Top Business Idea Generation Techniques for Startups
Successful brands have ideologies fueling their existence. When you look at Amazon, you see a company that is poised to make online shopping easier for everyone, by allowing buyers and sellers to connect on the same platform to make transactions every day. A look at Facebook shows the brilliance of Mark to make the world a “connected place.”
With many successful brands out there, you may think that there is no other business idea you can start and run with. On the contrary, the established brands you see today have one or more loopholes that create a market opportunity for startups that will dare to take it up.
In this article, we introduce you to seven (7) different techniques you can use to generate a business idea.
What is a Business Idea?
It is just what it is – an idea or general information about a business. However, for a business to kick off, you must convert that idea to a working principle.
Want to learn how to generate business ideas? Here are the major business idea generation techniques you would like to explore for your next startup:
1. Build a Business around Your Hobby
There’s no doubt that not everyone is passionate about the business they started. You could see a vehicle manufacturer that doesn’t give a hoot about how the vehicles are produced, but the major goal is to satisfy the demands of the market and make money.
However, there are a couple of business owners who built something around their passion. You could see a fitness center owner that is passionate about keeping fit; a skincare brand owner that doesn’t want any blemish on her skin and a clothing brand owner that doesn’t like being caught un-trendy.
If you have a hobby or something you like doing so much, it might just be that next big business you will start.
It is better to start a brand around something you like doing so that when things don’t get all rosy, you can always be fired up to keep at it.
2. Look for Problems and Solve them
Today’s startups don’t just start out of passion or the desire to have a big brand in the face of the people. If you take the time to interview some of these business owners, 5 out of 10 would tell you they found a problem and they started a business to solve it.
For example, Financial Technology (Fintech) companies are being launched every year to help facilitate cross-border transactions, especially because of the lacuna of higher remittance fees when using the banks.
Here are some of the best ways you can spot these problems:
Follow the News
If a particular topic is being talked about often on the mainstream media and the news is always negative, there is a chance that nothing has been done to resolve those issues.
For instance, you may have access to news on limited water supply in an area. If that persists, you could start a company to help supply water to those areas and make money from it.
3. Come up with a USP
Sometimes, you don’t need to brainstorm the best business idea for you. Most of the time, what you want to do is to “add value” to an existing market.
The goal is to offer something better or more unique than the current service providers offer. Here are some ways to do that:
- Introduce a better service or product to an “underserved area” –an area where that product or service is not so popular, but there’s a demand for it.
- Improve the customer experience by offering exceptional service.
- Reduce the cost of getting the service or product, if possible.
4. Ask for Business Ideas
The first place you may want to turn is your family and friends. Ask them to help you come up with business ideas. Sometimes, these people have ideas that they may not be willing to go ahead to implement but which they would be willing to share with a budding entrepreneur with the right resources to build on the ideas.
Also read: Small Business Ideas for College Students
5. Explore Your Neighborhood and Travel if Need be
You cannot come up with the best business idea if you stay put in one place. If you are earnest to start a new business, consider exploring your neighborhood.
Pay attention to the “word on the streets.” What are people talking about? Which service are they yearning for?
If you have the resources and time, it may also be a good idea to travel to other places. Sometimes, the inspiration you need to start a Fortune 500 company is in other places. You just need to pay a visit, understudy how existing businesses operate there, find the loopholes, and find out a way to do something better.
6. Implement the Low-End Disruption Model
It may take a while for a new Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturing company to become as popular as Tesla is. Why? Because Tesla has established its presence as a leader in the EV market. Despite selling the vehicles at a higher price, the company still has lots of customers.
Thus, starting a new business in the same niche and aiming to sell at the same price may not cut it for you.
We would suggest starting with a lower-priced EV. The low-end disruption model suggests offering a lower-priced or affordable variant of an existing product or service.
As your startup gains traction, gets customer loyalty, and has brand awareness, you can then consider stepping up in your game to penetrate the larger markets.
7. Fill the Market Demands
Sometimes, you don’t just need a new business idea. You may not even need to compete with anyone. The market is there for the taking. All you have to do is to provide the services or products and acquire your customers.
An instance can be the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, which saw many pharmaceutical companies manufacturing and shipping nose masks, and hand sanitizers. Yet, the market demanded for more.
In such an instance, you can jump on the bandwagon and fill the market demands.
Conclusion
Coming up with a new business idea can be somewhat difficult, especially when you want to offer a service or product that the market doesn’t have at the moment. If you are unsure of what to do, consider taking advantage of the business idea generation techniques shared in this article and run with it to launch your startup.
