Want to start a business but don’t have a business idea? At the start of every entrepreneur’s business journey is typically an eureka moment. It is this moment where they think they’ve just come up with the next game changing business that obviously no one has ever thought of before….
If you aspire to set up and start your own business but just can’t think of a business idea, it can be very frustrating. Your dreams can feel as if they’re on pause and you can start doubting your entrepreneurial mindset (being able to come up with a business idea has nothing to do with an entrepreneurial mindset (more on this later)).
Fortunately, business idea generation isn’t hereditary. It is a skill that can be developed by following a set process.
This article will teach you how.
Let’s go!
It is important to set up and start a business that you’re passionate about. The reason for this is because establishing a business is hard. If you already hate your business at the start, you definitely won’t see it through to the end!
List all your passions and interests (even the obscure ones) and then write down the industries they relate to. These are the industries you should be looking at for business ideas that will resonate with you!
I have a friend who lives and breathes classic cars; their knowledge is second to none. They’ve managed to productise their knowledge and run a very successful classic car consultancy business in this industry. This is the case in point why you shouldn’t write off any passion or interest, no matter how niche it may seem.
Once you’ve created a list of suitable industries, you next need to write a list of possible business offerings. What service or product should your business offer? There are two approaches to create a list of offerings. The first approach (and most common) is copying & adapting existing successful businesses. The second approach is coming up with an original offering by creating a business that solves a common unsolved problem.
Copying & Adapting an Existing Business
This first approach is the easiest method of coming up with a business offering and the most risk free. It involves identifying other established businesses (both locally & globally) and looking at how you could improve the business to provide more value to its target audience.
How do you find areas of improvement? Market research. It is often said that the best people to “design” your product are the people who’ll use it. Similarly, the best people to improve your product are also the ones who use it. With this said, once you’ve identified existing successful businesses in your chosen industry(s), approach their customers and ask them what could be improved. One way to do this is looking at reviews; sort reviews worst to best and read what can be improved. Write down any improvements you could make.
You’re no less of an entrepreneur if you can’t come up with your own original business idea. Alex Chesterman, a very successful entrepreneur has made a killing by just taking concepts that work in the USA and starting similar businesses in the UK.
Original Offering
To create an original offering, you need to identify problems or pain points that people (or yourself) are currently facing in your highlighted industries and come up with viable solutions to these problems. Once again, the best way to identify pain points and come up with solutions is with market research; by speaking with your target customers you can get a much better idea of their pain points and opinion’s on any of your proposed solutions. Write down any original offerings (problem & solution pairs) you can think of.
Creating an original offering is more difficult and it carries more risk, but can be more rewarding. Unless you’re certain the market exists for your original offering, I would suggest you set up and start your business by offering a proven service and later try to convert your audience to your less well known, original offering.
Having a great business offering is pointless if you can’t make any money from it (unless you’re setting up a charity)! With this said, for each offering you also need to work out how you’re going to monetise it. If you’ve copied an offering doesn’t mean you need to copy their monetising method too. Using a different monetising method might be the key to making it a more successful business! I will be posting a blog next week on different monetising methods. If you want to be notified once it is up, click here.
Once you’ve finished the first two steps you should have a table or mindmap (whichever works best for you) of different industries you’re interested in and business offerings for each of these industries. These business offerings will be either existing business you can improve with the improvement stated or original offerings you can provide as a problem/solution pair. From this shortlist, pick the business that inspires you the most.
Congratulations, you’ve just found your first business idea!
That is it, 3 steps to generating a business idea.
As you can see, business idea generation is mostly brainstorming and market research in order to find existing gaps or untapped opportunities. If you’re struggling to come up with a business idea, it is likely because you’re not asking enough questions!
You might have been hoping for a business idea generation tool where you click a button and it spits out a business idea. The reality is, a tool like this would unlikely generate the right business idea for YOU.
Your business idea needs to be aligned with your passions. The reason for this is because a successful business idea actually has very little to do with the idea itself. As long as there is actually demand for an offering, the most important aspect of any business idea is that you’re passionate about it. Passionate enough to stick at it when things get tough.
By following my 3 step business idea generation process, researching and asking lots of questions you will find the right business idea for you.
To check whether a business idea you come up with is the right business for you to start, you can use my business idea checklist. Download it for free now.
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