Thinking about starting your own thing but feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to come up with the next big innovation? You're not alone! Often, there's a misconception about what truly makes a great business idea.
This newsletter draws upon my years of experience working with clients to provide you with essential insights on how to identify a simple yet profitable business idea.
Forget Game-Changers, Focus on Problems
The good news is, your business idea doesn't have to be a groundbreaking, industry-disrupting innovation like the next AI model. In fact, a truly great business idea boils down to one core principle: solving a very painful problem for a group of people who are willing to pay you to fix it. If you can consistently do that, you're onto something great.
While there's no magic formula to guarantee success (even the best businesses see a significant failure rate), understanding a solid framework can significantly boost your chances.
This framework has two key parts: aligning with profitable markets and asking yourself the right questions.
Tapping into Profitable Markets
To avoid wasting time on ideas outside of where the money flows, it's crucial to align your business with profitable markets. There are three evergreen markets to consider:
Health: Helping people become healthier or fitter.
Wealth: Helping people make or save money, or even save time (as time is a currency).
Relationships: Helping people form better relationships, become more attractive or datable, or feel approval or peace of mind.
Another way to think about these markets is through what people truly buy: time, money, sex, and approval or peace of mind. Consider how your potential idea can give people back their time, help them make or save money, make them more attractive, or provide them with a sense of approval or belonging.
Uncovering Ideas: The Four-Question Framework
Now that you understand the playing field of profitable markets, how do you actually come up with an idea? A simple four-part framework can help you uncover a number of options based on your own experiences and interests:
Practical Experience: What are the skills, expertise, or stuff you've done well at work?. For example, someone with accounting experience could start an online accounting practice to help people save money.
Learned Obsessions: What are you so obsessed with that you can't stop learning about it in your spare time (reading books, blogs, podcasts)?. Even without direct work experience, deep knowledge can be valuable.
What People Come to You For Advice: Think about the questions your friends, family, and peers consistently ask you. Often, these questions point towards potential business ideas.
Problems You've Solved for Yourself: What issues or challenges have you personally overcome? It's likely that others face the same problems, and your solution could be valuable to them.
Evaluating Your Ideas
Once you've brainstormed some ideas using this framework, it's helpful to evaluate them further.
The business idea spreadsheet here at the EazySites resource centre can be a valuable tool. The resource centre can be a valuable tool, and you can find a business idea spreadsheet here.
This spreadsheet allows you to push your ideas through six different lenses: clarity, usability, stability, scalability, stickiness, and profitability.
By considering these aspects, you can start to rank and refine your potential business ideas.
Your Next Steps
Ready to get started? Here are a few actionable steps you can take right away:
Brainstorm five to seven business ideas by working through the four-question framework (practical experience, learned obsessions, advice people seek, and problems you've solved).
Try to align each of these ideas with one (or more) of the three profitable markets: health, wealth, and relationships.
Consider using the business idea spreadsheet (available here) to further evaluate the ideas that interest you most.
Remember, the faster you choose an idea and begin to move forward, the quicker you'll learn whether it's a good fit. Don't get stuck in endless planning – take action!
Stay tuned for our next newsletter, where we'll delve into validating your business idea.
To your success,
Adam Martelletti