How to Find the Next Big Start-Up Idea?

How to find the next big start-up idea is a very tricky question to answer. Start-up ideas are very subtle; no one knows which idea will succeed and which may fail. Successful start-ups have their foundation in promising ideas and investments. Most people aspiring to build a start-up struggle with finding money. Hitherto, the common belief is that finding a viable and financially rewarding idea is even more challenging. Nevertheless, statistical trends that show specific ideas are more likely to succeed than others. Here we will focus on the ideas that have better chances of success.

Before discussing the recipe for generating unique start-up ideas, we need to understand the founders' most common mistakes while coming up with start-up ideas. One common mistake is believing you need a fantastic idea to start. So, you wait until you get an idea and think it is excellent. However, this perception is wrong. Naturally, you will consider Google or Facebook as brilliant start-up ideas. But the truth is that when Google started, it was the 20th search engine, and Facebook was the 20th social network. What made them successful was not a great start-up idea but the brilliant execution of their plans.

Another mistake some founders make is jumping into the first idea that comes to their minds. If you want to run a successful business, you will need to work on it for the rest of your life. So, it is worth taking some time to decide on what you will be working on for years. Founders who spend time evaluating their ideas are ahead of the curve.

Start-up ideas change over time. For instance, Airbnb was initially a website for renting air beds at other people's houses. Over time, it transformed into all vacation rentals. So, what you need to do is to pick a good starting point. If you have a good starting point, then even if your initial idea is not great, it just needs tweaking to get to a great idea.

Evaluating Start-up Ideas

Start-up ideas are easy to find because there are many real problems. If you are having trouble finding them, it is just that you have not yet learned how to do them. Once you know how to notice good start-up ideas, you will see them everywhere.

Before initiating a start-up, you should evaluate your idea. Your idea could score well if you are doing something in a small market today but has the potential to be huge in the future. An excellent example of this is a company called Coinbase, which allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrency. When Coinbase was started in 2012, Bitcoin was still brand new and still very small. But even at that time, some people believed that it might replace all existing money someday. If that happens, it will be tremendous, so Coinbase was an innovative idea. On the other hand, starting a new bank will not be an excellent idea because there are already a bunch of banks out there.

Another thing that you need to evaluate is how sure you are that you are solving a big problem. Ideally, you should have personal experience with this problem and have a new, important insight into this idea. Again, Airbnb is a fitting example. When Airbnb was launched, most people thought that allowing strangers you met on the internet to sleep in your apartment was bizarre and perhaps dangerous. But the founders of Airbnb had tried this. They would invite strangers from the internet to stay with them, and they realized it was enjoyable. So, they had this insight that everyone else was wrong about this, which made Airbnb an innovative idea.

Finding a Great Start-up Idea

Now, the most exciting part is how to generate start-up ideas. It is possible to sit down and think of start-up ideas. However, the best way to have start-up ideas is to notice them organically. There are significant start-up ideas all around you, and you will find them everywhere when you have a prepared mind. The problem is that when people sit down and try to think of start-up ideas, they tend to think of bad ones. In contrast, start-up ideas that have arrived organically are likely to be good ones.

So, let us discuss how to have start-up ideas naturally. If you are not starting a company immediately, this should be your preferred approach. Learn how to notice good start-up ideas, and then let the good ones occur to you. To have start-up ideas naturally, you need to know what a good start-up idea looks like so you notice them when you come across them. Then, you simply try to find things that seem missing in the world.

Now, we shall dwell on a few recipes for generating start-up ideas.

Look around

 Ideas are everywhere – be it in nature, mass media, music, home, work, your favorite restaurant, or many other places you visit every day. Training the mind and imagination to notice the slightest things and analyze and construe them in a different context is a handy skill. The world is filled with ideas, and it might seem like it is impossible to create something entirely different and innovative. However, humanity and technologies continue to evolve and break the limits. Once you combine your knowledge, skills, passion, and future trends, there will not be a problem finding ideas for a start-up that may become a new unicorn and grow into a solid business.

Listen to your passions & interests

Many business owners characterize the image of their target clients. It shows that these entrepreneurs produced what they wanted to buy after being unable to find perfect goods or services on the available market. Interest in your ideas is the key to generating good concepts because you have background information and can apply this knowledge to create your future start-up. However, in many cases, the start-up idea is good but not viable. Research on what the market lacks.

Look into the future

Information technology is a field that is continuously developing. Things that were impossible to imagine a decade ago are now being commonly used, sometimes for fun only, as is the case with AI-driven face-swap applications. In the IT field, you can research what technologies and platforms are gaining popularity and strive to create something unique. While it might take a while to implement your idea, you could still be the first one to launch it in the market and monetize the concept.

Use your creativity

You do not need to be an artist to have creative ideas. You simply need to start thinking about how you can apply something usual in an unfamiliar environment. In other words, try to take an idea commonly used in one industry and place it in another sector. One of the most illustrative examples is 3D printing. 3D printing can be helpful in healthcare, construction, and even the food industry.

Browse crowdfunding platforms

Sometimes, innovative ideas need inspiration. When promising ideas do not appear, you can try browsing a crowdfunding platform. However, it is essential to remember the difference between stealing and taking inspiration when you are doing this. Your goal is not to steal someone else's idea but to simply learn from other entrepreneurs and look for seeds of inspiration.