#askstartupguy

"What are the best ways to generate good business Ideas?", A question I was asked.

Here is my reply

6 places to look at.

1. LOOK AT YOU PASSION!
This is the best place to find an idea and the most important thing to have as an entrepreneur. If you are passionate about something you'll likely know a lot about it. You'll be familiar with the world of that passion and what's going on, the trends, the fads, the next big thing. You may even be an expert in it. You might see opportunities – something on the horizon that most people don't see yet.

The other great thing about passion is that you're going to need it on the journey ahead. The journey will be tough and if you are working on something you don't care about you'll likely give up. If you think about it, it’s kinda crazy to start something you're not passionate about.

2. LOOK AT YOUR LIFE!
Here's a way you can look at your life to find a great entrepreneurial idea. Look for the things that annoy you the most. Is there an experience that you have, perhaps even daily where something doesn't quiet work well as it could?

If so, this could be a great entrepreneurial opportunity. Perhaps, you can see a way to improve the experience? Some kind of product, service, website or whatever that would have the experience go more smoothly, with less stress (or even have it disappear altogether). Many great entrepreneurial ideas came from people deciding to solve problems that annoyed them.

So get your detective hat on and see what you can find in your daily experience that could be a great entrepreneurial opportunity.

3. LOOK AT YOU PURPOSE!
This one is closely tied with passion. What kind of impact do you feel inspired to create in the world? Think big now. Think global. Imagine if you could do something and resources where no barrier, you were destined to succeed. What would that thing be? This thing should send shivers down your back.

Aligning with a purpose like this can have you think and act in ways that surprise you as you work to achieve an idea that is bigger than who you are. Imagine waking up each morning on a mission to grow an idea aligned with deep purpose!

4. LOOK AT OTHERS!
It's time to steal from the world around you. Look at the initiatives, projects and businesses of those that inspire you. What can you learn from them? How can you take what they've done and make it your own? In a sense there are no absolutely unique ideas. Everything has been influenced by someone else.
The great thing is that even if you try to copy someone else you'll make mistakes. Unique, personal mistakes that transform a project into something that is uniquely yours!

5. LOOK AT TECHNOLOGY!
New technology creates new possibilities. Technology literally shapes society by influencing that way we behave and interact with each other. There is a huge area of potentiality opened up by harnessing technology to innovate and improve the way we do existing things. One technology, the internet, opens up to a global audience and means we can reach a specific niche of people who may be interested in just what we have to offer.

BONUS: LOOK RADICALLY!
If we truly want to innovate then we may have to look deeper than the everyday life. If we innovate within the systems that already exist perhaps nothing will really change. We create some ripples on the surface but deep down everything continues like normal.

We may want to look at innovating the very systems that are outdated and out of touch.

How can we begin to innovate the Financial, Educational, Political, Governmental and Judicial systems that hold a tight grip on our world? We can look at anyone of these fields from a meta- perspective, from the outside, and find the seeds of a great entrepreneurial idea.

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In 2010, when I conceptualized the idea of Startup Mzansi that was awarded World Merit, it was simply bringing the essential elements in one place to help entrepreneurs start and stay started in business. I wanted to help build South Africa's startup ecosystem. I created it to find to find out "why" there isn't a well coordinated startup ecosystem in South Africa while other countries are building theirs. For the first two years, there was no revenue, later had some traction and got funded. It happened just because I knew the #trends of the industry. Now we have presence across South Africa. My idea started with "why not" in SA. Not everybody start with it.

To generate best ideas, you must do the following:

1. Study about the market. If you are a domain expert, you are one step ahead finding the best idea, but if you do not have it, you have do #research and find out about the existing trends.

2. Problem of the customers. The best ideas are born out of the needs of people/potential customers. Even your idea is amazing, nobody would buy it if it has no meaning and it will never be the best one.

3. Solving Large Problems give birth to large idea and returns huge profits (money).