How to Come up with Profitable Business Ideas

How do you hack brilliant business ideas? Have all the business ideas you can think of have been executed into large corporations already? Is it still possible for you to come up with ideas that can change the world?

The answer is a big yes, but first and foremost, let me state that this will take some time to implement,  so if you’re looking for some quick business ideas machine, then this post is not for you.  But if you’re looking to generate ideas that change the discourse of societies by answering real needs, then you’re at the right place.

The Survey

So let’s dive in, the key is very simple, this involves some amount of research,  at least, you would need to talk to about 20 people. Yes, first find some complaining people. It shouldn’t be hard to collect a catalogue of what most people are complaining about in your community. Try listening to radio shows dedicated to political reviews and community problems. One-on-one interviews will be even more helpful.

After listening to about 20  different people complaining about what isn’t going right, you’ll have a list of solid treasure of business ideas for further sifting.

Addressable Market

The next stage is to carefully do some more research and sampling of opinions, but your aim at this stage is to find out how many people have those exact or similar problems. This is what business people call it addressable market.

Revenue Potential

You will know the true value of your idea by this next test. Find out how much people will be willing to pay to get these problems to go away. This is called the revenue potential.

Understand that if it is causing that much headache to so many people, then there is surely a strong financial incentive available to anyone who offers a workable solution. But this stage is crucial because there are countless instances of entrepreneurs mistakenly equating the size of a problem to business profitability, this can be very misleading. You must carry out the research, talk to real people.

Don’t wholesale import what someone is doing in another part of the world, because what people will gladly pay for in one society,  maybe widely only offered for free in another society. Besides, there might be some not easily foreseen cultural constraints.

Viability

The last step in this process is honestly accessing your ability to deliver the solution. This is not to say you should decide whether you have the talents and the skills, rather, I am talking about identifying how feasible you can provide the solution whether by yourself,  by partnering with someone who can, or by outsourcing it.

A classic example of this was when my bishop, Rev. Simpe Bediako of the HighCity Church, encountered so many problems with dealing with the drivers of his school bus that after some years, he mentioned how a business service model centered on offering transportation services to school children will surely turn into a thriving business empire.

So, how do you come up with your business ideas? How are you able to tell that your ideas are worth investing in? Please share some of your thoughts with us in the comment section below.

Thanks, and be safe!