This post is part of our Startup Business Guide, an edited collection of our content that will help you get up and up and running in less than time! The article also forms part of the Bplans Guide to creating a winning idea.
For some, the process of coming up with ideas is as simple as finding chewing gum along the street. For others, it’s almost impossible.
To me, ideas don’t come easily and effortless, it’s something that I do constantly time and sometimes without even thinking about it. I don’t believe that this is innate talent however, it is a “skill” that I’ve learned and practiced throughout the duration of my life.
Although the “learning” has primarily been subconscious, as I’ve run across increasing numbers of people who are struggling to come up to date with new ideas I’ve tried to pay attention to the way I approach it and how I am doing it the best. Research in the field of innovation and creativity is now so well-known will help.
I am convinced that anyone who put in enough effort and puts in an effort to pay attention to the issues and recognize needs can enhance their ability to think of new ideas.
A little piece of science before diving into ways to come up with concepts:
Networks are a great source of ideas.
The brain is made up of a lot of neurons, around 100 billion. They are connected and make up a system of nerves that is capable of taking decisions, detecting surroundings, and issuing instructions to the body.
The way we think, the things we think, and what we are able to do are in large part a result of the connections that these neurons have formed with each other.
Business ideas and plasticity
Every emotion, every thought each memory, and each sensation you experience is directly influenced by the communication between the neurons of your brain.
Indeed, one thing that is fascinating in the brain of the average person is its capacity to alter the wiring of these connections and create new connections regardless of age. Neuroscientists refer to this feature by the name “plasticity.” And, the more we experience as well as the greater changes to our behavior or our environment that we are exposed to the more flexible the brain gets, or the more adept at making new connections and rewiring older connections.
This is the reason that in our later years, in which we tend to be less active and utilize our brains in a less efficient way, we experience a more difficult time recalling the information we have learned and controlling our bodily movements. Our brains have not stopped becoming plastic but have merely gotten from the routine of creating new connections.
Similar differences exist when you who are used to coming up with fresh ideas and people who don’t. The more time you spend in this area, the more adept your brain is adept at making new connections. Simply said, the more active your brain stays it will be easier to discover ways in coming up with fresh great ideas!
The ideal state of mind to think about ideas for creativity
Steve Johnson, the author of “Where Good Ideas Come From,” has spent many years doing research and writing articles on this topic.
He believes that you’re more likely to come up with brilliant ideas when you:
- You can explore and play in various areas
- You allow your idea to develop slowly, over time
- You are looking for and open to the possibility of random connections
- There are mistakes to be made.
- You seek out new uses for the old technology
- You build upon platforms that came before
If you go through his book, it becomes evident pretty quickly that the environment that you spend your time in either aid or hinder your ability to come up with ideas.
“In order to create new connections, you need to place yourself in environments that actually mimic the neural networks of a mind exploring the boundaries of the adjacent possible.”
– Steve Johnson
When the first humans formed dense colonies in the early days, they were able to innovate at a rapid rate.
Through the advent of agriculture, at first-time humans started to form established groups of the hundreds of thousands. This meant that connections with more people could be made and any good idea could be able to spread and establish itself in the minds of others.
If you remember this when you live, work and explore and experiment, you’ll soon realize that it’s much easier to come up with new ideas when you have plenty of ideas flowing to you from the beginning. It doesn’t need to be in a town, a university, or a space that is crowded with people. It could occur if you’re sharing ideas from a variety of people online through books, online, as well as through other forms of communication. The key is “connectedness.”
With that in mind, we’ll look at the best way to come up with business concepts.
1. Business concepts that address issues
The most efficient method to come up with business ideas is to address the issues you face. The next option is to address problems that other people face. These do not have to be huge solutions like Google search or Amazon, they might be much less.
One company that can solve the biggest issue I face due to having cats who frequent the litter box frequently and often can be Fresh Step. Fresh Step has created a line of “scoopable” cat litter, meaning that, when your cat is doing its routine, the litter clumps together, and I can scoop it out with ease. It also means that I’ll have to take fewer changes to the litter frequently and also that cleaning it up is much easier.
Another product that helps solve the problem I have is the Bose headphones (mind that I don’t have this deluxe version). This is because they’re equipped with a noise canceling system. This can be a huge benefit when working in a noisy office or when taking public transportation. Hello, world, goodbye world. You must be tapping your shoulder to hear the people approaching. When I first put on the headphones I felt as if I was in the ocean. Nowadays, they’re an absolute necessity.
