It’s very clear that when it comes to the idea of starting a business might sound daunting but it’s not. And definitely it does takes a lot of hard work and grit to propel your business to reach a level of profitability but it’s not impossible. It all starts with that one idea.
Just incase you want to start a business but you don’t know where to start, read this article till the end, as it will show you ways to find the best Business Ideas
1. First of all Identify and Solve a problem
Great way of coming up with a business idea is to look at the problems around you and find out what you can do about them. You don’t need big solutions for a start, smaller solutions are equally good. When you look around you and notice what you use every day, you realize that they are solving a particular problem.
For instance, a hot water bottle. It helps you keep warm during those cold days. That’s just a smaller solution to help you deal with cold environments. The hot water bottle is movable and efficient. It only requires you to boil some water, pour the hot water into the bottle, close it, and keep it in your bed or sofa, so you can find warm sheets.
The bottle is covered with cloth fabric that guarantees safe contact between your body and the bottle. I bet you are wondering why we would waste your time talking about a water bottle. But there’s a catch here, see such a solution is simple, effective, affordable, and solves an actual problem. The solution doesn’t have to be big; it could be as small and as simple as a hot water bottle.
Look around your environment and note the things you complain about or other people complain about. Find innovative solutions for them and that’s how you’ll find your business idea.
Edward Penkala, the person who invented the hot water bottle must have identified this problem, and created the innovative solution that made him really good money.
2. Then Adapting to the Changing Needs
Know that for now, one has to adapt to changes quickly, not be left behind. Technology and Social media have caused a lot of lifestyle changes that have affected each one of us one way or another. Some needs are constant, for example, physical needs like water, food, shelter.
And we all know that emotional needs sometimes change and other times they can be constant. The solutions that change are services and products that fulfill these emotional, psychological, and physical needs. Other needs that you can fulfill are our contemporary needs.
And for example, phones used to have SD card slots to cater to storage for your files, photos, etc. You will still find SD cards sold but they are not as popular as they were before. Cloud storage has changed the game because people needed more space to store their memories. They can now store their videos on various cloud storage available on their devices. Furthermore, they get to view their videos on any device, anywhere.
There are google cloud storage, apple, Microsoft, Dropbox, and many more companies that have adapted to people’s needs. What can you create that is innovative and adapts to the ever changing needs? Or can you find an already existing product and improve on it?
3. The Experience
When you have more experience in a field of interest, you find that you understand it better when you know which places need improvement. That’s why successful people read far and wide. Millionaires and billionaires are always knowledgeable on numerous topics that help them innovate new products.
Curiosity is very good when it comes to business. Don’t be limited to things that you know. Coming up with good ideas means trying out new adventures, travel, and seeing the world from another angle. Always look outside your area of expertise for new motivation and integration to come up with new ideas.
For example, if you are working in a marketing firm, you get to experience a culture of employment. You meet clients, negotiate, make presentations, and so on. After a while, with the experience you’ve gained, you can feel ready to venture out on your own because you know how the business works.
You can handle clients and negotiation, you can focus on one niche of the business and be exclusive to a client. It’s the experience that helps you come out and redesign your product or service.
4. Focus on Solving Something that May Become a Problem
Looking for and solving a problem is a great way to find a business idea and it is not the only way. Why not find a solution to a problem that you know will happen? A lot is evolving and changing in the world right now. I understand it is very futuristic but this can be a great business idea.
One man that is in this business is Elon Musk. His passion is very unique. He has a sense of the future in his projects like Tesla Motors or Solar City. He understands that soon, fossil fuels will be a problem and he has the means and expertise to fix that. He’s taking steps to find solutions before something happens. The advantage is that he has time to innovate and he has the market share.
Sometimes you might think there is no market for a product but you can create your market if you think this way. Speak to people about what you see happening in the future. There will be people that share the same beliefs and as time goes by the popularity of your idea grows. Turn these people to be your market and your business idea is solid.
Numerous problems are predicted in the future. For example, Climate change and changes in weather patterns could be a niche one can choose. There are diseases like Ebola and COVID, and some that can recur in the future and others that can be preventable.
5. Embark on Exploiting Emotions
We all know that it’s believed that we make decisions based on our emotions. When we are angry, happy, envious, greedy, gluttonous, lustful, jealous, you get to purchase certain services or products at that time. You can exploit that.
Think about it! How many businesses exist today that have somehow exploited or appealed to people’s emotions? If you look in your room or bathroom, how many things do you have that have exploited some of your emotions? Do you want to grow hair quicker? Well yeah, there are numerous products in the market for that.
