How to Find a Good Business Idea?
Finding a good business idea can be easier than you think. As a matter of fact, great business ideas are all around us. Most of us, however, want to start the next Facebook or the next Google. And you should not really worry about this for now.
In the beginning, you need to set yourself up for success based on your skill set, and your emotional maturity Moreover, you need to start off with realistic objective.
As you brainstorm, you may find the next Facebook or Google; you never know. And if you don’t, it is OK. You can still have a great business idea and you can be very successful. But for this, you need to analyze your personality to figure out if you are suitable to be in a business for yourself.
Please check my post on Personality Traits of a Successful Entrepreneur to know what you need as a successful entrepreneur. I left you a link at the bottom of this post.
Again, you don’t need to have an original business idea. In fact, there are very few original business ideas out there. If you find one, great. And if not, find a business idea that exists and make it better.
By applying science to find a Good Business Idea, here is an equation I came up with that has always worked:
Product or service + Specialty and/or technology + Customer demand = Viable Business
Let me explain the variables in details:
1- Find a product or service:
The very first thing that you should do is search for the service or product that you would like to offer. For this, you can search many places, including:
Search the Internet:
Next, you can use the Internet since it is the biggest information hub that everyone can easily access. Moreover, using the Internet would allow you to get a lot of ideas for your next business.
Shopping Mall:
Take a trip to the shopping mall and other locations where you can find different businesses. Observe these businesses and their products. Furthermore, look at them from the perspective of specialization.
Frustrating stuff:
Ask if there is something that frustrates you and the people around you. For the problems that people mention, try to find a solution for them. Further, see if you can help them in fixing these problems and making their lives easier.
Hobby:
Do you have an interesting hobby? Another thing that you can do is converting your hobby into a business. Moreover, you would not just enjoy doing something you love. In fact, you would be able to earn money from it easily.
Traditional Process:
Look at a traditional process as a business that you can specialize in and/or apply technology to make it better.
Neglected Customer base:
Search for a customer base in a market area that is neglected and under-served. And take up the opportunity to create a business out of it.
2- Specialize the product or service:
Once you have found what you want to offer the market with, you need to specialize it. In other words, you need to be able to offer the service or product in a much better way as compared to what others are offering. For this, you can begin by:
- Applying your skills or the skills of people that you know. This includes the skills of your friends, family and/or business colleagues.
- Using the latest technology
- Focusing on a specific customer in a specific market. In fact, specialization does not always mean changing the product or service. It can also mean – specializing in a target market and a customer base that is not well served. So, this means that you can focus on their area of need and the way they behave.
3- Find out if there is customer demand for your specialized product or service:
After you are done with the product or service specialization, it is crucial for you to test the market demand for the product or service. This can be done with the following steps:
- Identify the customer that you think would buy your product or service.
- Test the customer acceptance of your product or service.
- Determine the price they would be willing to pay for your product or service.
Combine the 3 and you found yourself a good business idea.
All you have to do now is - Start your business!
Here is the Formula again:
Product or service + Specialty and/or technology + Customer demand = Viable Business
Here are some examples that can prove this formula works with any good business idea:
Apple did not invent the smartphone or the touch screen. Instead, they took these two new technologies, combined them, and made the smartphone elegant and simple to use. In short, Apple specialized in the human-to-machine interface, which is the way we interact with the phone. Not only this; Apple also specialized in targeting the consumer market, which was under-served. While their competitors were focusing on the business market.
Uber was not a company that invented the taxi business. Instead, they took the taxi business and combined it with an available technology. This helped them make the taxi business simple and affordable. On the whole, they targeted the consumer market with a smartphone. This was a new revolution in the taxi industry, and the rest is history.
Google did not invent the search engine on the Internet. As a matter of fact, search engines existed long before Google existed. Basically, Google took the search engine idea and applied a new algorithm using the available technology. In short, they made a much better and effective search engine.
McDonald did not invent the hamburger business. Instead, they streamlined the process of making a hamburger. They made the hamburger cleaner, faster and cheaper than their competitors. Moreover, the best thing about it was that it tasted really good.
Conclusion
To conclude, finding a good business idea is simpler than you think. In fact, all you need to do is apply my simple formula, which is – Product or service + Specialty and/or technology + Customer demand = Viable Business. Once you find your cool business idea, go ahead and start your company and become wildly successful. Good luck!
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