A lot of the items that you are used to using were invented to address a problem such as Thermoflasks to keep food and drinks warm, sunglasses to shield from the sun’s glare and security alarms to inform you when someone has broken into your property, fire hydrants that set ablaze before the entire area goes up as well as toothbrushes to ensure your teeth are clean and flossing your teeth to get rid of food that you don’t want. The list of possibilities is endless.
All you need to do is become adept at identifying issues
When you realize that every one of your frustrations is really an invention in making, you’ll be able to have fun!
One of the things that I would like to see an item to solve is one that you might think is obvious, a jewelry stand. Since I own so much jewelry, I must put thumbtacks on the wall to keep everything up. There’s no stand I’ve seen in the market that can solve my issue. All I have seen are small stands that were made for the time which was long gone when people were buying fewer but higher-end items.
Nowadays, I’d say that fashion is “disposable.” You buy something, wear it a couple of times, and put it away partially because items like costume jewelry are now so affordable. This is because those who love jewelry accumulate lots of it in their collection and as you observe in the photo below, do not have a spot to put it.
Business ideas can help solve problems
My issue? Too many pieces of jewelry and no stand to accommodate everything.
Another great example of a business that has come up with a business concept by solving an issue is U.K. Car insurance firm Ingenie.
For many drivers who are young, the expense of insurance simply isn’t feasible. Ingenie has come up with a clever approach to tackle this issue. They’ve designed a tiny black box that fits inside the car. While driving, this device monitors your driving habits, which include factors like braking, speed as well as acceleration, turns, and more. In every 10 days, the device will assign you a score of 100. The more you score, the more discount you’ll earn for your insurance policy during the 3-month review period.
Ingenie claims that it can assist its customers (often college students) save as much as 50 percent of the cost they’d have to pay. Plus, it has the added benefit of encouraging motorists to be more efficient. It’s a clever idea.
I’ll give you one last instance: think about GoPro the camera manufacturer that was established in 2002. The founder Nick Woodman had recently been traveling surfing in Indonesia and could not find amateur photographers that could be close enough to take excellent action-shot photos of the surfer, or could acquire top-quality equipment for a low cost.
The answer to this problem? The GoPro camera. It’s a wide-angle, HD camera that can take amazing video and great images of action, and that can be used in places that other low-cost cameras can’t. Put it in the case and you’ll be able to do practically anything you want you to want with it such as scuba diving to extremely mountain biking. You can also fly (and crash) models of aircraft.
GoPro and business ideas solving problems
Film footage was captured by a GoPro camera that is attached to a model plane located in Derbyshire, England.
When you’re doing your day-to-day chores whether at work or at home Try to adopt the mindset of paying attention to those things that cause you to be frustrated.
If you’ve been working in the same sector for a long time you might have some knowledge of this, since there are things that have been an issue for an extended time. This is the reason why venture capitalists such as Boris Wertz see value in investing in companies with plenty of experience in what they’re pitching the ideas. He refers to it as “the secret of the market.” It’s this secret, or the issues, that you need to recognize.
If I’m sitting in my office, it’s the need to sit at my desk because this is the only area where I have two monitors – that bothers me. Most of the time I must get off my desk in order to work on research in a more quiet space. Without an additional screen, research and writing aren’t compatible. I like having my research on one screen while doing my writing on the second. Away to my office is always a stumbling block. The solution would obviously be a laptop that has two screens. Now, who’s willing to support me to start the business?
Even if you are employed by another company, you should become accustomed to finding the issues. It is a mystery to me that companies use products that their own employees don’t utilize. Palo Alto Software, for instance, makes use of its own software, LivePlan, to manage and keep track of the most important business metrics. If they didn’t have this feature they would not be able to fully comprehend the issues of a user or recognize if a problem required solving.
Once you’ve got into the habit of looking for issues, you’ll soon begin to appreciate the process. Be aware that every problem can be a chance to develop an innovative product, service, or business, particularly in the case of a problem that other people are facing too.
2. Make sure you take care of things that could cause issues
Finding solutions to problems you already face is not the only method to generate fresh ideas. How about thinking of solutions to issues that may arise but aren’t solved have solutions
In this futuristic sense, it is hard to find anyone who really stands out as much as Elon Musk. The ventures he takes on such as Solar City and Tesla Motors could be viewed as a snide remarks by some but the shortage of fossil fuels is likely to be a major issue soon and Elon is working to address the issue before it occurs. It gives him time to invent since Elon is first in the market and helps him gain market shares. Best of luck to those who catch up!
