Entrepreneurship is also all about your initial, unique idea. But the journey from conceiving an idea to executing it to the point where it starts giving out profit is tedious. First, you have to find business inspiration for your startup. To help you get started, here’s a big list of business ideas to kickstart your entrepreneurship journey along with a few tips below.
A Couple Ways to Find Business Inspiration for Your Startup
In the US alone, over 600,000 businesses are started every year but only a handful survive and meet the goals they set for themselves.
It is crucial to be inspired and motivated for your business and willing to walk that extra mile to achieve what you want.
Broadly speaking, you can take two approaches while preparing for your startup business:
- Inspiration through opportunity
- Personal and mental inspiration
Inspiration Through Opportunity
Need is the mother of invention. What inspires most of the geniuses to create great products is the scarcity of something useful. Hence, analysing the market, knowing the trends, being updated with the relevant technology, and keeping an eye on peers and the competition fuels the thought process of a businessman and highlights opportunities which can be converted into great results. There are several steps you can take while seeking inspiration or developing business plans. Some of them are discussed here.
Research as much as you can
Research as much as you can about your idea and leave no leaf unturned. Effective research is like a circle where the more research you do, the more interesting the subject appears, leading to more research. Try to find that cycle and explore all aspects of your idea before executing it.
Write down your ideas and discuss them with friends, mentors, and industry veterans. Read books, follow leaders, and keep yourself updated with the news of your ecosystem. Read the following for starters:
- Books
- “Lost and Founder: A Painfully Honest Field Guide to the Startup World” by Rand Fishkin
- “Outliers: The Story of Success” by Malcolm Gladwell
- “Reinvent Yourself” by James Altucher
- Magazines
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- VentureBeat
- Fast Company
- Entrepreneur
- Success
Attend community events
Community events are great places for networking with people who are relevant to your industry. A good event hosts several industry leaders discussing their flagship products and future endeavours. These are vital to gauge the direction of your industry and to draft your strategy accordingly. Check out portals like Freelancers Union and Meetup to find events.
Find a mentor
A mentor will help you focus your efforts in one direction without wasting your resources and energy. Try to include someone you admire who has achieved what you aspire to achieve. They should also know the industry and be able to help keep you on track and motivated.
Talk to your college professors, old bosses you admire, etc. If finding a mentor is a problem, try to spend more time with the people you want to be like.
Personal and Mental Inspiration
The other aspect of inspiring yourself when starting your own company is to take control of your thoughts and prepare yourself mentally to make the most of the resources at your disposal. There are a few points you can take into consideration for mentally preparing yourself to take calculated risks.
Learn from others
Observe and learn from others who don’t think like you to help you identify opportunities which may be revolutionary to you. During the early 1990s, Jeff Bezos was working successfully as a hedge fund manager for an IT banking company. During this time, he noticed that internet usage was increasing by 2300 % every year. He identified an opportunity to invest in that industry, found what was there for him, and made the most of it. The outcome? Today, he is one of the richest business moguls of the world thanks to Amazon.
Prepare for the setbacks
People are always looking for opportunities where they can say “I told you so,” but will that bother you? As an entrepreneur, you have to prepare yourself mentally to face the most adversary and gruesome situations. Be prepared for your idea to be criticized a lot.
You will be hearing “No” often and few will even notice your early days’ hard work. But all this is a part of the journey leading towards the bigger goal. Prepare for the mistakes you are going to make and try many times to get what you want.
Ask correct questions
When working on your idea, be your biggest critic and ask as many questions as you can think of about your idea. The more thorough you explore your idea, the better prepared you will be to face real problems.
What value will my startup business offer? Always start with the problem you want to solve. What problem will my business solve? Is there a market problem which I can address? Can my business provide a better solution to an existing problem? Is there a gap in the market my business can fill?
These questions will prepare you better for what comes next in the business.
Take care of your health and happiness
The biggest assets you have are your brain and body. A healthy and happy brain will give you better results than any other method you can think of. Stay positive, motivate yourself, and spend time with loved ones. As far as taking care of your body, follow best practices, eat healthy, sleep on time, and make the most of the sunrise. It’s also important to give your mind and body enough time to refresh, so make sure you have days-off as well.
In Conclusion
Ideas are the fuel on which businesses are run. All you need for a successful business is a great idea.
You can find inspiration for a startup by observing someone else, or just by your own experience where you face a problem which has no market solution. The important thing is to identify the opportunity and convince yourself to work in that direction without losing focus.
If you follow the points mentioned above, you will find business inspiration for your startup.
