Everyone has something of value to offer this world, whether it’s the ability to do something better, a unique viewpoint, or an innovative solution.
While building a thriving and successful business is more about execution than ideas, you do still need a basic idea to get started.
If you’ve been wanting to start a business but have been unable to identify your own area of expertise or what type of business you should start you can ask yourself these questions:
- What do people always ask me for?
This could be anything from help fixing a car, advice on investing, your favorite recipe, a new workout routine, or anything else that friends or family members seem to consistently ask you. Their questions show your expertise as you don’t need to know everything, you just need to know more than they do.
- What do I enjoy doing?
If the answer is watching TV, or playing video games we might be out of luck, but even then you may still be able to leverage your knowledge and talents into teaching others, or providing consulting or advice. There are a number of online television blogs that do quite well, and also some video game consultants.
- What problem can I solve?
The key to a viable business is identifying a problem and then having your business be the solution to that problem. Think about the products and services you use on a daily basis, could you improve them or offer a better service? Think about the complaints you hear from friends or family about the products and services they use as well. Everywhere there’s a complaint, there’s a business opportunity.
From here make a list of 10 possible business ideas (no matter how crazy) and then move on to the next step, validating your idea.
While nothing validates an idea like that first sale, there are easy ways to at least get a basic idea of whether or not your business idea is a good one.
1. Are there competitors?
Too often new entrepreneurs shy away from a market that already has competitors. Competitors are actually a really (really) good sign that you’ve found a viable and profitable business. After all, if the industry didn’t make any money then there wouldn’t be anybody in it. There’s always room in a market for someone to do something better, faster, or with more personality.
The best way to search for competitors is with a simple Google search. Take a look through both the regular listings as well as the ads that appear. Ads are a good sign that there’s money to be made.
2. Ask your family, friends, and network
Don’t worry about “giving away” your idea. Ideas really are free, it’s the execution that makes a business successful. Ask your friends, family, and your extended network what they think about your business idea. You can use them to dig deeper and uncover other possible revenue streams or complimentary services, as well as learn more about their needs, annoyances, wants, and anything else that could help you better serve your future customers.
3. (Advanced) Create a simple website
If you have the means or the time, try creating an advertisement through Google Adwords or Facebook and then driving the traffic to your new website. You can monitor the site for traffic as well as offer a toll free phone number to start collecting leads which you can either serve yourself, or sell to other businesses.
You really can start a business today, and that first step is coming up with an idea that you’re excited and passionate about.
