Struggling with Business Ideas? Do This One Thing to Never Run Out of Fastlane Opportunities

[TomTrepreneur]

I love this thread, thanks, I'm still in learning mode and this thread has basically answered the bulk of my questions.

I'm still not completely sure of a few things and would be delighted if you could give me some more advice.

As of now should my main focus be in getting a brief overview of each industry (hence don't worry about such details as forecasting trends and so on), find the industry key players, contact them until I get the responses I need and take it from there?

Also, should I only contact companies in my city in the beginning? I am going in pretty much unarmed, no programming, software skills etc... just looking for problems.

Should my focus not be in identifying trends and emerging industries, but rather trying to find out about the pain points, using the strategies you've mentioned? And then looking at the industry data?



When you say to use IBISWorld, are you suggesting to just read the small free sample's that are provided for each industry report or are you suggesting to buy a membership? And if you purchase membership plus, does that give you access to reports for every industry on the Industry Research Reports page?

All along I had been looking for the best websites for this, I have a large list of info resources which I'm following on Twitter, and have them organised into many different sections, such as Market Research, Business News, Industry Research/Growth, Tech News, Trends in General, App/Tech News, and hence creating my own news feed.

But, If I want to learn about changes in industries, trends, technology changes, would buying a membership with IBISWorld probably the best way to go?

Would it be like having all of the information from the trend hunting websites in one place? I'm sure that watching websites that have regular updates for specific industries would keep you on track of small things that are hot right now, but if I want to get a good taste of the big picture is ISISWorld the place?

My funds are limited, and I know there is certainly no guaranteed return on my investment. I'm not asking you to make a major decision for me, but rather if you could point out weather or not you think it would be valuable for me in such a situation.

What I'm really asking is, are these reports more suitable for large companies that are already in the game?

 

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[jpa0827]

Just go to IBISworld to see the list of industries to choose from. Pick one or a few and start calling. I personally don't need the reports. Its just a great brainstorming list in my honest opinion.

 

[MTF]

As of now should my main focus be in getting a brief overview of each industry (hence don't worry about such details as forecasting trends and so on), find the industry key players, contact them until I get the responses I need and take it from there?

Yep, you can start with top players or local companies.

Also, should I only contact companies in my city in the beginning? I am going in pretty much unarmed, no programming, software skills etc... just looking for problems.

Might be a bit easier to contact local companies to build rapport and schedule meetings instead of calls.

Should my focus not be in identifying trends and emerging industries, but rather trying to find out about the pain points, using the strategies you've mentioned? And then looking at the industry data?

Yes, just get to know existing pain points.

When you say to use IBISWorld, are you suggesting to just read the small free sample's that are provided for each industry report or are you suggesting to buy a membership? And if you purchase membership plus, does that give you access to reports for every industry on the Industry Research Reports page?

I only use IbisWorld to brainstorm industries and learn about the number of companies in each industry, growth and the annual revenue. The only thing I use there is free reports such as this one: https://www.ibisworld.com/industry/default.aspx?indid=1496

 

[TomTrepreneur]

Thanks guys, well off I go, time to get busy. Once again I greatly appreciate this thread, it's exactly what I've been looking for. But I must admit that when I first read it the other night I felt like a dog after catching the wheel of a moving car, kind of felt lost, I've wanted to learn so much about analyzing industries that I forgot why I was doing it in the first place.

Cheers

 

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[HD_edacity]

Good stuff MTF, Ton of great information in here not just for business but also for dealing with that horrible wall of anxiety that I have built up.

So I took a shot at idea extraction this week.

My uncle owns a dump trucking company and does quite well so i decided to start from there. I gave him and some of his friends a call, who also own dump trucks (around 3-4 each). I was able to find some consistent pain points but i'm having trouble in thinking up possible solutions, part of this is because software solutions is hard because a lot of these type of companies are run by immigrants that hardly speak English let alone have good computer skills.

1) Reliable Drivers - All the companies subcontract drivers but they have a hard time finding good drivers that show up on time and have a good enough record to be insured. The drivers that are good usually end up working for a while and then end up taking a loan and buying there own truck and starting there own biz (i had no idea that this was common) which leads to the next problem.

