How to find business ideas

1. Your biggest frustrations are your biggest opportunities.

I’m not saying every annoyance is a million-dollar idea.

I’m just saying that the problems you face daily are often overlooked goldmines for innovation.

2. Chasing ‘hot’ industries is often a trap.

Jumping on the latest trend bandwagon is doesn’t equal success.

Examples:

• Countless failed crypto startups during the Bitcoin boom

• The rush to create ‘Uber for X’ services, most of which never gained traction

• PDF OpenAI wrappers that just got killed by a GPT-4 update

3. Chasing trends is a fast-track to irrelevance and financial loss.

Copying successful businesses rarely leads to success.

“Most people” do what “most people” do.

Which leads to…

• High failure rates in ‘me-too’ businesses

• Lack of differentiation in the market

• Difficulty in building a loyal customer base

Clearly what “most people do” doesn’t work. So do something else.

4. Focusing solely on profit from day one is a giant mistake.

Instead, lean startup methodology has a great framework for achieving sustainable growth without falling into the profit-first trap.

Step 1: Validate your idea with potential customers

Step 2: Build a minimum viable product (MVP) to test the market

Step 3: Iterate based on feedback, focusing on product-market fit

5. Pursuing rapid scale is a silly goal.

Because it often leads to burnout and unsustainable business practices.

Slow, steady growth is a better pursuit in life.

• Sustainable development and less risk.

• More time to understand and serve your customer base effectively.

• Greater opportunity for personal and professional learning and adaptation.

This approach to finding business ideas challenges conventional wisdom, encouraging a more introspective and sustainable path to entrepreneurship.