112: Five Tricks to Help You Find Ideas to Start Your Own Business [Podcast]

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Want to find ideas to start your own business? Like me, most of you struggle with how to find ideas to start your own business. Finding ideas sounds so simple.  After all, we have tons of business ideas – that is until it becomes real and we start to act. It is when we are ready to start that indecision and a lack of clarity begins to haunt us. We are often left frustrated thinking we have no real ideas. But, there is hope. Let’s start by looking at the problem in another way. Instead of looking for a business idea, consider you are a business that is in the Research and Development phase. So now, as chief of Research and Development (R&D), finding the idea IS doing your job.

Five Tricks to Help You Find Ideas to Start Your Own Business (Your R&D)

“Become your own chief of R&D to find ideas for your own business. #entrepreneur”]

1. Keep a Small Notebook with You.
   I use a Moleskine, but some use Simple Note or Evernote. 
2. Change your environment weekly (daily if you can)
   1. Get out of the Corporate Lobotomy mode – Get around others who are thinking ideas – mastermind groups, a community of entrepreneurs, etc.
   2. Use your eyes and ears  – not your brain
   3. Not just going to Starbucks and thinking – but that can help.
3. Expand Your Input  
   1. Reading –
      1. Go to Bookstore and find business magazines and scan them. Entrepreneur, Forbes, etc magazine, blogs, etc.
      2. Use Feedly and create a reading list of content to inspire you.
      3. Do not feel guilty if you find you are also adding blogs about your hobby (home decor etc) but instead use them as research
   2. People
      1. Talk to more people – what challenges are they facing ( check out my post on reverse interviews – this really opens up the door to problems to solve)
      2. Serial Entrepreneurs Search
4. Watch What You Normally Ignore –
   1. Every time information comes to you via a podcast, blog, magazine, ad, etc – ask
      1. What are they selling?
      2. How are they making money?
      3. Who is behind it?
   2. Keep a list of all these things daily and review them during your R&D time.
5. Use Frustrations as a Key
   1. Keep notes during the day/week of things that frustrate you and others.
   2. What is “broken” at work? What problems do you solve over and over in non-perfect ways? Weight loss and healthcare stuff have no caring people to help.
   3. Even simple things. Who solves those problems simple problems? Think about Zappos Shoes, Uber, AirBNB, or Shipt.

You are not looking for genius ideas, just solve a problem. Look for problems right in front of you

Join and listen to find ideas to start your own business. 

Links mentioned in this episode:

• Building Your Own Business
• Notebooks
  • Evernote
  • Moleskin Journals
  • Simple Note App
  • The Pocket Notebooks of 20 Famous Men
  • Olympus Digital Voice Recorder
• Feedly – New Aggregator
• How to Read a Book in 30 Minutes or Less
• Validating Your Business Idea
• How to Do an Opportunity Analysis 
• Reverse Interview Questions | There Are Only Three

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