5 Ways To Come Up With Business Ideas That Ignite Your Passion
Follow your passion, and the money will come… sort of…
So, you’re looking to start a business?
Coming up with business ideas can be easy. After all, you can just see the top products on Amazon and start selling them. Except for many, that becomes boring very, very quickly.
There’s a saying in business:
“Follow your passion, and the money will come.”
And it’s correct, but not in the way most people think. You see, you still need to validate your ideas, create the perfect marketing plan, and streamline your business to be profitable.
But if you’re working on an idea just to make money, then you might find yourself burning out while you’re going through the hard uphill battle to funding or profitability. But if you love the idea that you are working on, and can’t wait to see the impact of the business, then you have a driving force behind you that will keep you going even when things get tough.
And let’s face it, unless you have vast wads of cash or a natural talent for sales, starting a business is hard work.
So, how do you generate business ideas you genuinely love? Well…
Instructions
Grab a pen and pencil, and brainstorm with me. Write down some answers to the ideas below. Let your imagination run wild at this point and just generate a list. Take this list with you wherever you go, and add to it as life happens to you over the next couple of weeks. Don’t worry about coming up with ideas that you think you’ll never achieve — as Marie Forleo says, “Everything is figureoutable”. I’ll briefly discuss the following stages at the end of the article.
1. Write Down Things You Love
If we’re finding a business idea we love, we should start with the obvious. Write down everything you love! Are you someone that always has to have fresh flowers on the dining room table? Do you adore going to the beach? Can you name every single player on your national rugby team? Think about everything you do that makes you think, “Oh, I love…”.
Scribble down everything you can think of that you thoroughly enjoy, no matter how big or small.
2. Write Down Things That Scare You
I got this idea from a Pat Flynn podcast a few years back. Write down anything that scares you. Are you afraid of heights? Or perhaps your fears are related to you, such as imposter syndrome, social anxiety or changing jobs?
Think about anything that might hold you back or make you go, “NOPE. I’m out.”
3. Write down a problem you can’t solve.
Ever been through a situation that makes you think, “I wish I had a checklist to help guide me through this” or “I wish I were better at that”. If you’re struggling with something, maybe others are too. As you go through life, think about any struggles you’ve had, such as health issues, caring for loved ones, or buying a laptop.
4. Write down things people come to you about
Are you the go-to person for random knowledge? Perhaps you’re a champion knitter that makes gifts for people. Maybe you’re the fixer that fixes things for everyone. If someone asks you for help, there may be a way to monetise your skills. Write it down, no matter how small or silly.
5. Write down twists to something that exists.
Make a list of things you could improve with a small or large twist. Most products on the market are just a better version of something else — more robust material, cheaper price points, more durable or a wider colour range. What’s a twist that you could add to an existing product or service that would make it even better.
Now I’ve got my list; what do I do next?
You can expand your list of business themes into full-fledged business ideas.
Next, you need to start narrowing down your ideas.
Start by scanning through the list. Is there anything on the list that jumps out and excites you? You’ll want to try and cull the list down to two or three under each title. Never throw away any ideas. You might want to come back to these later. You never know what might happen.
Once you’ve chosen your shortlist, it’s time to flesh out your ideas and turn them into business ideas. A quick way to do this is a Business Model Canvas, which allows you to quickly build-out plans. Most businesses usually follow a few different models, such as eCommerce, Bricks-and-mortar, courses, consulting, gift boxes. Flesh out the ideas with a small amount of detail first.
You could even create a survey to help you understand your audience and their needs. This can give you a whole host of responses to help build a product or service that helps you. Ultimately, you need to validate your idea and see if it’s valuable to the consumer.
Business Validation will need a whole blog post to itself, so keep an eye out on Medium for validation tips.