2) Rate cutting - Since the market is mostly just a bunch of small guys with between 1-5 trucks, there's constant price cutting by new guys. They get there call directly from the construction companies, usually the day before.

Before the call i was thinking that maybe i could make a software similar to uber but for dump trucks but i seems like the problem isn't getting the leads its the rate cutting but i think it might still work. Also i was thinking of maybe some kind of driver database but then again this would require getting unsavvy computer people online. If i got one thing out of this is that it is impossible for you just assume what the main issues for these companies going to be, i didn't even consider price cutting.

 

[MTF]

Good job @HD_edacity!

Rate cutting and unreliable workers are very common problems in many human-based industries, especially in industries where most of employees are immigrants. I'm yet to find a good solution to these problems (and so do owners of huge companies I spoke with who shared with me similar problems).

If this industry is surely NOT using online solutions, then I wouldn't build software for them. Actually, one of the first steps you should take before you do idea extraction with software as a solution in mind is to check whether they use software at all.

In this case, I guess a consulting company just for dump trucking companies would probably work much better than software. You may also approach it from a different perspective and offer services to construction companies (help them choose the best dump trucking company).

 

[HD_edacity]

Thanks for the input man.

You may also approach it from a different perspective and offer services to construction companies (help them choose the best dump trucking company).

I was thinking exactly this, no one wants to deal with a bunch of little guys but i'm going to hold off on assuming things .

 

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[DrkSide]

@MTF & Everyone else. If you are going to send emails for idea extraction do you have your own domain to do it? I have a few gmail and outlook.com accounts but that does not lend itself to credibility.

Assuming the answer is your own domain would you then want some sort of website setup at the domain for people to see if they searched it?

 

[MTF]

These are all little details. It doesn't matter.

I'm sending e-mails from my personal e-mail address. You can show them that you're serious by the way you talk with them and come up with solutions (e.g. by creating mock-ups or providing a prototype).

To make your e-mail more real, you can add in your signature a link to your LinkedIn profile and your phone number.

 

[bizzle]

I should do an INSIDERS call or write an article about idea extraction someday.

Yes you should! That would be awesome!

 

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[seamles]

Step one- start a passive business that keeps you from ever needing a job again (covers your lifestyle)
Step two- screw around with anything under the sun because now you have time

When people ask me how to "do it" this is pretty much what I tell them.

It is way easer to choose now because if you are at step zero you choose the business that will cover your nut the easiest.

What have you found to be your successful passive income source?

 

[Kak]

Right now ecommerce seems to be the low start up cost way to cover your nut.

 

[DrkSide]

Right now ecommerce seems to be the low start up cost way to cover your nut.

Kak, I think you are right on this one. You can sell products while you are at work and sleeping unlike some other businesses for startup. Once you grow it to cover you expenses and are able to leave the job (if that is the route you are going) you just freed up hours of your day that you were previously at work.

 

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[seamles]

Kak, I think you are right on this one. You can sell products while you are at work and sleeping unlike some other businesses for startup. Once you grow it to cover you expenses and are able to leave the job (if that is the route you are going) you just freed up hours of your day that you were previously at work.

I've found e-commerce and self publishing to be largely similar in this regards. These are the two that I've been exploring more. So many great people to learn from on these forums also. Gotta balance learning with action.

 

[MTF]

Just curious... Did anybody follow this process?

 

[RoadTrip]

Just curious... Did anybody follow this process?

Do you mean the process of Idea Extraction?

I actually followed the process of Idea Extraction and have had hard times with it. I think that in total over the past few months (still have a day time job) I have contacted about 400 companies. Jumped industries a few times due to the problems not being consistent enough. Currently, I am working on the cleaning industry in my country and have identified a problem which can be solved by a SaaS solution. I'm working on a prototype now which is almost finished. After that I will set up calls with the guys who mentioned the problem and propose the solution. If they are positive, I will setup a landing page, put some copy on it and send out emails in which I will refer to the website to further test the solution. Hopefully this will bring some opt-ins.

