Ideas can make millions. Where do you find your million dollar idea?
Well, the first place you could look for ideas is your hobbies and interests. What have you done, are doing that could be turned into a profit machine?
Many entrepreneurs have got their new business ideas from their hobbies. Small businesses have been started from hobbies in baking, gardening, cycling, collecting share certificates – you name it – people have taken their hobbies, found a market for what they have to offer and slowly built successful businesses.
Ideas can come from problems and customer complaints. A young woman in Australia once heard a shop counter salesperson say, “If I had a dollar for every time someone asked for matte lipstick, I’d be rich.” Well, Poppy King listened and built a lipstick business. Listening can unearth a goldmine.
Makeshift or home-made solutions by lead users can spark ideas for new products and services. For example, the prototype for protein-based hair conditioners originated from innovative women in the early 1950s. They rinsed their hair with home-made conditioners containing eggs or beer to give their hair more body and shine.
You can find free ideas in published materials – newspapers, magazines newsletters and websites. At least 20% of small businesses get their ideas from published sources. Some even go deeper – reading books on their specialty or digging into research papers, looking for ideas and concepts that have been overlooked by others.
Observation is a rich source of ideas for many business people. They take walks down main street, visit shopping centres and check out suburbs to see what people are doing – painting their houses, fixing walls, maintaining gardens, buying new barbecues – all observations of possible trends. They watch what people are doing when they shop. What are they buying at the supermarkets and other shops? Where do they relax and have fun? Follow the people and find out what they are consuming.
Great ideas come from talking to other people, especially business people. Find out what’s on their minds. Listen. Ask them open-ended questions that help get them talking. Talk to business people outside your industry. If you’re into pet foods, talk to other business people who own restaurants, service stations, clothing boutiques or hair salons.
You can find ideas everywhere. But you need to take time and make it a deliberate structured process if you want to increase your chances of finding that big idea that may make you a million.
Stay inspired
Chesney Bradshaw
PS You will find the process that will help you take on the first step at this link: products and services