And now your hair will grow whether you shave it or apply oils on it. But this specific hair growth product will make it grow faster and there is a market for that. Lightening products, slimming teas, also have a huge market that’s created by social media ideas of beauty.
Most of the people that promote lighter skin tones, tanned skin, and well-manicured bodies are selling you a product that is taking advantage of your emotions. Just think about it! Exploiting people’s emotions can be a manipulative approach to business but if you can find a product that you can help improve people’s emotions why not try it?
6. Also Making Life Easier
Many products and services are designed to make your life easier. Coming from an age where you would wash your clothes by hand to having a washing machine. Purchasing a vacuum cleaner or a robot cleaner. These are all inventions that have changed over time. For example, using an older idea to come up with a new and better innovation.
A robot vacuum cleaner is a new technology that cleans the house when instructed. The robot charges itself at its charging station. It wakes up when you schedule it so that it can start vacuuming the house. With special features, it knows all corners of your house and moves from one room to another cleaning. When it’s done it empties its dirt in a container and goes back to its charging station until the next time it’s scheduled to vacuum.
This new idea has made your life easier because you don’t have to be home when it’s working. You only empty the trash. From this example, your business can come from advancing an old idea. After-all, we all want products that make our lives easy.
7. Then Saving People’s Money
I’m sure everyone is always looking for a way to save money, however little. This is one business idea you can develop to save people’s money. Affordability is a huge market sell point. When a product is energy efficient it means it’s saving your electric bills and that’s saving you money and it attracts a market.
When gas is cheaper at one petrol station, that’s where people will go. Products or services that are of multiple-use and at the same time are saving people’s money are also great business ideas. For example, a solar lamp in Rural communities in Africa. The lamp is charged by the sun during the day, the same lamp can also be a radio and have a charging port for your phone. These are things that are helpful and save your customers money. Instead of buying a lamp and radio, you have two in one. The lamp can be charged by both electricity and solar meaning you are saving on electricity bills.
8. Turn your Passion into a Business
Most people enjoy partaking in numerous activities and spend most of their free time doing things they love. You can now think about how to turn your passion into a business. Usually, when you are free, you occupy yourself in different activities. If you enjoy writing, painting, researching, gardening, taking photos, traveling amongst other activities, turn them into a business.
First of all, you already enjoy your hobby and making money out of something you enjoy is fulfilling. It wouldn’t feel like a job. If you are good at gardening, start making videos teaching others about how to manage nurseries, use of organic manure, watering, transplanting, and so forth.
Start a blog or a YouTube channel. Grow your audience. Set up a how-to video and sell it online. Work with companies by promoting their products be it a rake, a fertilizer, a planter. Start your consultancy and work on other people’s gardens. You’ll find that you’ll be refining your skills and knowledge in your passion as you make money.
Note that, if you turn your hobby into your passion full time, think about the business aspects of it. Your hobby will change as you have to meet customers’ demands and your business goals. It might end up not being as delightful as it used to be.
9. Turning Tasks Desirable
Find out something that you or your friends don’t like doing. There are those tasks that you don’t have time for and wish they could be manageable. That’s where the business idea is.
Thanks to the internet, many tasks can be performed by a tap on your phone. That’s where you find home curtains controlled by remotes, efficient deliveries of parcels and food, or promptly paying your bills via an app on your phone.
There are apps on your phone helping you track your daily steps, organize your run, record your kilometers, calculate calories lost for the day, and give you a trophy reward when you beat your previous record. What do you hate doing? It could be your answer to your next business.
10. Hierarchy of Needs
Do you remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? It’s a psychological theory composed of five hierarchical levels of human needs. Starting from the bottom we have Psychological Needs, Safety Needs, Love and Belonging, Esteem, and Self Actualization.
If you are keen you’ll realize most products and services fulfil each of these needs. For example, on psychological needs, they include water, food, sleep, breathing.
Companies have created products that ensure people have proper sleep. They have innovated with good pillows, spring and foam mattresses that are good for the back and provide good sleep. All to meet this need.
Another example is water. Research says that we need to be drinking about 2 liters of water a day. For many people, this isn’t easy. Companies have then come up with flavored water to fulfil this need. Furthermore, there is plumbing in our homes to meet the same water needs. A lot can still be done.
Conclusion
However, one sure thing is that try to improve on the already existing technologies and innovate to best cater to a particular need. These are some ideas on helping you find a business idea.
And of course for sure we all hope that one or two ideas mentioned above will help you kickstart your business journey and put you at the top level where you and your business belongs. If you find this helpful try explore more and share with your friends.
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