You want to start a business. Awesome. So does a lot of people. Just one small thing. You need an idea. That epic idea is all it takes. As long as it solves a problem, you are good to go. If you are passionate about it, the better. Don’t overthink it. You don’t even have to write a lengthy business plan to kickstart your epic idea. But the question remains:
How do I find the best idea that can generate income? I understand the frustration. If your dreams of running your own business are frustrated by the notion that you have to come up with a brilliant new idea, think again. What you need right now is a business concept that is relevant in today’s market to meet customers’ needs and will probably be still relevant in the next five years or more.
Start paying attention.
The truth is, great ideas are everywhere, by the thousands and they’re right in plain sight. But we don’t see them because the brain only see what we program it to look for! If you pay close attention, you’ll notice that in essence, most – if not all – businesses have something in common, they all solve a problem, a need, a frustration, or they make an existing product better.
Amazon took the frustration of ordering online and made it simple. Google looked at Yahoo, and made a better search engine. To find your next great idea, you need to train your mind to see opportunities in frustrations, needs that aren’t being met, or find things that can be made better.
Coming up with ideas is a skill, actually, something that’s become easier with practice. And I don’t have one single method of coming up with great ideas for articles, except this one:
I’m ALWAYS on the lookout.
Seriously. Always. Whether I’m in the shower, eating, reading, driving, exercising, talking, emailing, working, or writing, I always think to myself, “You know, that would make a great post!” It’s a bit sad, actually. But the truth is, the pieces of information you gather daily finally make sense when you need that viable idea that can be turned into a sustainable business.
Brilliant ideas can come out of a more better question.
Why can’t everyone accept credit cards? Innovation: Square. How do I find what I want quicker and better? Innovation: Google. How do I send short messages online? Innovation: Twitter. The list of innovative and disruptive ideas and businesses could go on.
In one of his well quoted and popular quotes, Einstein reckoned that if he had an hour to solve a problem, he would spend the first fifty-five minutes making sure he was answering the right question. Are you asking the a more better question to find the answers to your problems?
The answer you seek is in the right questions you are not asking.
In the book, A More Beautiful Question Warren Berger stresses the importance of asking thoughtful, ambitious “beautiful questions” to spark breakthrough ideas. He shares how questioning can help us solve problems and work through difficult challenges in our daily lives. If you are still stuck in the process of generating ideas or refining your recent idea, try asking a more better and beautiful question that can lead to a lot more leading questions.
Question everything.
When you find yourself thinking or following traditional ideas that everyone assumes are right, question them. Ask yourself if it’s really true, and if so, why? Why does everyone think this? Is it possible there are other ways of doing things? Question everything, and you might come up with some surprising answers.
Maintain an open mind.
You start by looking for opportunities by opening your mind to ideas from all sectors or industries. if you concentrate on just one industry, you will be limiting the kinds of ideas you could come up with. Don’t begin with a hammer, otherwise everything will look like a nail to you. This could be hard for a lot of professionals who know so much about just one industry.
It’s different if you are trying to visit the moon. Obviously you want the best way to get to one spot in the universe. Your options will be pretty much limited for the right reasons. If you are trying to solve humans problems on earth, there are a lot more things you will be considering.
Excepted from the book; How To Find Your Million Dollar Business Idea This Weekend.