Are you wondering how to generate a great business idea? There is a plethora of business idea around us. Ideas give the start to everything. That’s why some people find this task very challenging and cumbersome. Entrepreneurs have to create a plan from scratch and work harder until it gets converted into a successful business idea.
They are also required to find a way by doing a careful analysis of market trends and consumer needs. Lack of information prevents you from coming up with a really successful idea for your next startup. Sometimes, you also feel very insecure about sharing your ideas with anyone. It will seem to you that someone might steal it and start executing it right now.
Obviously, there is a reason to get afraid of it. The idea always acts like a bridge that will help you to make a good start for building unique products and services. This is why several people can’t even put their business off the ground and ask for help from successful entrepreneurs.
There will no be wondering about the fact why people asked questions on various websites, ‘how to generate unique ideas?’ Some people also book an appointment with successful startups about where to find successful business ideas or what are some useful techniques for generating ideas for startups.
Although it’s not about the talent to generate business ideas, it is about the regular practice that can make you an “ideas-generating” guru.
It’s started by asking yourself a few questions:
- What skills do I have? Maybe it’s website design, copywriting, or even digital marketing.
- What do my friends and family members say that I’m great at?
- What do I do on a Saturday and Sunday morning when everyone is asleep? Am I doing something worthwhile?
- Am I taking tiny steps to reach my goals on a daily basis?
- Do I read about email marketing, branding, and how to convince customers to make a profit?
- What do I already pay for? It can be something to change your oil, restaurant to cook your food, or to clean your apartment. Calculate all your daily expenses?
These are just the starting points toward building a startup idea. As soon as you find the answers to these questions, you can test them out whether they will produce any benefits in accordance with your invested a ton of time and effort or not.
Are you trying to figure out a great business idea? Start brainstorming, refining, and testing your ideas until you come up with an exceptional business idea. Successful entrepreneurs use their imaginations every day to make new decisions to make the world a better place.
Here are eight ways to keep your mind fresh and open so you can generate an idea for your own business. Start following these steps so that you can find a good and profitable business idea.
Let’s start…
Become inquisitive
Start being interested and getting involved in what is happening all around the world. Spend approximately 30 minutes in a day to read news portals, popular blogs or watch the hot and latest news.
Get information about your startups that are launched and start growing it. Because gathering information about different things will not only help you to go through this time but can also aid to know a lot about different industries and innovations.
Let’s take an example:
Being a famous travel guidebook, and restauranter, Zagat is an often-cited example of finding a business in something you love. It was established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979 as a way to collect and correlate the ratings of restaurants by diners. In order to get honest and true reviews, they started a newsletter convincing their friends to rate restaurants.
They began charging money for their work, as their newsletter were got bigger every year. Finally, Google adopted this company in 2011. This is not a bad opportunity for a newsletter.
Rather than wandering here and there in search of business ideas, take an inventory of your hobbies and interests. And think about those opportunities you would love to create from something.
Travel
The next ultimate tip for finding the great business idea is to explore various places of the World. There is a whole big world out there, which is full of great ideas. There might be chances that those ideas aren’t yet available in the market. If you find a brilliant idea while traveling, you can take it back home and can give it a new spin that can address the needs of your community or market.
If you have lost the inspiration in your life, then traveling can also help take out from your unbearable surroundings to refresh your system. There are a lot of places around the world that are waiting for unique ideas to be commercialized. For example- A lot of universities have established technology transfer offices.
These offices will focus on increasing the impact of university research and providing opportunities for financial gain. So, if you are finding difficulties to generate ideas, then you can take help from these offices.
Therefore, visit various countries, meet new people, gather information about cultures, and spend some quality time in sightseeing. Believe it; you will feel more relaxed and motivation in your life. Just make traveling a part of your regular lifestyle. You will see how much creativity it will evoke in you.
Stay relaxed, but focused
Whether it is about generating ideas to establish a new startup or even scaling already existed organizations, you need to stay focused. Without having proper concentration towards your goals, you can’t complete your ambitions. Therefore, start putting all your efforts into this process so that you can create something really successful.
But that doesn’t mean that you will ignore your sleep, health, and other personal stuff. The more you relax, the more you will generate ideas and stay focused. But always be attentive to what is happening around you. For instance- you can try to attend all the meetings, events, and seminars related to business.
