Business Ideas That Pay
From Thomas Edison’s electric light bulb to our day, the path to the millionaires’ club is littered with brilliant spark-of-the-moment ideas. Who doesn’t know how Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg have transformed the business world through computer operating systems and Internet networks? Does everybody need to be some fairy tale genius of such an order to become a successful business person? Of course not! However, successful entrepreneurship
depends on a well-hatched business idea. Getting rich is a function of a widely acceptable unique concept. The market rewards the best of ideas. How then does one come up with an excellent idea?
Solve a problem.
When you identify pain points that a community has, you can devise a solution to address the difficulty. Customers are willing to pay for a useful quick fix that makes their lives easier. If there is a shortage of farm land in your country you could introduce the concept of vertical farming. This involves producing crops in vertically stacked layers in a controlled environment. As a farmer, you will grow more crops on a small enclosed area while at the same time businesses that manufacture the stacks get established. Solving the problems people have can be a pathway to becoming rich as an entrepreneur.
Import ideas from abroad.
You can import business ideas from other countries if you notice that the concepts exhibit the potential of getting accepted on the local market. Electric bicycles (e-bikes) are taking the developed world by storm. Commuters are seeking to replace motor vehicles with electric bicycles for short distance travel in busy streets. If you are someone who travels a lot, you can be easily inspired to get into business by fascinating ideas that you observe in foreign land.
Usually, you might bring into your country a new way of presenting an existing product or a completely new offering. To those who do not travel, time well spent on the internet or on television can assist you in finding ideas that can help you to start a rewarding business. Follow a trend Jeffrey Bezos observed a two thousand percent growth rate in the use of the internet in 1994 and swam with the wave to form Amazon. His is an example of a great entrepreneur who
sprung from capitalizing on a trend that was consistent with the needs of society. As an aspiring business person, seek to understand the underlying reasons behind certain trends among the young people around you. Instead of being judgmental on teenagers, observe their behaviour, style of dress, hairdo, language, the modifications they do to their cars, and the places they gather. These could point to you products and services for the next generation of customers and align you towards a remunerative venture.
Modify existing products
Improving on current brands lessens the burden of thinking about a business idea. You can alter the quality of an existing product or change its function or even its style. It sounds inconceivable that Google was not the first search engine. Before Google, there were Aliweb,
Web Crawler, Lycos, Yahoo, and Alta Vista among others. Google took the limelight from an improved way of ranking web pages that made searching on the internet a pleasure. It is not the work of a genius to make a product useful to more people by redesigning it. Modifying existing products can be an easy route for you to form a business and start making money!
Start by copycatting
The simplest way of getting a business idea is to take an already existing concept and form an enterprise as a competitor. You can offer the same service or product in a better environment or package. Alternatively you can still offer the same commodity in a different location.
Innovations can be mimicked! Federal Express (FedEx) was formed in 1971 as a courier company yet United Parcel Service (UPS) had long existed since 1907. Both companies operate on an international scale and they generate millions of sales revenue. Amazon and Alibaba are not different business ideas. The former serves the American market mostly, while the latter is more visible in China and both are e-commerce platforms.
Support a ‘gold rush’
Many people in different countries have at one time been involved in a gold rush. However, if you are not keen on joining the bandwagon, you can take advantage of the rush to start your own enterprise. While thousands are stampeding to search for gold or diamonds, you can make it your business to furnish them with their requirements. Those who headed for the 1849 Californian Gold Rush gave Levi Strauss the chance to open a thriving business in San
Francisco that specialised in selling blue jeans and tents to all those who were out in the forest looking for gold. The crowds of a gold rush constitute a market for other products that you can provide as you run a thriving firm.
Brainstorm with several audiences for ideas
Talking to people and hearing customers’ views on what kind of business someone should start in their community can be helpful. This crowdsourcing entails inviting broader communities of people like customers, employees, suppliers, independent scientists and researchers. Ask them what service they want to receive. Know their frustrations and ask if
they have any idea on how these can be eliminated. Such deliberations with customers and employees capture complaints and suggestions that can usher you into trade. Once you are on your way to meet identifiable needs better, you are destined for big business.
Serve neglected portions of a market
Consider the plight of neglected groups of customers. While disposable diapers are useful to babies, how about having adult disposable diapers for hospital patients? If Johnson and Johnson’s baby powder is good for babies can’t it be good at burnishing the facial skin of adults too? It won’t take you long to generate a brilliant business idea supposing you have such an inquisitive mind. There are unique customers out there whom we find it difficult to believe they even exist. A search for them can help establish a thriving business if you find out that they are willing to pay for products that address their special needs.
Conclusion
To sum, viable business ideas are not far away from us. They can be picked from: the problems communities face; existing businesses in foreign countries; following new trends; modifying current products; replicating existing products; talking to the market; supporting a ‘gold rush’; and incorporating the needs of neglected groups of customers.
Oga Chapwanya. For feedback and comments: [email protected] +263735 030 653
