Ideation: where do business ideas come from

Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new business ideas. When we plan to launch a new business, we take advantage of an existing concept or develop our own unique idea. The same applies to growing an existing business. I’ve always had trouble determining what is more difficult: finding the idea or executing it.

Sometimes the ideas are pretty easy to conjure up, and the hard part is deciding if they are good enough as a basis for building a profitable business. If you have what you think is a “great idea,” the next challenge is to demonstrate or prove that it will lead to a successful business.

Then there are times when a viable idea is the hardest to find. It may seem like all the good ideas are taken and you are left out with the resources and desire to start or grow a business, but without a great idea. The ideation process can take a day or years and, as with the creative process, it is often unproductive to rush it. Aside from the other typical resource barriers (money and people), the lack of a “good idea” is often what prevents people from acting on their dream of becoming their own boss.

Creating a new business begins with the idea. The process of developing that idea, and your business concept, may include some level of testing through prototyping and iteration. During these early stages, your idea will undoubtedly evolve and may even morph into something entirely different. There are three basic categories for business ideas., and considering these categories can help generate the next great creation or validate the existing one:

  • New – a new invention or business idea. Examples may include the Segway, virtual reality, and other product inventions. This is the most difficult category for new business ideas. There are very few authentic and completely new ideas. By “new” I mean something that absolutely does not exist today or in the past in any way. It’s easy to mistake a new idea for what is actually an improvement or disruption to an existing or traditional way of doing something. Truly new and unique ideas are hard to come by, so don’t get stuck thinking that this is the only source of viable new ideas.
  • Gets better – this is the proverbial best mousetrap. Examples include outside express car washes (where you stay in the car), Virgin Airlines, LED lighting, and Disney Land. Most small businesses probably fall into this category. You take an existing service or product and manufacture or deliver it in a better way, either directly or indirectly. You can do this with better quality raw materials, for example, or you can add value to the product or service by including additional services or add-ons.
  • Breaking off – a revolutionary new way of doing something. Examples include Uber, AirBnB, and Amazon. Our modern interconnected world, supported and made possible by the Internet, now allows us to completely reinvent, transform and revolutionize entire industries. The internet and other technologies are not the only way to execute a disruptive business idea, but it has certainly accelerated our ability to do so.

Where do great ideas come from? Sources of ideas can include reading, podcasts, art, architecture, personal experiences, travel, conversations, hobbies, borrowing from others, collective creativity, crowdsourcing, and attempting to solve existing problems in our world. For existing companies, the best source of ideas is often their customers. However, it takes more than just experimenting or reading something to come up with your next great idea.

In Belle Cooper’s “How to Generate Good Ideas” article, Steve Jobs is quoted as sharing that creative people can “connect experiences they have had and synthesize new things. “In your observation, creative people have always “had more experiences or thought more about their experiences than other people. “

Experiencing new things consciously and objectively will definitely influence and fuel your creative abilities, and it is one of the most productive ways that we can continue to develop our ability to generate great ideas.

Does this mean that you have to be creative to generate good business ideas? I think creativity is definitely one of the main ingredients required for ideation, along with ingenuity and vision. The challenge for many people, however, is that they either have little confidence in their inherent creative abilities or they don’t have the courage to express themselves and take advantage of them. The idea generation process is a lot like the creative process in that we present something personal for others to judge. You must have the courage and confidence to come up with ideas that others may think are frivolous or ridiculous. It is appropriate to recall what George Bernard Shaw wrote: “All great truths begin as blasphemies.”

The ideal process is to identify one or more business ideas, test them, and then continue to develop the idea that has the best chance of success. Of course, always remember that the true test of an idea’s commercial viability ultimately rests entirely with the customer. Also remember that if your concept were easy, someone else probably would have already done it.

Some questions to ask yourself to help qualify your business idea:

  • What need does my product or service cover? What problem does it solve

  • What are the features and benefits of my offer?

  • What is my competitive advantage? What makes this idea really unique in my market?

  • How do my skills and experience fit with my idea?

  • How will I be able to test it and prove it?

  • What resources will I need to turn this idea into a viable business?

  • Does my idea solve a problem of a billion people or the problem of a few?

  • Can I imagine running this concept for the next 5-10 years?

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