Back to all postsHow to Start a Business with No Ideas
Jan 6 • 11 min read
I want to start a business but have no ideas.
This is where the majority of entrepreneurial dreams end. If you feel the same way, read on - there is no reason to feel overwhelmed by having no idea for a business.
A lack of ideas is one of the biggest obstacles people face when starting their own businesses. This feeling is understandable and is fueled by some common misbeliefs:
- All good ideas are already implemented. If I only started a few years ago …
- I don’t have the needed skills or talent to build a successful business
- If my idea was a good one, somebody else would have built it already
- Somebody tried my idea and failed, so it must be a bad idea
- I’m waiting for the “Eureka” moment when the big idea will hit me.
The reality is that all these statements are myths.
Everybody can become an entrepreneur as long as they are willing to put in the time and effort. Regardless if you are looking to start a small business or a multinational enterprise company, there are many opportunities around us. With evolving markets, technologies, and customer needs, there are more and more ideas that have the potential to become successful businesses.
If somebody else tried your idea and it didn’t work out, it doesn’t tell anything about how good it is. There are 1000s reasons for a business to fail, and while many ideas may sound similar on the surface, small details can result in significantly different outcomes.
Combining your skills, experience, and passion with the specific flavor of your idea and the target market you will pick is a unique combination of factors that have never played out before. You have all the chances to turn that idea into a successful business.
The reality is that having “the perfect idea” is not a predictive factor for building a successful business. Many big companies started with completely different ideas and had to pivot until they found product-market fit.
Lenny Rachitsky analyzed 27 big companies and showed that none stuck to the original idea. More than half of them pivoted within the first year. The lessons learned from trying the idea out led them to the successful idea.
Big ideas rarely emerge from nowhere. Like everything else, coming up with a good idea requires work, which this article will explore.
Step 1: Preparation
Even before actively working on your business idea, keep a list or journal with different problems and thoughts that hit you daily. Points of frustration for you or people around you are good sources for potential ideas.
Being curious about people, what they are up to, and what stops them from being more successful can also offer a pool of potential ideas.
Step 2: Self Awareness
Coming up with a good idea starts with being aware of yourself. A few specific aspects are extremely important.
Passion
What are you passionate about? Is there a specific change you want to see in the world? What is it that you are deeply invested in and connected to?
Passion is important for entrepreneurs as it is the biggest source of motivation and resilience. Many startups fail because their founders lose motivation. If you are clear with yourself about what is at stake and why you are doing it, your chances of persevering increase significantly.
Skills & Expertise
What is it that you are good at? Are there things at which you excel over others? Each person has a unique combination of skills thanks to their previous experience. Find out what you are good at and turn them to your unfair advantage.
Values & Vision
Your values will define the type of business you want to build. Many people start a business with the expectation of financial success, and that’s a great reason to be an entrepreneur.
Others prioritize different values, such as social impact, sustainability, and freedom. Being explicit about your values will help your target audience relate to and engage with your company when you tell their story.
Identify areas in which you have a deep interest combined with skills and expertise to find in which spaces you are in the best position to win.
Step 3: Market Research
The next step is to find a market niche with enough potential to develop your business. Your task here is to identify a customer problem that is important for people and big enough to sustain your business plans.
At this point, a specific idea is still not required. You will interview people from the customer segment you want to explore and capture insights about their problems, the alternative solutions they use today, and their deficiencies.
Cross-check the insights from the interviews with your own notes about potential ideas in the problem space, industry trends, emerging technologies, etc.
If you still feel unsure how to kick start this process, the Icanpreneur platform can be just what you need. A 10-minute intro chat with the Icanpreneur Virtual Assistant (IVA) is enough to generate ideas based on your skills and your passion. From there, the platform will guide you through evolving and validating your idea.
Step 4: Pick a Business Model and Structure
Up to now, you should have some clarity on your business idea that you want to try out. It’s still not required for the idea to be perfect or set in stone - you have yet to validate it with the real market.
It’s time to provide more details about your idea and create a business plan for developing it. If you need more help with this, check out the detailed guide on building a business model.
Step 5: Set Up the Essentials
Before starting operations, make sure you are complying with all local laws and regulations. This includes but is not limited to:
- Opening a business bank account
- Registering your business
- Arrange accounting services
Step 6: Plan and Execute Your Go-to-Market Strategy
Lastly, your potential customers need to hear about your business and its value proposition. The customer interviews you did earlier will inform you where and how your target audience is looking for a solution to their customer problem.
