Sources of Business Ideas???

Lmnover

Hi
anyone have any suggestions where to look for business ideas - is there courses, books, websites, etc etc that i can try??

Want to set a service based business up - but need some inspiration....

any help greatly appreciated......

shoutman

Check out www.springwise.com might find some inspiration on there.

Generally what I do is carry around a moleskin notebook and jot down any random ideas that pop into my head, vast majority of them are brutal but every so often I get one that I think sounds decent, in my mind anyway.

It's not so much sitting around thinking, hmmm what's a good business idea. It's more so I just see something or think well this would be cool... and then it develops from there.

Effluo

shoutman wrote: »

Check out www.springwise.com might find some inspiration on there.

Generally what I do is carry around a moleskin notebook and jot down any random ideas that pop into my head, vast majority of them are brutal but every so often I get one that I think sounds decent, in my mind anyway.

It's not so much sitting around thinking, hmmm what's a good business idea. It's more so I just see something or think well this would be cool... and then it develops from there.

Yeah a lot of people do just carry a notepad around with them all day....
I came up with a business idea there a couple of months ago, it came about when we had to come up with an idea for a business for a college assignment.

I had had around 3 ideas ready to put to our group and after them not liking any of them i just came up with a great one out of nowhere. The others still didn't go for it, but i ended up pursuing it anyway and in a different project later on in the year it was highly commended and that's what i'm doing for the summer now.

I had a problem earlier on in the year buying the right pc for myself and it took me abouts 6 months to figure out what i wanted, then another month to figure out where to get it cheapest...
My business could do it in 20 minutes.

It's just realising a problem and then finding a solution.
Also a business idea doesn't have to be something new, it could just be improved or something which just doesn't exist in the area right now!!!

You know?

DubTony

Notebooks, seeing things, etc. won't make a damned bit of difference unless there's is something INSIDE you that WANTS better or more. Call that philosophical if you like, but very few people ever came up with a great business idea without first having the desire to be more than average. It all stems from a desire to achieve. And the need for achievement comes from the desire to either want more, or simply be better than is expected.

So, here's what I'll tell you. From the heart. There are people out there in the big bad world who wanted more than the average and there are people who wanted to be better than average. But it didn't come from a textbook, or a teacher, or a lecturer, it came from an inbuilt desire. A conscious, or more likely a subconscious feeling that grew within to achieve more. That "more" may have been to be the best or just be stinking rich. And it's a desire that needs to grow. It needs to fester inside you. And it needs to be a consistent want.

Most entrepreneurs are "developed" at a very early age. They have an inbuilt "something" that grows and grows. The business idea comes later. As desires for more and better feed the subconscious, the subconscious mind gives ideas to the conscious mind that should be acted upon.

I'll be shocked if any of the entrepreneurs on here, after thinking about it, disagree with anything I say.

Anyway, that's a synopsis. I might just have a bit more to say on this subject in the next few days. But right now, it's 2 am and I've got 5 pints of that finest Dutch beer in me. Thanks heavens for spellsheckers. (hic!)

That's a world class reply DubTony. I completely agree with you. People say to me that I should get a job in a company because due to my desires and need to achieve and my ambition and overall motivation that I'll move up quicker than most etc etc. I personally think that would be the worst thing I could possibly do and think it would be a waste of talent. That cushy (translated as boring - sorry if I offend people - difference of opinion etc) lifestyle is not for me at all. I want to do my own thing, I always will. The idea is not necessarily that important - once it's something I can get passionate about, I can do it and pursue it.

The business I'm setting up once I'm home is probably something not many people would imagine my personality and character matching with - but it's something I'm so passionate about not because I'm naturally at one with it - but because I manipulated my mindset to be completely passionate about it, I believe there is a gap for it, I love the idea - it grew on me, I researched it as often as I could, I learned more and more about it and to be honest, I'd consider myself close to an expert on the idea at this stage - true expert status will come when I set up my business. Failing doesn't scare me, it's what drives me on. If I fail, big deal, I'll get over it (i'll be as upset as anyone about it but I'll move on) and do something else and there is ALWAYS something else if you have that "get go" mindset in my opinion. I don't think I'll fail but that's the mindset most entrepreneurs or wannabe's have from the get go if they are going to make it in the end. I'm the type of guy who can get obsessed about ideas I like very quickly and I consider that a strength on my part.

