How To
Find New Business Ideas
By Tom Egelhoff
 In
the late 1800's, the director of the U.S. Office of Patents expressed
his concern that the office would probably be closing soon. Why?
Because he was convinced that over the past 1900 years all the
ideas that were humanly possible had already been thought of.
He was sure life was not going to get any better than it was
in 1900.
As we approach a new millennium we have just one question
to ask, "What will they think of next?" New ideas hit
the marketplace at an overwhelming rate. Every time we open a
newspaper or turn on the radio we see and hear of new industries
that will change our lives. Where do the ideas come from? Can
you create new ideas within your own business? The answer is
yes. Is it easy? The answer is NO.
Ideas come from knowledge
If I wanted to learn to play golf would I go out to the local
course and grab the first person I see and ask them to teach
me? No. I would locate the "golf pro" and take some
lessons. The pro has the expertise to make my golf education
go quicker and smoother. Each pro has developed the knowledge
of the game and procedures necessary to teach me the game of
golf. They are students of their industry.
When large companies need ideas and assistance they call on
"consultants." These consultants have become students
of the industry. They have amassed the knowledge necessary to
assist the company with new product development or problem solving.
Most small town business owners don't have a budget to justify
these folks. They must take a different route.
Find a need, or create a need, and fill it
Many successful money making ideas are born out of a need
by your customer. Sometimes companies develop a product and a
need must be generated. Most of us had no idea we needed a VCR
or a microwave oven until we were told and shown that we did.
How to generate new ideas for your business
There are two ways that I use. The easiest way is to let someone
else do it for you for free. That sounds good, how does that
work?
Suppose you own a hardware store. There are thousands of other
hardware store owners across the country and around the world.
They are all trying to come up with money making ideas for their
businesses just like you are. When one of them comes up with
a good idea, it usually makes news. You won't find articles about
their ideas in the local papers but you will find them in the
industry trade magazines and industry association newsletters.
You are then free to steal...uhh...acquire these ideas for your
own business.
Finding new ideas within a business
The second way is to either find a need or create a need for
the customer within your own business and be the one written
about. If you feel you need to take this path then you truly
must become a dedicated student of your industry.
How do you do that? You read. I don't care what sacrifices
you must make, but you must read something about your business
or industry at least 20 minutes every day. More than 20 minutes
is preferred. Within one year you will know more about your business
or industry than 75% of the people in it.
Checklist for finding new business ideas
One of the hardest things for most business owners to do is
look at their business the way a customer would.
Here are some areas of your business to look at during the
idea creation process.
- Your experience: Do you
have experience you are not using in the current business? Can
this unused experience help or benefit your customer in some
way? Can you adapt it to your current business?
- Are you too close to the business?
Business owners fall into habits of doing things to the point
that they become automatic. Opportunities can often be missed.
If you normally do something A-B-C-D, try doing it B-D-A-C and
see what happens.
- Industry trends: What
is your reading telling you about where your industry is headed?
How is the Internet going to affect your business? The Presidential
Race? The Olympics? Y2K? Stock market? Local government?
- Your expert image: What
is the image of your business? Is there expertise you have that
the customer is not receiving in some way? Is additional training
available to develop new profit centers?
- Ask customers: "If
there was one thing you would add or change about our business,
what would that be?"
- Ask employees: "If
you were in charge, what would you add or change and why?"
"I thought of a great business idea. Now what?"
Congratulations. See it wasn't so hard. Now you need to find
out if your idea will fly. Here is another checklist of things
you will need to know before you can launch your new idea.
- Is it compatible with current business
philosophy? You have spent a lot of time and money
positioning
your company image, you don't want to undo all that hard work
by going in a different direction.
- "If you build it, will they
come?" Is there a demonstrated market for your
idea. Will you need to educate them? What is the cost of that
education?
- Features
and benefits: What will be the benefits to the
customer in relation to the cost of the new idea?
- Is the product unique?
- Does the idea require start-up costs?
Can the budget support these additional costs?
- How fast can the competition react
to this new idea? What is the window of opportunity?
- Is the price
in line with similar products and/or services?
- Can the new idea be packaged with
current products and/or services? Can the new idea
increase current sales on other goods/services?
The last word on finding business ideas
Living in small towns we sometimes feel that what's going
on outside our city limits isn't really important. However, it
never hurts to keep up with what's going on in our global community.
Your local newspaper is probably adequate for local news but
it's also a good idea to subscribe to the nearest major city
paper.
There are government agencies that can provide helpful information
on trends and business direction. Two sites are:
http://www.stats.bis.gov/
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, economy at a glance, time series
statistics.
http://www.census.gov/ -
Up to the minute population estimates along with census data,
current population profiles of the U.S.
Last but not least, what are other people reading? What's
on the New York Times non-fiction best seller list? It's a good
way to gauge the pulse of the country.
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This article may be reproduced for your non-profit
group or organization provided it is not altered in any way and
the following is attached:
©1998 - 2004 Eagle Marketing PO Box 271 Bozeman, MT
59771-0271
http://www.smalltownmarketing.com - (406) 585-0219 - Toll FREE
(888) 550-6100
email: tommail@smalltownmarketing.com
Based in Bozeman, MT, Tom Egelhoff is the author of How To Market, Advertise & Promote Your
Business Or Service In A Small Town, and The
Small Town Advertising Handbook: How To Say More And Spend Less.
He is also a seminar and workshop presenter
and trainer. He may be reached at 888-550-6100 or PO Box
271 Bozeman, MT 59771-0271
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