Obviously I am having some doubts. The companies who mentioned the problem are mainly smaller companies with a employee base of between 5-30 employees. I'm worried that they don't want to pay enough for the solution, e.g. €30 a month. As there are only about 3000 companies of that size in my country it's not really a fastlane business, if I get around 2% of the market. Also, the solution is getting more and more and more complex so development will obviously cost more money.

I know, I am thinking ahead too far maybe so that's why I am going to validate this project first before jumping to a next project (which is very attractive btw).

If it doesn't work out I am NOT making the mistake anymore of contacting the smaller companies. They are less interested and way harder to convince that a solution will bring their business forward.

ps. just became an INSIDERS yesterday after almost two years of being on the outside and their is some REALLY valuable information here. Haven't regret becoming an INSIDERS for a sec

 

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[MTF]

@Senergia

I was mostly curious about people who read this thread, liked my post and/or commented it (curious to see if there are any action takers).

GREAT job with your idea extraction. Create some good mock-ups and discuss them with the guys who mentioned it first. I wouldn't even ask them to pre-order it right now, just ask them if they would possibly pay $X for it, get a feel if it can be sold.

As for the pricing, make sure to price anchor. If you want to charge them 30 euros per month, then it has to either save them at least 300 euros per month (if your solution saves time, just calculate their average hourly rate and number of hours saved) or help them make this amount of money. I guess it's going to save them more, so don't be afraid to charge more. Most software companies undercharge, and that's why so many of them are unsustainable.

In my opinion, 30 euros per month is a ridiculously low price for B2B software. Seriously, if they have their own business and they can't afford paying 30 per month to save or make 300 euros, then they aren't a good fit for you anyway. I wouldn't go lower than 49 per month.

As for validating your idea, it's better to call other companies who might be interested in your solution. Most e-mails will go straight to trash. If you call them, many people will still brush you off, but some of them will give you instant feedback (and probably much more information than they would share with you in an e-mail). You'll get useful feedback much sooner than with e-mails.

I know that calling is MUCH harder, but then again it provides much better insights much sooner.

If there are 1 or 2 companies that said they would pay for your solution, many more companies will also pay for it. Your 2% is way too low - if it's a really useful solution, you will easily reach at least 10% of the market. 300 companies is a very nice number if you're going to charge them on average 50 euros per month.

Oh, and by the way - don't think about your business in terms of just this one tool. If you provide your customers with a lot of value, they'll definitely share with you other ideas for software (or other products and services) that would make their lives easier.

Cleaning industry is a huge industry - you can provide software, services (e.g. consulting), and even cleaning supplies (starting such a company with 300 companies that are already your satisfied clients would be much easier).

Perhaps you won't sell your current solution to more than 300-500 companies, but nothing prevents you from selling other stuff to the remaining 2500-2700.

As for your new project you're saying is "very attractive" - the grass is always greener on the other side.

You spent a lot of time researching this industry, already found a problem to solve, and there are people who would like to have a solution. Don't waste your time on other stuff and look under your avatar - FOCUSED is the keyword here. If you have problems staying focused, read "The One Thing" by Gary Keller.

 

[jules 98hustle]

How Can I Use This Process to Start a Business Which Is Not Related to Software or Is Not Online-Based?

One person asked me the following question:



As he already pointed it out, so far I've been mostly targeting problems that can be solved with software (not anymore). However, it doesn't mean you can't come up with great ideas for a business which has nothing to do with software or that isn't even online-based.

It's all about the way you ask questions and just listen to people. You can ask questions to learn about pains related to something you can solve with software, you can ask questions about problems related to manufacturing, selling or services. You can talk with entrepreneurs (including owners of brick and mortar businesses and online businesses), professionals, your friends or family, and each time you'll get completely different replies and ideas.

"Okay, okay, shut up and give me some real-world examples, man!". You love real-world examples, don't you? There you go.