As for the OP who is looking for ideas, my mindset is in constant motion for ideas nowadays. I've had it since I was 16/17/18 (the need to be my own boss), before that time I just wanted to get a job with a ridiculously high salary then I got a pretty good job for an 18 year old after I dropped out of a course I hated, earning more than people in their mid to late twenties twenties (it involved bluffing and telling porkies in interviews and to recruitment agencies but hey I got it) and realised it's not all that, I need more. That was seriously when I realised money is not going to make me happy. The ideas for me personally started coming when in my final years in college (business degree) as I got closer to realising that I won't be in college forever, the fact I don't want to work for anyone else and my need to achieve for myself are the factors that I think fuel my brain for ideas because it's the lifestyle choice I have chosen to live and I'm early on the road but hopefully I'll get there. I have a notebook as well by the way and I probably write a good idea into it on average once a week, the notebook is a great idea for someone like me because I talk business ideas constantly, on the piss, out with my friends, on my own, constantly, it's just what I do so I need to write stuff down as I forget ideas as quick as I came up with them if I'm not careful.

Keep your eyes open and look around and question everything - "How can I do this better? Can I get passionate about it? Do people want it? Would my friends buy this? Would my target market want this? etc etc questions questions questions and a strong desire to achieve.

Oh and remember, to be considered an expert in your field, you just need to know more than the people you are selling it too.

The bigger picture on my part is to have a comfortable, successful and healthy lifestyle - but I also want to inspire people to do better things for themselves but I'll only be able to do that once I talk the talk myself. There's a saying "those who can; do, those who can't; teach" - harsh but true in a lot of cases.

niceirishfella

You don't even need to carry round a note pad and pen OP.
We all carry mobiles and the have notem making facilities in the office function menu. I have a file in there on my phone for ideas/thoughts/inspiration/stuff to investigage/follow up on.
I also record idea's by voice through a voice rec. function - very handy.

greener&leaner

niceirishfella wrote: »

You don't even need to carry round a note pad and pen OP.
We all carry mobiles and the have notem making facilities in the office function menu. I have a file in there on my phone for ideas/thoughts/inspiration/stuff to investigage/follow up on.
I also record idea's by voice through a voice rec. function - very handy.

or if like me you have an old fashioned mobile, just write yourself a text message.
It'll be enough to jog your memory.


Look for what's done badly and what annoys you in every day life.
Chances are if you're annoyed other people are too and that the people currently in that business are coasting.
That's where most of my "hmmmm some day I might try that" ideas lie.

TheCostumeShop.ie: Ronan

This topic comes up on these boards every few months, so it might be worth looking back on previous posts for some little gems others have planted.

I always say the same thing... If your looking to start a service business its worth traveling and seeing what works in other countries that we don't do here then bringing the concept to Ireland. You don't need to re-invent the wheel, just put your own slant on it.

Dabko

Op, might not exactly be a services idea but take as you will:

Ireland has no decent price/product comparison website. You have to drag through tonnes of sh1te to find what you need.
Financial products
Car/home/life/medical insurance
hotels/eating out
Supermarkets
motors
Mobiles/broadband
Utilities
etc, etc, etc

Base your idea upon the UK market. It flooded with price comparison sites.

betonit

shoutman wrote: »

Check out www.springwise.com might find some inspiration on there.

Generally what I do is carry around a moleskin notebook and jot down any random ideas that pop into my head, vast majority of them are brutal but every so often I get one that I think sounds decent, in my mind anyway.

It's not so much sitting around thinking, hmmm what's a good business idea. It's more so I just see something or think well this would be cool... and then it develops from there.

have you had successes with this approach?