If you cannot develop an idea for a new business, you’re in the wrong direction.
Have you ever heard someone tell you, “I had the idea for Uber years before they came up with it”? Perhaps you’ve said that yourself. It’s a phrase you hear every day, but surprisingly, many of them have stepped into Lambos and are sporting Rolexes. To quote the theatrical version of Mark Zuckerberg played by Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network: “If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you would have invented Facebook.”
When it is about business, particularly disruptive players such as Uber or Facebook, we often praise the idea of: “Why didn’t I think of that?” Or return to the point we began: “I did think of that!”
Dylan Online is a serial entrepreneur and author renowned as an expert in life and work optimizations. Online Digital is his company’s founder. Online Digital.
Ever heard someone say, “I had the idea for Uber years before they came up with it”? Perhaps you’ve said that yourself. It’s a phrase you hear often, but surprisingly only a few people have stepped from Lambos and are sporting Rolexes. To quote the theatrical version of Mark Zuckerberg played by Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network: “If you guys were the inventors of Facebook, you would have invented Facebook.”
When it concerns business, specifically disruptive companies like Uber or Facebook, We tend to believe that: “Why didn’t I think of that?” Or return to the point we began: “I did think of that!”
The result is that generations of potential entrepreneurs are searching for an idea that is the next big thing. The product, service, app, or deal could transform everything and make them billionaires. The bottom line is that they’re following their tails. It’s impossible to build a successful business by trying to chase an idea.
What My Dad And Brother Got Right
My family is comprised of entrepreneurs. My Boomer dad and Gen-X older brother each started numerous companies. I’m sure they’ve received a lot of resentment for being part of the “old guard” of business owners. This pre-Internet world included brick-and-mortar shops, a significant expense for payroll, and eighty-hour workweeks fuelled with coffee and donuts amid an earlier heart attack. For those in the old guard, there was no concept of “big enough.” The company always had more money to tap into, more market share to be claimed, and more rivals to hunt down, be it type II diabetes or not.
Becoming A “Problem-Hunter”
Mark Zuckerberg didn’t find Facebook because of a brilliant idea that came to him from above. He came up with the idea because when he was an undergraduate at Harvard, He noticed that every dorm on the campus had its own Facebook, but there was no uniformity. He was convinced that there was a way to improve and decided to take action. What was happening to Facebook following that time was lightning in the bottle.
When someone asks me, “How do I come up with an idea for a business?” my answer is always similar: “Stop looking for ideas. Find solutions to the problems you have to tackle.”
Don’t wait for a billion-dollar dream to come through in the shower. You cannot control when or if it occurs. However, you can spot difficulties.
People Don’t Buy Ideas–They Buy Solutions.
If you come across an issue that you can convince people to pay for your help, then the solution is an idea.
Consider how ineffective the best idea would be if buyers weren’t willing to invest in it. I advise my students who coach me to sell their products before developing them. If they don’t, they’ll have to spend years or even months creating a product only to discover that nobody wants to purchase it because it’s not solving an issue that is big enough.
It is essential to describe the product that you are thinking of. However, you must explain the problem it solves. It should be clear enough so that the customer you are targeting will be excited about the possibility of solving the problem. Are you scared by this idea since you’re not yet able to create your solution? Are you collecting funds for something that you cannot currently deliver? Do not worry about it. The goal of the exercise isn’t to sell the product but rather to verify the concept by identifying a problem that people are willing to pay to address.
Inform people that the solution is currently in development. It will be in the works in just 30 days. When they pull out their credit card right now, they’ll be among the first to gain accessibility to the solution. If they reply, “No thanks,” maybe your idea isn’t quite right. You’ve discovered your solution if they swipe their credit card to purchase it. You’ve identified a problem one person is willing to pay to fix for them.
One of the initial areas I worked on for my agency was heating and plumbing businesses. It was easy to attract clients once I had learned how to explain their issues to them more effectively than they could by themselves.
Some time back, my water heater failed, and I contacted the plumber to repair it. He was a nice guy, and I was willing to purchase him a pint when he was done. In conversation with me, the man said, “These repair jobs are acceptable however, I would like to have more installation jobs. They’re much easier to do and cost much more.”
Boom. That’s an issue I can solve using digital marketing. I would not just bring plumbers and heaters more customers; I could also get them more installation jobs that they wanted the most. As essential as it may be, the idea was it sparked colossal growth.
If you’re still waiting to begin an enterprise because you’re “looking for the right idea,” here’s the information you need Send a text message to all the entrepreneurs that you know; go to the local businesses and speak to the manager as you casually talk to every service provider that comes to your house. Ask them what they detest most about the industry they’re working in. Ask them about the most constant burden they face in their work life. Ask them about the urgent tasks that can consume their time and divert them from more critical, lucrative tasks.
