Even though a lot of people focus on logistics, team composition, and business model right away, the key thing to remember is the fact that you can’t start a business without the right business idea. Still, this is not nearly as simple as it may sound. First, you need to find something lucrative enough to become self-sustainable in the shortest period of time. Next, you need to find something that you personally find interesting, in order not to lose interest in it. Finally, you need to find a new angle in order to triumph over your (already-established) competitors in the niche. Here are a few tips on how you can make all of this come true.
1. Find an untapped niche
In an ideal world, the niche you would hope to enter would be relatively new and without a sizable competition, at least on a local level. Reasons behind this are numerous. First of all, a growing industry is always more welcoming towards newcomers, which gives you a lot more maneuvering space and a somewhat larger margin of error. Of course, you aren’t starting with the idea of something going wrong but to a layman, these things are known to happen. While some may assume that finding a new niche is virtually impossible in 2017, this isn’t necessarily true. Sometimes, all you need to do is narrow down your focus a bit or simply look for franchising opportunities that aren’t already exploited in your area.
Is there a market for your idea?
The next thing you need to ask yourself is to ask if there’s a market for your business idea in the first place. Here, however, you need to do a bit of footwork. Start by doing a research on the median revenues in this particular category on local, national and global levels. While you may not have resources or contacts to do a proper survey, you can simply take a few representative businesses within your niche in order to get a general impression. Next, you should also try to figure out if the market in question is growing or stagnating. The most interesting thing, here, is the fact that stagnation isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The lack of innovation in the previous period may be your chance for a breakthrough.
Talk to people
Although major conglomerates invest millions in expensive analytic tools and teams of experts in order to find a new angle, sometimes all it takes is to ask people what they actually want is. By gathering a direct feedback from people who are your actual target demographic, you will not only gain an invaluable insight into the nature of the industry but also establish a contact on a personal level. In this way, even before the launch of your company, you are starting to create a reputation of someone who is always in touch with their clients.
Find your inspiration elsewhere
Finally, keep in mind that in order to have a new and unique idea, you don’t have to figure out every single detail of it. Sometimes, all it takes for you to have a groundbreaking business thought is to find someone else’s idea and look for a way to improve it. To make things even better, sometimes a major breakthrough won’t be present in your region, which gives you an opportunity to use this lack of local presence to your benefit. Either way, there are numerous business ideas out there that can inspire you and all you have to do in order to find them is invest a fair share of effort into research.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, some people may argue that an inspiration is something that just happens spontaneously, something that can’t be forced but alas, this is not always the case. Of course, a ground-breaking idea can happen at any time but unless it is a product of a careful planning stage and a seed to a future business strategy, you won’t know what to do with it even when it does arrive. Still, if you play your cards right, a single great business idea can set your business onto a great start and thus provide you with a competitive edge necessary to succeed where all the rest have failed.
Emma Miller is a Sydney based writer with a degree in marketing. Interested in digital marketing, social media, start-ups and latest trends. She’s a contributor at BizzMark Blog.