7 Sources of
Business Ideas
Part 1: How To Discover a Winning Business Idea
Business ideas are all
around you. Some business ideas come from a careful analysis of market trends
and consumer needs; others come from serendipity. If you are interested in
starting a business, but don't know what product or service you might sell,
exploring these ways of getting business ideas flowing will help you choose.
1) Examine your own
skill set for business ideas.
Do you have a talent or
proven track record that could become the basis of a profitable business?
The other day I spoke to a
man who had spent years managing cleaning services at a hospital. Today he runs
his own successful domestic and business cleaning service. An ex-logger I know
is now making his living as an artist; he creates "chainsaw
sculptures" out of wood. And the examples of professionals who have
started their own agencies or consulting service businesses are legion.
To find a viable business
idea, ask yourself, "What have I done? What can I do? Will people be
willing to pay for my products or services?"
2) Keep up with current
events and be ready to take advantage of business opportunities.
If you read or watch the
news regularly with the conscious intent of finding business ideas, you'll be
amazed at how many business opportunities your brain generates. Keeping up with
current events will help you identify market trends, new fads, industry news -
and sometimes just new ideas that have business possibilities.
For instance, same-sex
marriages are now legal in Canada.
There are now also entrepreneurs who are selling tourist travel packages that
include a marriage ceremony to same-sex couples from other countries. Would you
have identified that business opportunity when you heard that the Canadian
marriage laws had changed?
3) Invent a new product
or service.
Think back 30 years ago.
Was there a huge demand for anti-virus software, Internet Service Providers, or
desktop computers? No! The key to coming up with business ideas for a new
product or service is to identify a market need that's not being met. The
clamor for ever-increasing security, for instance, has led to an explosion of
new security products and services, ranging from iris-recognition machines
through home security services.
Look around and ask
yourself, "How could this situation be improved?" Ask people about
additional services that they'd like to see. Focus on a particular target
market and brainstorm business ideas for services that that group would be
interested in. For example, there are millions of aging gardeners across North America. What products or services could you create
that would enable them to garden longer and more easily?
4) Add value to an
existing product.
The difference between raw
wood and finished lumber is a good example of putting a product through an
additional process which increases its value, but additional processes are not
the only way value can be added. You might also add services, or combine the product
with other products. For instance, a local farm which sells produce also offers
a vegetable delivery service; for a fee, consumers can have a box of fresh
vegetables delivered to their door each week.
What business ideas can
you develop along these lines? Focus on what products you might buy and what
you might do to them or with them to create a profitable business.
Really. Once you develop
an entrepreneurial frame of mind, you'll see that finding business ideas is
just as easy as finding leaves on trees. Here are more ways you can generate
business ideas:
5) Investigate other
markets.
Some business ideas aren't
suited to local consumption - but appeal greatly to a foreign market. My own
little town is surrounded by acres of wild blueberries. For years the bushes
produced berries that mainly fed bears and birds; B.C. has a thriving blueberry
industry that doesn't leave room for a wild blueberry market. But one
entrepreneur realized that there is a high demand for products such as these in
Japan
- and those same wild blueberries are now being harvested and shipped. Finding
out about other cultures and investigating other market opportunities is an
excellent way to find business ideas.
6) Improve an existing
product or service.
You know what they say about
the person who builds a better mousetrap. That person could be you! A local
entrepreneur has created an improved version of the hula hoop; it's bigger and
heavier so hula-hoopers can control it more easily and do more tricks. How did
she come up with this business idea? She thought hula hooping would be a fun
thing to do with her daughter, but found the commercially available product too
flimsy.
There are very few
products (or services) that can't be improved. Start generating business ideas
by looking at the products and services you use and brainstorming ideas as to
how they could be better.
7) Get on the
bandwagon.
Sometimes markets surge
for no apparent reason; masses of people suddenly "want" something,
and the resulting demand can't be immediately met. For example, during the SARS
epidemic, there was an insatiable demand for facial masks in several countries
- and many entrepreneurs capitalized on this business idea.
A "bandwagon
effect" is also created by larger social trends. There is much more of a
demand for home-care services for the elderly than is currently being supplied.
And the trend for pets to be treated as family members continues, creating
demand for all kinds of pet-related services that didn't exist even ten years
ago.
Look at existing
businesses and the products and services they offer and determine if there's a
need for more of those products or services. If there is, develop business
ideas to fit the market gap.
Are you brimming with
ideas for starting a business now? Write your business ideas down. Let them
swirl around in your head and coalesce. And keep an open mind and continue to
assess everything you read and hear from an entrepreneurial point of view. You
don't want to run with the first business idea you think of; you want to discover
the idea that's best suited to your skills and desires. Dream, think, plan -
and you'll be ready to transform that business idea into the business you've
always wanted.
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