Throughout your life, the idea of starting a business will come and go. But there will always be that time when a particular idea sticks. No one will tell you a great business idea. But what can be done is guide and assist you throughout the process and hopefully, help you come up with one yourself.
And if that’s something you’re looking for, then you’re at the right place.
Find Something That Solves A Problem
This is as good a tip as you’ll ever get. You might go online and read a hundred more articles and guides, but every single one of them will talk about this one. Namely, no business can survive without offering a product or service that solves a problem.
This is essentially what business is; it solves problems. Ideas are meant to better humanity in more than one way. So you’ll need to find an idea that does just that. So how do you do that? Well, you’ll need to look around and do a lot of research.
No doubt you’re particularly knowledgeable in at least one field. You might be an excellent economist, know everything about sports, or are a pro landscaper. Each of these fields has some problem that the solution isn’t good enough or doesn’t exist.
So what you should do is focus on identifying a problem in these fields. Once you do that, the next logical step is to look for the solution. This is the tricky part. You might be well aware that people make accounting mistakes all the time, but what’s the solution to that? Are you 100% positive that the solution doesn’t already exist?
You’ll need to do a lot of research; just saying it is an understatement. No great business ideas have come up by brainstorming for an hour. It takes months, if not years, to come up with one.
Find A Solution To A Problem That’s Yet To Come
While the first logical thing is to look for solutions to problems that already exist, the unorthodox way of thinking is to come up with a solution to a problem that’s yet to come. This is considered by many as a futuristic way of thinking. With 4.35 million new businesses starting each year, some of these are bound to look for a solution to a problem that doesn’t already exist.
The most popular business idea that started through a futuristic way of thinking was Elon Musk’s Tesla company. Musk identified a need to offer people a product that goes beyond traditional fueling. We’re referring of course to the highly popular Tesla cars. But it’s not only that. A portion of his company focuses on other solar energy-powered products like roof tiles and even entire city grids.
While Americans are driving Teslas, the car will be even more popular in a few year’s time. Not only that, but everything that the company makes will be popular in a few years. This is what it means to come up with a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.
Adapt To What the Market Needs
Sometimes, great ideas are born because of market needs. If there isn’t a product to satisfy market demand, then why not make it? A very popular market niche that lovely goes obsolete is the CD market. Everyone has used CDs and they’re very easily accessible. Not only that, they’re affordable.
But nowadays, we can buy any product that comes on CD without needing to own the CD. From music albums to video games, we can buy a digital copy of everything. And this particular market emerged thanks to the need to digitalize our society. While CDs were extremely popular, no one uses them now thanks to the emergence of a new market that emerged itself due to market demand.
A Business Idea That Saves Time and Money
This is essentially another thing you need to look at. Every great business idea does both of these. Simply look at Amazon. Amazon is the biggest eCommerce store in the world. It is even in the top 5 US companies. Saying that is absolutely huge. Amazon is huge! The company managed to identify a solution that saves both time and money. Nowadays, you don’t have to go to bookstores to buy books. You can do it online!
The service is fast, and there is a likelihood you’ll find a cheaper version of your favorite book there. With all that said, another example is Airbnb. Airbnb is a renting service where hosts market their properties for travelers. And you could very easily turn Airbnb hosting into a profitable business.
But it’s important to remember that both of these services save customers a lot of time and a lot of money. And that’s what makes a great business idea.