Real-World Examples Proving There Are Many Ways to (Un)Dress Your Mistress

(sorry IceCreamKid, can't help using your funny metaphors for corny jokes)

1. Solution for conservators-restorers. Just by talking with an art history professor (who's a friend of my mother so I discovered this pain by chance) I learned that conservators-restorers in my country have a hard time learning about new biddings for conservation-restoration jobs.

These guys work on one project (e.g. renovating an old chapel) and once they finish it, they're looking for a new job. Since each place (such as a church or a museum) usually publishes information about a job only on their website, it's a major pain to check hundreds of sites on a daily basis to track all new biddings and potentially get a new job.

Consequently, most conservators-restorers have to rely on word-of-mouth marketing which puts young professionals at a disadvantage because they don't have as many connections as old guys.

There are several possible solutions:
- lead gen website (limos.com for conservators-restorers)
- SaaS (software that would automatically track all biddings and post them on the site)
- simple paid newsletter (people pay per month for weekly e-mails with information about biddings - you can hire a student to collect this information for you)

I have no idea about conservators-restorers, but I can talk with them and within one hour learn about all major pains and frustrations of their work and walk out with several new ideas for both online and offline businesses.

Just to give you a bonus example-in-example, most conservation-restoration jobs take place during the warm months because cold weather can badly affect items or places they renovate.

What if you could become the only company in your country that does conservation-restoration jobs safely during the cold months as well? Major USP.

There you go - an idea for an offline business that is a result of a simple 30-minute conversation.

2. Help with embroidery design. One of my friends, a guy who's an owner of a company that prints designs on t-shirts, mugs and other stuff told me he has a hard time finding someone who could help him convert designs to a project that can be loaded on his embroidery machine.

I don't even know what I'm talking about now, but it's a pain for him, and I bet there are owners of other similar companies (including clothing companies) who also have a similar problem as it's a manual design work owners of these companies can't be bothered with.

Possible solution? Start a company that only specializes in creating designs for embroidery. You don't have to be a graphic designer to start it - you can simply start by working with freelancers.

I didn't even ask him about his business problems. We just talked and he basically threw a business idea, and because I'm fine-tuned to listen for problems and needs, I remembered it. If I were to validate this idea, he could probably become my first customer (it's much easier to sell your products and services to your friends and family first).

3. Bored people. In my first post, I shared with you an idea to organize fun events in your city. People in many cities all over the world suffer from lack of cool opportunities to spend free time with their friends or their partner. Ask your friends if they'd like to have more fun during their free time (instead of spending several hours per day on Facebook). I bet most of them would love to go out and do something fun. Just read comments under each video of this guy.

In my original post, I wrote that you can solve this problem by starting a company that organizes regular fun events. However, this problem signalizes many more opportunities for different kinds of businesses.

Problem: people are bored and want to spend time doing something fun.
Solution: provide fun.

Possible solutions:
- as already said above, organize fun events. 1-hour lessons teaching how to do a simple and fun thing, meet-ups (including stuff like speed dating), competitions, etc.
- start an e-commerce site with toys for adults (I'm *not* talking about dildos and inflatable dolls, you dirty perv!). You can sell frisbees (Aerobie Pro is mad fun), board games and fun gadgets. For inspiration, check this store: http://www.vat19.com/ I bet they enjoy great sales. Many of their videos on Youtube have over 1 million views, and they have 46k fans on Facebook. These products have a great potential for a viral marketing campaign.
- manufacture your own toys/other fun stuff. Have it made locally or find a company in China to make it for you.

Three different ideas, three completely different kinds of businesses, all solving the same problem.

Just to be clear with you - I may still pursue some of the ideas I shared above, but I'm not afraid you'll steal them. Why? Because ideas are worthless.

Moreover, I'm sure that pretty much nobody will even try to validate ideas I shared in my first post or for that matter, any other great ideas shared in this thread by other people.

Why? Firstly, because it's the hard part. Only a few percent of people are action takers. Secondly, because most people will *assume* that since these ideas are public, they're no longer worth anything (as if they were worth anything in the first place).