If you don’t believe there’s yet an audience for your idea You might be able to develop one by appealing to those who, like you, believe that it’s going to be something to worry about in the future.
Presently, there are a variety of potential issues with clear solutions, such as desalination plants in California which is rapidly drying up and is running out of water. There is also preventative treatments for diseases that may be a problem (like Ebola) makeup and accessories to safeguard your privacy when face recognition software truly is in use, as well as breeding programs or reserves of nature for animals that could be extinct if they don’t get help.
3. Change to meet the needs of the times
The physiological needs remain the same, namely the requirement for food, shelter, and water. The emotional needs are often the same, often due to greed, envy and pride, and other such factors. What’s not as the same are the products and services needed to meet the needs of these people.
The most simple products to sell are those that meet the current or real requirements.
One example of a service that is popular today is cloud-based storage. There’s less talk nowadays about the growing market for SD cards or CDs. It’s still possible to purchase them however, it’s becoming easier to store all your data online.
It’s the result of our current requirement to have access to our information, data, and music, as well as photos and the like regardless of what device we’re using. Google offers cloud storage like Dropbox, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and a number of private companies that offer the same.
4. Save people money
Another great way to come up with ideas is to consider making people save money. I choose 23-watt, energy-saving bulbs for lighting because they’re cheap and not just for the reason that they last for many years and are in fact similar to 100-watt light bulbs, although it’s a nice bonus.
I continue to fill my automobile with ARCO gas, as it’s more affordable in comparison to Chevron and Shell even though ARCO is owned by BP which is responsible for the horrific Gulf spill.
Even though I’m desperate for actual bookstores to not disappear because of websites like Amazon, however, I prefer buying my books through Amazon as it helps me save much money. If it were up to me I’d buy a Tesla I’d buy ebooks from bookstores that are independent and I’d also buy all my food from local markets for farmers.
If you’re making hundreds of thousands of pounds, dollars, and euros it’s an indulgence for you to make “moral decisions” to buy from and help better businesses and individuals.
If you are able to figure out how to help people save money and make a profit, you’ll have a great business idea, whether it’s new or not. Check out some of our money-saving strategies for more information on this subject.
5. Help people live their lives more easily
A coffee maker with an alarm clock that makes sure you have hot water when you awake and a central vacuum cleaner system that means you only carry a hose and brush throughout the house, instead of the whole device; a thermostat with a smart feature such as Nest that will figure out how you can save energy, shopping baskets that are placed at the right time at the shop for the event that you decide that you’d like to purchase more than your arms can handle. The list is endless.
Keep in mind that inventing business concepts doesn’t mean you must focus on creating the latest products and/or services. Actually, you can simply adapt an existing service or add some new benefits that make people’s lives simpler.
Kohls is one company I go back to time and time repeatedly because they have an unconditional return policy. Even if you’ve lost the receipt and box They will accept back the item and either give it back or replace it – your preference. It’s not just a way to make me feel better about the business and keeps me returning, even though their prices are clearly increased to reflect this advantage. It simplifies my life.
When I relocated to Eugene, Oregon, I purchased the microwave, kettle toaster along with a vacuum cleaner, from Kohls knowing that if they arrived, as electronics typically do, I would be able to return them even if it’s four years’ time in which case I’m certain to lose or throw the receipt.
There are always ways you can make things easier for other people. If you are thinking about making this happen on a continuous basis, you can also release brand new items that update the previous product which can make life easier in a small way. For instance, the Garmin Nuvi is a step ahead of GPS predecessors that didn’t offer live traffic updates. This little enhancement makes the device valuable and beneficial. The Waze app goes one step further, you only require your smartphone to access real-time live traffic updates in real-time and to reroute your route. No separate GPS is required.
Are you able to think of an activity, product, service or job that could be modified to simplify your life?
My Salomon trail shoes do exactly what they say. Instead of the normal laces, they feature pull laces which means they won’t come off while I’m running. They’re not as comfortable as my Asics do, however, they allow me to slow down a lot less because the tying of laces was never my strength.
