Everybody wants to be the next Jeff Bezos. And it is without a doubt perfectly understandable to daydream becoming the first self-made centibillionaire the world has ever seen. Everyone wants to invent the next Microsoft or Macintosh. But realistically speaking, how far are you from becoming that person? Are you sure that your random shower thoughts are not goldmines waiting to be unearthed?
To help you avoid missing out on some golden opportunities, here are four important questions you need to ask yourself to know if your business idea has the capability of becoming the next big thing.
Can I live with it for years to come?
One of the most underrated things that Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple have in common is their inventors’ perseverance. And in this industry, perseverance and passion are the two things you’d have to have the most.
Steve Jobs needed two decades to become the dot-com billionaire that he came to be. Bill Gates had to spend 25 years to build the multi-billion enterprise that made him the richest man in the world in his time. The point is, it takes time.
If you have a gut feeling that your business idea can lead to something big really fast, consider how long you can stay loyal to it even if it takes longer than you’d initially thought of. Thousands of amazing inventions and ideas could have possibly changed the world had the people behind them not given up.
Do I know what I’m talking about?
Anyone can have a great idea. But an idea alone is nothing. For the idea to have growth, you need to have the right tools to reinforce it. And one of the most essential tools you need is extensive knowledge regarding the field it revolves around and the ways you can realize its potential. Basically, you have to know every single detail about it.
Keep in mind that you are not alone. This is where building a team comes in. You need to find experts who can transparently tell you the loopholes in all the aspects of your ideas’ applications in real life. By doing this, you can get a look at the bigger picture and find solutions and reinforcements that can ensure the success of your venture.
How can it impact lives?
Finding the right target market is crucial to help your startup thrive as early as possible. Consider the size of your target market, its potential for growth on a global scale, and its potential for growth by means of branching out.
If your product or service solves a problem, then find possible ways to enhance the experience further. A good example would be Apple’s iPod. After inventing the iPod, the iTunes Store was introduced two years later. And after the success of both iPods and iPhones, the iPad was invented.
If it’s not about solving a problem, you. You can also go with making lives more comfortable or plainly follow the value of aesthetics to the current generation. Either way, considering how much your possible product or service can affect people’s lives, whether on a local or a global scale, can help you determine the future demand for it.
Has this been done before?
If you believe that your business idea is good enough and if you think there’s an actual need for it, then there’s a high possibility that others have thought of it, too. To avoid unnecessary and financially draining litigation in the future, check for similar services or products online.
By using specific keywords you can check the public demand for your idea. You can also check the history connected to its demand and tweak it to differentiate it from others. But keep in mind that having competitors is not always bad for startups. It can even lead to bigger opportunities. Take Banner Solutions, for example. Since there are too many competitors in the hardware manufacturing industry, the decision to combine multiple brands and start a business focused on distribution instead has made it a huge success.
The point is, by using the success of your competitors and the mistakes of those in the past, you can modify and fortify your idea into a success.
As they say, diamonds come from coal. May it be a system similar to a trashcan’s that helps males raise the toilet seat or something grander like an algorithm that saves all your song choices and builds you a digital mixed tape of songs you haven’t heard before, any idea that you’ve come up with can be your key to success. All you have to do is identify it.