I'm sure that all successful INSIDERS here would become millionaires much sooner with a shitty idea than a newbie with a legendary idea. The reason is simple - it's all about the execution.

Just to prove my point, check this company: https://www.myclean.com/ How many of you would say that a maid cleaning services company is a shitty idea? Yet the monthly revenue of this company was $400k 4 years after launching it and it went from $20k in monthly revenue to $400k in just one and a half year (source). It wasn't about the idea, it was about brilliant execution. Your ideas don't have to be sexy.

Anyway, I hope this post will help at least some of your realize that opportunities are indeed everywhere. Like @MJ DeMarco wrote in his first reply to this thread, listening is a lost art.

If you simply start listening to people more and focusing on their problems and needs, you wouldn't even have to cold call people or send them messages on LinkedIn to get great ideas (for both online and offline businesses) on a daily basis.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/workplace/2007-10-10-dirty-jobs-get-rich_N.htm
Great article about those who do really well doing off-line business !

 

[RadioActive]

I am so glad i read this..

 

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[Gravy South]

Just wanna say thanks to @MTF for bringing this up. This is literally THE blueprint of how to start a successful business. Time for people to copy up and start working!

 

[NVaz]

There's gold in here, tyvm @MTF

Regarding cold emailing i think the subject line should be switched to "Can i help you" , because we're the ones trying to provide value and we don't want them to think the other way around.

Here's one of the scripts I used when e-mailing one of the industries I researched:
Subject line: Can you help me [first name]?
Hey [first name],
Found your contact information on Manta.com and felt the need to reach out to someone with your experience.

 

[MTF]

@NVaz - it's wise to test many subject lines. "Can you help me" may work better for industries helping people on a daily basis, e.g. doctors, home care providers, etc.

 

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[NVaz]

i'm disarmed well pointed. This idea extraction "thing" it always made much sense to me, but i've never tooked the lip, its time to stop sabotage myself and overcome my limiting beliefs.

 

[MTF]

@NVaz I'm glad this thread is helpful for you. Idea extraction isn't about asking people for problems that you can solve with software. It's simply about building products people need by asking them - it doesn't matter if you cold e-mail people, ask your current clients, ask your friends or even ask strangers on forums or blogs.

 

[MTF]

How to Find Business Ideas Without Talking to Lots of People?

Let's say you don't want to talk with lots of random people to find a business idea. Are you screwed? Not necessarily.

There are some simple ways to find viable business ideas without talking to lots of people. Here are some simple ideas to find a business idea by doing a quick research on various sites:

1. Twitter search

Credit goes to @Matt33 (check his original post and this one).

1. Go to http://twitter.com/search
2. Search for things like:

• I hate it when
• I wish there was
• It sucks
• There should be
• I would buy
• I want to buy
• I want to learn
  
• etc.

An idea I found by searching for "I want to buy" book:

Gary Vaynerchuk:
I want to buy a very high end graded comic book for investment purposes (2-5k) Who has advice on what to buy for appreciation in value

Business idea: create a website with advice on how to buy comic books for investment purposes.

Another example, I searched for "I want to learn how to":

macEy:
i want to learn how to make renders and stuff does anyone know of any free program

Business idea: teach people how to make renders using popular tools

Of course all these ideas still need further research and validation, but it's a start. You can no longer say you don't have any business ideas.

Note that you can use a similar process on Reddit or forums by searching for posts with these statements.

2. Fiverr

Another simple way to come up with good business ideas is to browse Fiverr and check popular gigs. If people are buying, your idea is already validated.

A few minutes spent on the site resulted in a couple of ideas:

Naming company - a naming gig displayed in the "featured gigs" section gave me an idea to start a naming company. The guy on Fiverr comes up with 3 names for $5 and offers a couple of upsells.

So far 194 people bought his services which validates that there's indeed a need for such services at this price point.

Can you do it better? Give more names for the same price? Offer better upsells? Perhaps you can come up with a similar idea using a different angle, for instance coming up with USPs for new businesses?

