John Cutler's answer to How do I find a good startup idea provides 10 awesome tips to broaden your horizon. Exploring unknown territories should become your new daily habit. It is a way of living.
3 exercises for idea generation
That said. There are various exercises you can use to find a good business idea. Below I am presenting three of my own top methods for generating new business ideas.
These exercises work best when you apply them to a specific industry and/or business environment. If you don't have any preferences, just pick one you find the most fascinating.
When doing the exercises consider to invite some other people to join the brainstorming. Multiple view-points allows for better ideas, as long as you structure the brainstorming properly. I recommend you to: a) postpone judgment, b) capture all ideas and c) follow the rules of hybrid brainstorming.
#1: Future tech trends
Apply a future tech trend to a current problem/your current job. What new ideas emerge from this? Currently many people are looking at 3D printing, Google Glass and drones, but don't forget to look at advancements in materials too.
To make this exercise easier, I recommend you to use tech maps. Envisioning has several good tech visualisations you can download for free.
Example: Drones used by real estate agents to show potential buyers the view from a building before it is finished.
#2: Societal trends
Similar to the one above. Just look for societal trends instead of tech trends. This can, for example, be changes in values or demographics. Recently sustainability is getting a lot of traction. How would this influence your industry? And how could you profit from this?
To steer the exercise you can download a free trend map from What's Next (as a bonus it can also be used for the tech trend exercise).
Example: Made by Many is working on solutions for isolated and lonely people. This is a growing societal trend and will surely bring a lot of revenue to successful solutions. Btw. read the blogpost titled, The greatest social challenge of our time is an ageing population, they wrote about their experiences - it is worth any minute
#3: Business model analogies
This exercise is maybe my favorite and one we almost always used at my previous workplace (Board of Innovation). The exercise simply forces you to apply aspects from interesting business models to your own domain.
To structure the exercise I recommend you first to (hybrid) brainstorm on aspects from one particular business model and only subsequently transfer those aspects to your own domain. Of course you can do multiple sessions. We would often brainstorm on 3-5 different business models.
When brainstorming aspects from one particular business model I recommend you to use the business model cards developed by Board of Innovation. You can download 30 examples for free here.
Example: Consider for example the army of startups copying elements from Airbnb and Uber.
5 Alternative routes to business ideas
Of course there are plenty of other ways to find new business ideas. Below I share 5. Some of them less serious than others.
#1: Check online reviews
Read online reviews of products and services. In this way you find all the top problems/pains people experience with existing solutions.
Example: The easiest way to get started is probably through the book reviews on Amazon. Find your favorite book. Optimize it. And sell it on Gumroad.
#2: Look at micro task services like Fiverr
Check what people are already paying for through micro tasks services like Fiverr. Now set up a landing page and try to offer the same service through a different channel at a higher price.
Example: Read this inspiring story: How a 19-Year Old Started a Profitable & Scalable Business.
#3: Monitor online communities and act fast
Online communities are not only great places for procrastination. If you bring along your business sense when browsing Reddit, Quora etc. you discover many new business ideas.
Obviously you can monitor relevant subreddits like /r/Shower Thoughts and Quora topics like Business Ideas. However, the most intriguing business ideas will probably come from more non-business related discussions.
Example: Read how Shirtwascash started from Reddit and eventually allowed the founder to Make $40k within Shopify's trial period.
#4: Search Twitter for ideas
The Tumblr Omg new app idea is satire. But as such, not a bad idea and certainly not a bad approach to generate new business ideas.
Solving people's real problems and needs is always a good start when launching a business. And I am 100% positive that you will find many problems and needs by searching through Twitter.
#5: Experience sampling
Experience sampling is an interesting technique where you ask a (large) number of people the same question over and over again.
You can generate business ideas by continuously asking people what was there last annoyance (and how they solved it).
This article is owned by:
Kristoffer Tjalve, works at Board of Innovation
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