think of ways of your own that solve this problem or even a completely new way to approach it.
What Do You Like?
You could also look at one of your hobbies, something you’re interested in, or something that you’re passionate about for a business idea. It’s simple, if you’re passionate about it, many other people will be too.
For example, let’s say you’re passionate about model airplanes. You like to build them, you like to fly them, and you know everything there is to know about them. So, this then gives you a possible business idea.
For one, you can start an online store where you can sell models or parts to people in the model airplane community. It doesn’t even have to be as big as this. You could start a blog where you write about model airplanes, how to build them, and give readers tips on these planes. As a result, you’ll then be able to earn ad revenue and maybe even sell products later on.
The beauty is that you can do this for basically anything you’re interested in or passionate about.
Solve a Problem
Another way to find a great business idea is to think of a problem that people have and how you can solve it. It’s simple, when you find the solution, you’ll have your business idea.
Here, think of the video conferencing app Zoom. During the COVID-19 pandemic, companies experienced significant challenges in their communication because many employees had to work remotely.
Zoom gave them the perfect solution to solve their problems and it rocketed to success. Sure, the company was born before the pandemic, but it truly gained widespread use and success during the pandemic. In fact, it gained 2.2 million users in 2020, and its share price increased by 35%.
Now, it doesn’t have to be something on such a large scale. It can even be as simple as starting a delivery service for groceries to people in your community that don’t want to go out because of the pandemic.
This is just one example and keep in mind that there are many more that you can use to find your business idea. The key is that you’ll need to look for a problem and then solve it.
Look at the Trends
A really simple way to find a business idea is to look at current trends. Remember years ago, there was afidget spinner craze. Nowadays, it seems to be Pop It’s. If you’re able to spot these trends early and act on them fast enough by selling these products, you can build a successful business.
To do this, you should read a lot and keep up to date on trending topics on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. You can also consider focusing on a specific industry and keeping up to date with its trends. At some point, you’ll be able to spot and predict trends before they’re in full swing, and you’ll be able to capitalize on them.
The Bottom Line
If you want to start a business, you’ll have to come up with a business idea. And this is where the challenge lies because many people get hung up on finding the right idea for their business. They either think it’s been done before or that it won’t work.
Hopefully, this post showed you that it’s not necessary to reinvent the wheel to come up with a viable business idea and helped illustrate some ways in which you can find business ideas for your business. Keep in mind, though, that there are many other ways in which you are able to come up with business ideas, and these are just a few examples.
Originally published at https://forevermogul.com on June 4, 2021.
