How to find a successful business idea?

In this time where people have become job enthusiasts, working for a fixed income and stability, there are few who still wish to go out of the way and follow their passion and start off with their own businesses. Today, it is getting difficult to get new and better ideas to start up a new business, every field you consider has become more and more competitive and competition from the giant companies, makes you feel stranded. I’m sure a lot of you may feel, that your ideas get stolen, or you had just thought of starting a business and before you could act on it someone else did. Experimenting with different ideas could become risky and expensive, so the idea must be well thought out. What should you do before considering a business idea and acting upon it?

These are the prerequisites of framing a plan for a business in this competitive environment.

Have a Vision – I personally feel, those business owners who have a vision of success stand a higher chance to succeed. You need to get out of the mindset of the rat race that we usually see in today’s time. To start-up a successful business, begin with a successful mind-set, learn to accept success and failures with the same feeling, don’t let your feelings over power you. I am a technical analyst and I’ve spent five years in the Stock markets, and truly Stock markets teach you a lot about yourself, your actions are a caused by emotions and your emotions are a projection of your thoughts, the markets taught me, being over-joyed, sad or depressed will make you either too over confident or too fearsome. Either of it makes you take wrong decisions. If you really want to start something of your own, you must understand that you can’t practically do most of the projected work along with your Job (if you’re involved in any). You must have ample of time to invest on your business idea, in a business, time is of equal importance as finances. You can’t give your business to someone else to manage it, and if you do, it definitely is not your passion. Ask yourself, are you willing to work for a few years maybe without even getting any substantial gains from your business? Coca cola sold only 25 bottles in the first year, perseverance and determination to not give up is an unavoidable ingredient to succeed.

Idea generation – An idea for a business can come at any random moment, it could be a dream, or a show that you’re watching or a novel. You must wider your horizons and look for potential businesses. Some ideas may look, practically sound, while few others may look impossible. You must analyze for yourself, what’s possible for you? Always, try to note the idea then and there if possible. Use notes on your phone or carry a pocket diary. A thought is only a thought until you do something about it, ink it down for further study. It’s always recommended to put your hands in a business which you have knowledge about, or form a team with different skill set, so that you don’t try to be a jack of all and master of none.

A few sources for idea generation

1. Read business magazines. There are many business magazines available online with just the tap of a button. They give a brief picture of the start-up environment and keep you abreast of the latest happenings.

2. Role model – If you are not planning to invent something, you can innovate an existing invention. This totally depends on your interests, have a role model who has achieved a position in the field you’d like to enter in. learn the business, study their decisions. Can you innovate the way they conduct business? Well then start for your own.

3. Watch shows like TEDx, where people talk about how their lives changed

4. Check for the customer services of companies, usually reasons of complaints can be a business prospect.

5. Understand your strengths, they could be your best source of self-discovery and for a very successful business idea.

6. Look for opportunities not just with open eyes but with open mind, you may find something useful in something that you might have thought was stupid.

7. Talk to people about their ideas about a certain thing, if they are dissatisfied with the current product or service or have any ideas but don’t want to act on them. They can be a good learning source for you.

8. Sit idle, sometime nothingness brings out the best in you.

9. Learn from trial and error of others

10. Pursue your talent, if you are good with music, try something your hands in music. When you do something you love, you’ll never get tired of it.

If none of the above-mentioned works for you, research.

Research and understand the market – You wish to earn millions but you always have so start small, try to start off by understanding locally available opportunities. Fault finding could act as a good way of finding an idea. Search for opportunities in the faults of other businesses, act upon them and providing a better service in the same field could give you a boost in business. You must understand your target audience. Who needs what you’re offering? Is the product/ service of any importance to them? Would you purchase the product / service if you were them? Another factor you must consider is, are there more competitors? If yes what’s their share in the market? Starting off a business which has a saturated market, makes it difficult to grow rapidly, or it could even lead to business slowdown. A lot of entrepreneurs try to sell a product / service which is of no valuable importance to the people at large but in their opinion, they feel people will accept the idea which could be risky, either offer what your target audience needs or make sure you are capable to create a new trend for people to use your products or services. For example – the recent trending fast-food chains selling French fries in various sauces, use of fiber optic cables is getting more lime light currently. Having a future projection of any business can be a good idea for setting up a new business. Careful research is a mandate to a safe business start-up.

We too feel that the above-mentioned information looks more theoretical than practical, but it’s the foundation of a business idea.

1. Analysis on Ideas – Not all ideas are going to be worth your time and money. Figure out the one that best suits your talent, financial resources and time. The ideas must be feasible, funding consumes a lot of time. If you have ample funds available, experiment with extra expensive business.

2. Find a team – It’s impossible to do everything by yourself, you need a team of people who have a mind-set like yours. They should believe in the business as much as you do. Having a business with people who don’t have a vision like yours will land the entire business into trouble. Team is one of the founding stone of any start-up. Each member of the team should have a talent which could help the business in a different way.

3. Get started – Never hold on with an idea for very long, you may lose motivation towards it, and it may even start to look obsolete. Once you finalize the idea act upon in immediately. ‘How to get started’ is a huge topic to talk about.

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