Whether it is about making contacts, seeking financial help, getting a virtual address, or even looking for partners, make sure that you are visiting those important events. Moreover, you can also write down the ideas in your bucket list which you find interesting or unique for the market.
You never know which business idea can bring changes in your life. Write them down until you get an idea which you would love to scale. You can also combine different thoughts and ideas and then examine if it can help you with your future product or service development.
Read more books
Try to read more and more books, magazines, and newsletters related to the business world. Books will not only help you to get knowledge but also act as a source of inspiration.
To be precise, reading can show you where to start! If you really want to learn new lessons about business, generate new ideas, and understand the procedure to implement it, then there is a list of books you should take into account:
- “Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose” by Tony Hsieh — If you are lacking support and inspiration in your life, then you should definitely read this book. It tells the story of the author’s growth from idea to building a corporation through the concept of happiness.
- “The Four” by Scott Galloway–Do you want to set up a techno-startup? Then this book would help you to get plenty of information about how such giants as Amazon, Google, Facebook, and Apple became so successful. It will also ignite a motivational spark in your life.
- “Will It Fly? How to Know if Your New Business Idea Has Wings…Before You Take the Leap” by Thomas McKnight–If you already have a brilliant idea to start your business, then this read should be on your radar. Because this book will let you know how to assess the idea before starting its implementation. It would also help check if your idea has all the chances to become successful after its launch.
- “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries–Do you want to start a business that involves building a digital product or a service? If so, it is a required book for every entrepreneur. It would explain to you how to set up a business successfully in the atmosphere of total uncertainty.
Focus on making life easier
Try to come up with an idea which can make the life of your customers more easier and comfortable. There are ample cool and fruitful products in the market that appeared as a result of our attempts to make life easier, cheaper, and more convenient.
People love those things that simplify or aid them to do everyday tasks. Believe it or not, this is really the best approach to create new products and services. So, spend some time to think about the thing which you want to make easier or faster. Think about it.
Probably, the answers will help create the next big move to start your business. Everybody search for conveniences and time optimization. Make use of it. Think about the ways to make life cheaper and easier.
Do your market research
Many people in this competitive business world who have a potential inkling of an idea but are not sure if it really has any potential. If you are the one who is facing this kind of problem, then you should research the market to see what’s out there and where your idea could fit in.
Another area that can also assist you to know whether your idea is perfect or not is your standard online search and library stop. In fact, there are tons of resources available in the market that can help you. For instance- you can take help from MaRS Market Intelligence.
This platform offers entrepreneurs from Ontario with access to relevant, timely, and current information about your markets, partners, intellectual property, and the best business practices at no cost.
Use the cut-up technique
The next tip for generating the best business idea is to use the cut-up technique. This tip has come into existence by William Burroughs. It lies in cutting the words or phrases from one sentence and randomly combines it with other phrases; it creates a new sentence. When you merge two different phrases into one sentence, it gives birth to a new idea, plan, and a sentence. Even though this technique was widely accepted in music and poetry sections, now it is using as a perfect tool to produce business ideas.
Note down any business idea and then think about whether it is solving any current existing problems of the market or not. Sometimes, through this technique, you can also come up with even the most stupid ideas.
Do not focus on the idea itself too deeply; generate as many as possible. And cut them into different phrases, rearrange them, and then notice what happened. The results can be very unpredictable and thought-provoking. But if you want to generate many ideas at a single point, then try to practice it with your business partner or inside your dream team.
Go online
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket; in fact, try to generate more ideas by using various social networking websites. Go on Twitter and search for relevant hashtags to see what people are communicating about.
For instance, if you are interested in getting information about social finance, then use #socfin, #susty (sustainability), #socent (social entrepreneur or social enterprise) and #csr (corporate social responsibility). With these, you might also learn about new niche fields, networking opportunities, or other topics that might spark something. Also, you can look up entrepreneurship and industry-related communities.
Final thoughts!
Got plenty of tips to generate business ideas? Not yet! Don’t worry, just write all the ideas which are popping up in your mind. Let them swirl around in your head and blend. Keep an open mind and continue to assess everything you read and hear from an entrepreneurial point of view. Just dream, think, plan — and follow these tips mentioned above, you’ll be ready to transform that business idea into the business you’ve always wanted.
