How to Come Up With a Business Idea

Start with Why

Perhaps you want to be your own boss, earn some extra money or build something that feels meaningful to you.

You might want more control over your time. You might have a skill you would like to use differently. Or you may simply be tired of putting all your energy into somebody else's plans.

You don't need to know exactly what the business will be yet. Knowing what you want it to change in your life is a useful place to begin.

You don't need a brilliant invention

A business idea doesn't have to be completely original.

Most successful businesses aren't based on something nobody has ever seen before. They provide a familiar product or service in a way that is friendlier, faster, more convenient, more specialised or better suited to a particular group of people.

Competition is not automatically bad news. It can be evidence that people already spend money on the thing.

Your job isn't necessarily to invent a new market. It is to find something useful that you are well placed to provide.

What are you good at?

Start by writing down the things you know how to do.

Include skills from your work, hobbies and everyday life. They don't have to sound impressive. Organising, explaining, repairing, cooking, designing, listening, researching and making people feel comfortable can all be commercially useful skills.

Also think about what other people regularly ask you to help with. We often overlook our own strengths because they feel easy or ordinary to us.

What do you enjoy doing?

Next, think about the activities and subjects that naturally hold your attention.

You don't have to turn your greatest passion into a business. In fact, doing that can sometimes drain the fun out of it. But it helps if the work involves something you find satisfying, interesting or worthwhile.

Ask yourself which kinds of problems you enjoy solving and which activities leave you feeling energised rather than depleted.

What will people pay for?

Enjoyment and ability are only part of the picture. A business also needs somebody willing to pay.

People usually spend money to save time, avoid frustration, reduce risk, gain confidence, feel better, make money or achieve something they cannot easily do alone.

Look at your list of skills and interests and ask:

Who might find this useful?
What would it help them do?
Why would that result matter to them?
Are they already paying for something similar?

"I enjoy photography" is an interest. "I take warm, natural photographs for local businesses that struggle to show what makes them special" is the beginning of a business idea.

Look for useful problems

Good ideas often begin with something irritating, awkward or missing.

Pay attention when you hear people complain. Notice jobs that take too long, services that are difficult to arrange and things that are surprisingly hard to find where you live.

You can also look at existing businesses and ask what could be made simpler, more personal or more useful. Improving the experience can be enough; you don't have to reinvent the entire service.

Think about people you understand

It is easier to create something useful for people whose lives you understand.

Perhaps you know a particular trade, community, hobby, age group or local area. You may already understand their language, frustrations and priorities.

That familiarity gives you a useful starting point. It can also make your first potential customers much easier to find and talk to.

Aim for twenty ideas

Trying to think of one perfect idea makes every possibility feel terribly important. It becomes easy to dismiss each one before it has a chance to develop.

Thinking of twenty ideas is easier because none of them has to be the one.

Set aside half an hour and write down anything that comes to mind. Generate ideas from:

Things you are good at
Things you enjoy
Problems you regularly notice
Things people ask for your help with
Services that are missing locally
Groups of people you understand
Existing services you think could be better

At this stage, every idea is allowed. Sensible ideas, ambitious ideas and slightly ridiculous ideas all go on the list. Judgement comes later.

Combine ordinary things

Sometimes the most interesting idea is a combination rather than a revelation.

You might combine a practical skill with knowledge of a particular industry. Or take a common service and offer it to a group whose needs are currently overlooked.

You don't have to be the world's best at any one thing. A useful combination of experience, personality, knowledge and location can make you unusually well suited to help a particular customer.

Think about the business behind the idea

Don't only picture the successful result. Think about the ordinary Tuesday morning attached to it.

Would you be working alone or dealing with people all day? Would the work happen locally or online? Would you need equipment, premises or employees? Could you start it alongside your current job?

An opportunity can look good on paper and still create a business you would hate running. The way you want to live is a perfectly reasonable part of the decision.

Pay attention to excitement and resistance

Some ideas will leave you cold. Others will create an immediate spark of excitement. Pay attention to that response—it tells you where your energy is.

Resistance is slightly more complicated.

Sometimes resistance means, "I don't want to do this work." That is worth listening to. But sometimes it means, "I care about this, and trying it would make me feel exposed."

Ask whether you dislike the actual work or whether you are simply nervous about taking the idea seriously. Fear of trying is not the same as a bad fit.

Choose a short list

Go back through your ideas and choose the three that feel most promising.

Judge each one using four simple questions:

Energy: Do I genuinely want to spend time on this?
Ability: Can I deliver it, or realistically learn how?
Demand: Is there a reason somebody would pay for it?
Access: Can I find and speak to the people who might buy it?

The strongest idea is rarely the most impressive-sounding one. It is usually the one that combines genuine interest with a realistic path to helping somebody.

You don't have to be certain

Choosing an idea isn't a lifelong commitment.

You are choosing something to explore, not signing a sacred contract with your notebook. The idea will change as you talk to people and learn what they actually need.

Pick one promising idea and make it concrete enough to examine properly.

The next step is to work out why it should exist, who it is for, what you are promising and the smallest useful version you could try.