Begin looking at the objects that surround you and ask yourself, how can this be made more simple? What could make it simpler and less stressful, as well as generally more enjoyable to use? You might find that the smallest change can create something extremely famous. A book called “The Design of Everyday Things” could be an excellent starting point. Check it out.
6. Help make chores or other things that seem like chores less painful
When it comes to this online world, both marketers and developers frequently consider “gamifying” software in order to make it less daunting. This means they create tiny ways to reward you by taking action.
When I run on a treadmill, I utilize the Strava app on my smartphone to track my distance as well as my speed average. Every time I break earlier records, Strava gives me a trophy or other acknowledgment that lets me know I’ve accomplished something. Sometimes, this motivates me to push myself further, because once I’ve gotten into the routine of receiving the trophy icon, it’s difficult to run and not receive one! The reason is that it makes my run more enjoyable.
What do you find yourself doing that you don’t like? How can you enhance your experience? Personally, I’d like someone who can help me hang my clothing less painful as well as so that drinking water feels less as something that’s “to do,” and to pay all my bills and cover my bills on behalf of me. Do you have any suggestions?
7. Make a passion or a pastime you’re interested in into a business
If you’re creating or performing something, this could be a natural next step. For those who have been doing things on a regular basis and you’re good at it, but do not think of it as a pastime or a pastime, you might want to look into how it might become a profitable business.
Things I do daily basis that can become business ideas are writing, glass painting research, making jewelry fix jewelry, illuminated lettering Social media education, and more. Everybody has something they do regularly or on regularly. If you’re adept at one of these activities and you’re looking for ways to make money, you might consider making your passion into a profitable business.
My boyfriend of my sister, Alex Alotte, is doing exactly this. While working as a bartender in the San Francisco bay area, Alotte wanted to make use of the finest tools available. Not just because tools used by craftsmen are his pride but as an aspect of your image.
Alex was able to cater to a variety of well-known clients and businesses and this last aspect was particularly important. There were hardly any high-quality muddlers available that he could select from. The majority were made of plastic, or they were made of uninteresting wood. Or badly shaped, poorly finished — you can name it. Therefore, when a friend who was taking the wood shop at a high school course was informed about Alex’s search in search of a “perfect muddler,” he suggested Alex build one for himself.
Because he loved working with his hands and thought he was in need of a pastime, Alex decided to make his own muddlers. Or to create, as he described it, “high quality, beautiful, wooden muddlers that verge on art!”
He bought a lathe as well as various other tools and got to work. What he came up with is one that resembles the size of a small bat or a large pestle. When employed by bartenders, has the same function as the pestle in grinding or mashing fruit, sugars, herbs, and even Ice. Mojitos are created using the muddler, but seldom making them with the type Alex has designed, made of beautiful-carved wood.
While Alex is working to refine the product, Alex has sold an item of his “art” muddlers for 50 dollars. The next step is creating the online store and then figuring out how to turn this into a full-time enterprise.
Alex Alotte’s muddlers made by hand solved a problem for businesses
Alex Alotte’s muddlers are made by hand.
For those who find the thought of starting a business scary begin with something you already know. So, it will not seem like a business and you’ll be able to enjoy the process as you progress.
Make sure you think about the feelings you’ll experience in the event that things work out, however. It’s possible that things get more difficult when you have to start making your hobby a priority to satisfy customer demands or pay the expenses. You might even require a new pastime!
8. Fill out the requirement
Pick any of the human necessities listed in Maslow’s hierarchy and think about those products or services designed to satisfy these requirements. Next, you can build on these.
Maslow’s hierarchy of demands
Think about it: as human beings, we have a continuous need to stay hydrated. If we didn’t consume water, we would die. We’ve therefore been able to install plumbing in our homes and into every building that we work in and go to.
Yet, despite the fact that we are in a position to go virtually any place to get water at no cost businesses have devised new methods to satisfy this demand. They’ve come up with solutions for drinking water in the car. They’ve offered solutions for flavoring water to go on the move and for “vitamin” water, even CBD-infused water in certain areas.
Moving up to the love/belonging stage of Maslow’s pyramid and you’ll see companies such as Facebook that permit users to feel a belonging to family and friends. family.
Go up a level or two in confidence and you’ll be able to access the same kind of advice as Tony Robbins with books and tapes that show you how to reach your goals, boost confidence in yourself, and eventually become the most successful.
