There are many aspiring entrepreneurs ready to start their own ventures, but are only being held back by the absence of a viable business idea. This is where brainstorming comes into the picture – it gets the creative juices flowing and establishes the kind of comfortable atmosphere that allows you to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions and ideas. In fact, a single brainstorming session might be enough for you to come up with that perfect idea and get down to ‘business’.
In this blog, Tommy Shek will discuss a few tips that will help you make the most of your brainstorming efforts.
Tips for Brainstorming Business Ideas :
Tip 1 – Brainstorm the Purpose:
Tommy Shek believes that any potential entrepreneur looking to brainstorm business ideas, should start with ‘why’ – that is, the purpose that will get them going and keep them moving forward, even in the face of challenges and obstacles.
According to Tommy Shek, any business has the following three pillars:
- Something that you love doing: You should create your business around something that you enjoy doing. Find a product or service that you are passionate about, or an activity or hobby that you love doing (telling stories, for instance).
- Something you are good at: Ideally, your business should allow you to leverage skills that you already possess. These skills could be as specific as graphic designing or as general as being a good listener. Do you know a niche better than most people do? Can you use your unique and specific knowledge to improve on an existing product? Find out what you are good at, and try to convert those skills into a business.
- The way you want to help the world: This is about the pain points that you are aware of – the unmet needs your business can fulfill. Also make sure to identify your target market – the people you will be serving; this can help you further highlight your purpose.
Tip 2 – Bounce:
Bounce is another very effective brainstorming technique, but will require the involvement of three people. One person needs to be the scriber. Out of the other two, one will mention a keyword, and the second one will speak up the first word that comes to their mind upon hearing that keyword. The first person will then have to come up with a related word, and the two people will keep going back and forth. The scriber, meanwhile, will write all the words down.
After a five-minute session, take a pause and see if you have reached a business idea. If not, resume your session using one of the words from the scriber’s list.
Tip 3 – Research:
After you have compiled a tentative list of business ideas, it is time to get your research goggles on and hone in on those ideas. If you have no prior experience in your industry, you might want to start with the fundamentals – how the industry came about or what the future holds for it, for instance.
Tommy Shek says that effective research will equip you with the kind of industry knowledge and understanding that manufacturers often do not expect from a newbie.
Final Word:
Far from being stressful and exhausting, brainstorming exercises can be a whole lot of fun. There are no poor or bad ideas, and you can allow your imagination to run free. Remember to throw everything at the wall, and sooner or later, something will stick.