Based on these insights, you need to create a marketing strategy that meets the customers at the right time and place with a message that resonates with their needs.
Tips for Starting a Business from Successful Entrepreneurs
It’s a Long Game
Building a successful business is never an overnight success. Be prepared to work months and years until you get traction and start seeing a return on your investments. Such long-term initiatives require physical and psychological resilience. Ensure that you have the right material, financial, and mental support.
Start Small, Dream Big
You don’t need to start a groundbreaking business from day one. Many of the groundbreaking innovations come from years and decades of experience and aggregated learning. Your power is in consistently progressing with small steps.
Maximize Your Rate of Learning
The faster you learn, the better your product or service becomes. Nothing beats feedback from the real market. This is your most precious currency, especially in the early stages of your business.
Leverage Your Network
Talk to people from your circle to gain insights into the customer problem and expand your network with more like them through warm introductions.
Constantly seek opportunities to expand your network by joining user groups, meetups, and other offline and online communities.
Remain Customer-Focused
Obsession with customers and their needs sets ordinary businesses apart from exceptional ones. Product-market fit is not an event that happens to you; it’s a process that requires continuous nurturing and maintenance of focus.
Just Start
Many aspiring entrepreneurs postpone the moment they initiate their business, waiting for:
- The best idea
- Better economic environment
- The perfect business partner
- The right moment in their personal life
The reality is that the best moment to start a new business is now. There will never be perfect conditions, and while waiting for them, you might miss your window of opportunity. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of progress. Start now!
Wrap Up
To get ahead in the game and find an idea that resonates with you, matches your skills, and has enough potential to build a sustainable business - follow the Icanpreneur approach and start making progress today.
FAQ
First, don’t feel bad about it. Focus instead on problems that you see around you or, ideally, you experience yourself. Passion often grows as you start making progress and invest emotionally in the topic.
One of the biggest mistakes is building a product or service without first understanding customer needs. Always start with customer research based on interviews to avoid wasting time and resources. The execution of the interviews is also very important - following best practices for running customer interviews will ensure your insights are reliable and based on real-world data.
Yes, many entrepreneurs start as side hustlers. Some of the most prominent examples are Brian Chesky, Joe Gabbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk. The started AirBed and Breakfast, offering air mattresses in their apartment as a way to help with paying the rent. Fast-forward 15 years later, Airbnb has millions of listings all around the world and significantly changed the hospitality industry, creating opportunities and challenges for travelers, property owners, property managers, and local authorities.
Ensure your employment contract permits this, and allocate dedicated time to your business without compromising your job performance.
One of the biggest challenges in starting a business as a side hustle is dedicating enough time and being able to make small progress consistently. Try to set up a routine that works for you and fits your full-time job commitment but also requires you to dedicate time and attention to your idea.
One possible strategy might be to start early in the morning before your full-time job starts and dedicate 1-2 hours each day while you are fresh and energized in the morning.
The opposite strategy would be to leave the side hustle for the end of the day when you may have more time but can also be more tired and mentally exhausted.
There are many ways to validate your idea. The best one is to start with the Icanpreneur platform, which helps aspiring entrepreneurs validate their ideas step by step with customer interviews. The Icanpreneur platform packages the sophisticated product development and product innovation processes from the most innovative companies into an entrepreneurial journey that is easy to follow, and you can use at your own pace.
There is a vast amount of resources for leveling up your entrepreneurial skills:
One of the most straightforward ways to get into entrepreneurship without previous experience is to jump straight into the Icanpreneur platform. It comes with all the needed guidance, examples, and AI-powered suggestions to start evolving your ideas right away.
Yes! Looking at the guide above, none of the first four steps requires financial investment. This means that you can validate your idea without spending a dime on it. There are many ways to reduce the cost of doing business by being clever about where and how you create the legal entity.
Having a unique idea is not a requirement. It’s much more important to have a unique value proposition that sets you apart from competitors. You can also provide a better product or service by excelling in the execution of your idea.
Starting alone is great. Many successful entrepreneurs started as solopreneurs. Being self-aware about your strengths and weaknesses is a good starting point for deciding if, when, and who to bring on board. Having a business partner can often increase significantly your chances of success by bringing know-how, connections, or resources.
Author
Emil TabakovProduct @ Icanpreneur. Coursera instructor, Guest Lecturer @ Product School and Telerik Academy. Angel Investor. Product manager with deep experience in building innovative products from zero to millions of users.