It might feel a little manipulative looking at things this way, but many of the products you use already bear reference to these needs, including the toilet paper you buy (physiological), the locks you have on your door and the pepper spray you carry (safety), the birthday card you buy for your friend (love/belonging), the feedback you seek via recommendations on LinkedIn (esteem) and the tools and situations (like the Peace Corps) that allow you to practice your creativity, morality, or problem-solving skills (self-actualization).
9. Affirmation of a fundamental emotion
What causes you to be angry? What makes you smile? What causes you to feel jealous?
Famous copywriter and author Andy Maslen phrases appealing to basic emotions in a different way and says to exploit an emotion of base.
Consider it in the way you like (positive or negative) But, fundamentally, Andy is right. According to him typically make choices in response to one of seven feelings.
They are more widely described as”the seven sins that kill:
- Pride
- Envy
- Lust
- Greed
- Gluttony
- Sloth
- Anger (wrath)
If you look at the various products and services that are available today, you’ll see the extent to which they were created to draw attention to or make use of these feelings. Beauty salons are an obvious example. How many people actually require their nails polished or their legs waxed?
In reality, as a species, we’ve taken evolutionary reactions one step further. While cleaning our hair might initially have been a decision we did to impress a partner and appear more attractive than our competition however, in the present, we’ve taken it further to the extreme.
Today, instead of offering products that will accomplish the task We have products that expand on and add new features such as salt spray for adding volume to hair, hairsprays to hold an edgy style, and dry shampoo to use times when you don’t have time to bathe. The companies are able to sell these products since they’re capable of utilizing our basic requirements.
I have thin hair, so salicylic and volumizing shampoo are an easy sale. Oil isn’t so easy. However, for my friends with extremely long, thick hair, oils are an easy sale. This is a way of stealing our self-esteem. In the end, none of these items are actually required.
Look over those seven sins that are deadly and see what you can think of and what products or services you utilize frequently make use of those requirements. Maybe you’ll pick the way that marketers do exactly the same thing!
10. Learn more about it.
In reality, the more work you get involved and experience and experience, the more resources you’ll have at available to develop new ideas or weave together seemingly unrelated concepts.
In actual fact, Bill Gates believes so strongly in the power of serendipity in the quest to discover innovative ideas that he regularly allocates time to read books about various subjects in a relatively short time.
Nirmalya Kumar, professor of marketing at the London Business School, knows the importance of being open-minded and thinking outside the box of your business or industry to come up with fresh concepts.
In the video interview below, he states that if he didn’t take a broad view of the world and make connections, he’d always think he was going to say or write the same thing that everyone else does. In the main, reading outside of business can help him develop fresh ideas and create new connections between subjects.
According to Nirmalya “Intelligence and knowledge in the raw are undervalued. It’s better to have interests that are diverse.”
His conversation with Matt Symonds, the interviewer, is fascinating; I recommend you take a look if you have the time.
Another thing that you could do in order to come to ideas simpler is to perform more. This is the way I find new subjects that I can write about. fresh examples or individuals to highlight and also other things I can say. If I didn’t have this process I’d be restricted to the things I’m familiar with. Reading and doing things that are different from the “usual” activities hopefully give me many interesting stories to share!
11. Use other people’s ideas
There’s nothing wrong with this. In reality, the majority of good ideas are based on someone who has an idea of their own.
The dissertation I ultimately submitted to my MA program was actually born from the seeds of a story my sister had written in high school. I was enthralled by her story so much that in my undergraduate studies, I developed the concept.
Take J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter. Don’t tell me that the Death Eaters weren’t modeled off the Ku Klux Klan, that the spiders of the Forbidden Forest did not have a connection to Lord of the Rings, or that J. K. Rowling did not use mythology as the basis for the bizarre and intriguing creatures that appear in her works. In reality, it’s true that even the completely fiction-based game Quidditch is rooted in the idea that witches travel on broomsticks. The game was simply based on this concept.
I’ll conclude with this quote taken from Albert Einstein: “Creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.”
How do you come up with ideas?
There are myriad methods to accomplish this; I’ve only listed a few. But, I do hope that by following these suggestions, you’ll be able to your own thoughts or expand on ideas from others.
Are you looking for other ideas for your business? Go through the Bplans guide for getting a great idea. When you’re sure you’ve got an excellent idea to begin with, read this article to tell if you’ve got an excellent idea. This free idea checklist can help you consider the various aspects of your business concept, including how to test it.
