How to Start a Business That Solves Real-World Problems
Having a successful business is everyone's desire these days. People try making or flipping products or sell services. If you're familiar with this lean start-up methodology, then you know that it's important to get the right product to market as quickly as possible, and that entrepreneurs should be trying to get out of the building and get their product into the hands of potential customers as soon as possible.
For example: One of the main reasons we created this website was to solve problems in franchise world. After years learning and understanding the best resources for business, we decide to launch a website that can give you tons of options related to franchise. So, always think of solving existing problems in real world that can help you start and go for a long run.
Where to Find Ideas
In today's environment, there are lots of opportunities to start a new business. Before you jump into the world of entrepreneurship, ask yourself a few critical questions:
Does your new business idea focus on a problem worth solving? Is it something people will pay you to solve for them? Will your product or service fill a need that is not being met? Does this opportunity have a big potential market?
These questions don't have simple yes-or-no answers. In fact, answering them may be one of the hardest parts of starting a business. But if you can't answer yes to all these questions, think twice before starting.
Even When a Failure Occurs, Don't Give Up
The first time you try to do something, the outcome is rarely what you were hoping for. It's feedback that helps you adjust and develop your ideas and products so they solve actual problems and create value for other people. The first version of Google didn't work very well. The first company Steve Jobs started failed miserably. Still, they didn't stop trying to solve problems and create greater value because the initial versions didn't work as planned. Creating something new takes time, effort, energy and lots of learning along the way.
Their biggest concern here is whether your solution will actually work for theme not. Will it be easy to use? Will it cost too much? Will it be confusing? Will it meet their needs? If you get positive answers to all questions, this is the best time to start.
Founders Must Live In the Moment
Being a founder, you should make sure there's a problem to be solved. If you start out solving a problem that nobody has or isn't really worth solving, it's unlikely that your business will succeed. An effective way to do this is to conduct market research. While this may sound like an expensive undertaking, it doesn't have to be.
You can start by doing some research into the problem that you're trying to solve. Look at online forums or other social media sites where people are discussing the particular issue that you're planning to tackle. Search for news articles on the subject and see if they generate any discussion points. Contact your local chamber of commerce to see if there are any statistics on the problem in your area. Of course, if you aren't able to find much information about the problem online or elsewhere, there might not be many people experiencing it. If that's the case, then perhaps it's not worth solving after all.
Once you've gathered some information about the problems that exist, think about how successful businesses have addressed similar issues in the past. What specific products or services have they provided? How could you improve upon their offerings? What would make your plan better?
Steps to follow
Here's what you need to do in starting:
Step 1: Get really clear on your life goals. What do you want? What are your dreams? Write them down.
Step 2: Sit down quietly and ask yourself hard questions about your current situation. What do you need? What problems are you facing?
Step 3: Take your answers from step two and put them together with your goals from step one. Now you have an idea for a business!