Helping moms get a work at home job - in this gig the seller is offering a list of 20 legit work at home opportunities for $5. He probably made the list in a couple of hours and is now selling the same list with no additional work (small passive income). It got me thinking that stay at home moms may need help finding a job.

So far 63 people ordered his list so he made $315. But wait... How can you improve this offer? It can be a lead magnet for your funnel!

Let's say 63 people buy your list for $5. You made $315. Then you can offer to help them write a great CV or even create an infographic resume for a higher price, say $50. Let's say that 10% of people will go for it. Now your revenue is $815. What else can you offer them to maximize your profits? How many stay at home moms are looking for a job? Do your research. It's a huge market.

3. Elance/ODesk

Elance and ODesk can work very well for finding viable business ideas. Browse the site, check out categories that interest you and see which jobs are the most common.

Crowdfunding marketing services - I went on Elance and checked "Marketing & Sales" category. I noticed that right now there are 23 jobs for crowdfunding marketing consultants on Elance alone, including projects worth $1000-5000 and $500-1000 ones. Many companies are already offering such services which validates there's a need for these services.

Industry specific social media management - there are many jobs for social media managers. What about starting a company that offers social media management only for a specific industry, say luxury hotels? There's clearly a need for these services - there are currently 55 jobs for social media managers.

I hope that this post will convince even more people that business ideas are a dime a dozen. It's only EXECUTION that matters. You don't have a problem with business ideas - you have a problem starting a business.

You can test most of these ideas very fast, for instance by using http://www.quickmvp.com. The point is simply to see if you can make a couple of sales. If you manage to make a few sales and the market is large enough (you should research if before driving traffic), congratulations - you're in business now. Time to scale.

 

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[NVaz]

That was an awesome post. $ Rep transf. That gave me a lot to work with. Thank you very much. Funny you've mentioned Social Media Management because on last Sunday i took a walk and wrote out the name of some local stores, searched them on the main SM platforms and found out that pretty much all of them don't manage/optimize their accounts. I'm not an expertise on social media but that wouldn't be a problem. I was thinking on offering to manage/optimize for free 2/3 accounts just to build trust, testimonials, etc. but i wouldn't know how show them that they would benefit from my service.

PS: Regarding cold emailing, what's your thoughts on sending a mail letter instead ? I think it would be different,more personal and more credible.

thank you once again, you gave me much food for thought.

 

[MTF]

@NVaz Test snail mail and report back results. I didn't try it. Personally I'd rather walk into the store than send a mail.

 

[smithsta]

Why is this thread not gold? Thanks for posting this @MTF.
I've thought of a huge problem that affects millions worldwide. It wasn't hard to think of as it's so common and I have the problem myself.

There's no doubt that solving this problem would affect millions of lives if completely removed but the solution is so complex that it might not be possible yet.

I'm trying to think my way around this by finding out if there is a way to reduce, rather than remove the problem. I thought id mention that as perhaps people are looking to remove problems and come across huge barriers, but sometimes it may be just as effective to reduce a problem if it's not entirely possible to remove it, yet.

 

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[Guest24480]

This thread is unbelievable. I would say that this thread alone pays for my INSIDERS's subscription (as do many others).

MTF mentions to use the IBISWorld site to do your market research, which I think is great if you're willing to pay. But for those college students on a low budget like me who want to conduct industry research, consult your university library. You're paying for it after all.

I can't stress this enough. I've been surfing through the business databases on my school's library website and they're a gold mine for industry and market research. Definitely check those out if your looking to validate the market size of certain industries that you've found a concrete need in.

 

[Steve Corcoran]

This thread is unbelievable. I would say that this thread alone pays for my INSIDERS's subscription (as do many others).

MTF mentions to use the IBISWorld site to do your market research, which I think is great if you're willing to pay. But for those college students on a low budget like me who want to conduct industry research, consult your university library. You're paying for it after all.

I can't stress this enough. I've been surfing through the business databases on my school's library website and they're a gold mine for industry and market research. Definitely check those out if your looking to validate the market size of certain industries that you've found a concrete need in.

Been doing this too. Have access to data all the way back to 1886!