Twelve Tips For Finding The Right Business Idea
Find a business idea and implement it in several phases
The step into self-employment appeals to many people. Because it enables them to develop their ideas and successfully put them into practice. Independence and self-determination also play an important role for many founders.
However, they are only successful in the long term if they find a viable business idea and carry out strategic work to make it a reality. It is important to recognize, develop, protect, present your business idea and finally to take the first practical steps in the new company.
It may be necessary later to correct the original business idea and adapt it to market conditions.
Here are twelve tips and more inspiration to help you find a good business idea:
1. Pain Points
To find a successful business idea, founders need to understand their potential customers and their needs. An idea that does not help solve problems on the customer side is unlikely to hold up in practice.
This enables founders to find out which existing products and services do not meet customer expectations, or only to a limited extent. The reasons for this can be found, for example, in a lack of comfort, a range that is not up-to-date or in excessively high prices. Based on this inspiration, it is possible to come up with a business idea that solves the customer’s problems.
2. Market research
Every viable business idea needs a market. Without real customers, the founders won’t be able to sell their offerings. Many budding entrepreneurs believe that the world has been waiting for their offer and are then dependent on generating a customer need in the first place through intensive marketing. It is much easier to develop a business model for which there is already demand.
With market research and comprehensive analysis that includes the market and its conditions, customers and existing competitors, founders get an overview of how and under what conditions they can realize their business idea.
3. Finding a feasible business idea
It is also important that prospective entrepreneurs are sure that they can put their business idea into practice before setting up a business. Therefore, they have to find answers to the question of their resources.
This is about the personal skills needed to set up a company, any qualification requirements that may exist, but also the costs of starting a business. What financial resources are available? Is there any chance of getting investors interested in your project?
How likely is it that the company will be financially self-sufficient in a reasonable period? Here it is important to weigh carefully to recognize your potential and objective limits.
4. Proven concept or new concept – which is better?
There is no general answer to this question—the character of the product or service that is to be offered plays a role. A start-up is more likely to position itself in its market with innovations and develop a new concept for it.
It is equally promising to use a proven concept for business development. Even then, it makes sense to pick up on current trends and design your offer accordingly.
5. Franchise – when the business idea comes to the founder
Franchise concepts are particularly attractive for many founders. In this case, you do not develop your business idea but adopt an already established and successful business model. In the start-up phase and later, you can count on active support from the franchisor.
Today, franchise concepts are not only available in gastronomy or retail, but also many other industries. However, in many cases, franchise fees drive up start-up costs.
6. Company succession
Company succession is a special way of finding a business idea. In practice, it plays an increasingly important role. The research estimates that around 150,000 companies of various sizes with a total of 2.4 million employees will be ready for handover between 2018 and 2022.
As a rule, these are family businesses. Such a company succession can take place within the family, within the company through one or more employees and an external takeover.
A long preparation phase is particularly important for internal solutions to guarantee a seamless transition without any business losses.
7. Brainstorming – looking for good partners
To find a suitable business idea, partners are particularly helpful. These people involved play out their strengths when generating ideas and when founding a company.
At the same time, they ensure a continuous feedback process in the founding team and bring their resources with them for the founding. Statistics show that team formation proves to be particularly sustainable. A team of three to four people is ideal.
8. Getting inspiration from outside Different
Countries, different customs and also different business ideas. If you want to set up a business and like to travel, you should also think of inspiration for your business concepts. The Internet also offers optimal possibilities for this topic without spatial restrictions.
Many of today’s successful business ideas were originally imported. A prominent example of this are the Samwer brothers, who are both founders and investors in the market. Their first “import project” and a decidedly successful model was the Ebay clone Alando (1999), which Ebay took over 100 days after it was founded.
9. Using the lean start-up method
The roots of this method are in production. One of the core ideas of so-called lean manufacturing is to produce only in small batches as required, to avoid excess inventory and incorrect batches.
The lean start-up method adapted this procedure to the establishment and development of companies. It states that customers are offered a product or service at an early stage of development.
With their feedback, they contribute to the further development of the offer that exactly meets their expectations.
10. Write a business plan
Most experts think that writing a business plan is the beginning of a start-up. Finding the business idea and planning the structure of the company coincides with this approach.
Successful founders, on the other hand, believe that a business plan only makes sense if the business idea has proven to be feasible and viable from the perspective of the market.
The idea and the envisaged business model will likely change several times in the first six to twelve months.
11. Leaving your comfort zone Starting
A business requires work and enthusiasm. Finding the business idea is just one important point. It is just as important that prospective founders are aware that by realizing their idea, they will leave their comfort zone, face previously unknown challenges and also have to overcome fears.
12. Identification with the business
Idea Just to find the right business idea, a lot of patience is often necessary. The same goes for building a company. It often takes several years for a new company to find its profile and establish it on the market.
Founders who do not fully identify with the core idea of their project will find it difficult to get through these phases and the associated changes in their business concept.
