Business ideas are everywhere. I know, you’ve heard it before, but it’s true. They are actually all around you and your daily life. Find a problem for which people are desparate to find a solution and willing to pay for, figure out the solution, make it easy for them to get the solution from you and you have a new business opportunity. OK, that is a tad condensed, but opportunities for a business do really present themselves everyday. The hard part is seeing them. But as Reggie Perry Jr. found out when you do,
“…suddenly it felt like I was in a dark stadium and someone turned on the gigantic stadium lights. My entire business plan and what I wanted to accomplish just started to flow, so I sat down and began typing.”
This was Reggie’s lightbulb moment, when the idea, opportunity and the realization that it can be done all come together. But it wasn’t easy for this would-be entrepreneur. He reflects back on the hard days in his article “Your Great Business Idea May Be Right Under Your Nose” at Under30CEO.com,
“In order to pay rent, I held various jobs from working for a start up, to tutoring kids, and even working at a call center. I knew I didn’t want to work any of those jobs for the rest of my life but from them, I learned a tremendous amount about what I wanted to do and, maybe more importantly, what I didn’t want to do.” Reggie explains.
“One day I sat down, and I thought about everything I wanted to do with my life. While still in Los Angeles, I came up with a plan to launch a program to teach music production to teens.” Reggie had discovered his entrepreneurial path. It felt so right that befroe he knew it, he had the business plan made, the name, the logo and website up and running. It took months of hard work, but he finally landed his first client and Project Generation D was on the map.
One of the big takeaways I want to focus on from Reggie’s story is how his business idea came to be.
“My experiences have taught me to look around my life for inspiration. I took two of my passions, mashed them up and created a thriving business out of them. I often see people talking about a “scheme” they have to start a business and get rich from, but more often than not, these “schemes” lack passion and run out of gas. If you are passionate about what you do, believe in it and stay positive at all times because things will, at times, get rough.”
Combining your interests and passions into a mashup can be a very potent way to discover a strong business idea. Draw on Reggie’s story and look around you. Write down what your passions are. Think about which ones can be combined. Ask yourself what would happen if I combined this passion with that one? Can it be used to solve a problem? Can it fill other people’s needs that may be underserved? Can I turn it into a business venture?
Potential business opportunities are all around us. In this case, it isn’t about looking out at the world for inspiration. It is about looking inside yourself to discover how your experiences have shaped you. There you can find what could turn out to be your most powerful business ideas.
You can find Reggie’s article here.