I had one just now.
Well, half an hour ago to be accurate.
I went to the supermarket to get some supplies and had to face an enormous queue just to get in the damn thing.
My country’s government has declared an emergency state due to the coronavirus pandemic, so lots of people are now stocking on goods out of fear of having to face a long quarantine period.
I was prepared for it. I had my podcasts ready to be played and a book in case something went wrong with my phone.
But while I was standing there I started thinking about how great it would be to have a live feed to all supermarkets in my area, showing which ones were busy and which ones weren’t.
I didn’t go as far as thinking about the business model, but it is enough to prove a point.
Ideas are everywhere.
A business idea is nothing more than a solution to a problem. And I think you will agree that we have more than enough problems to go around.
The bigger the problem, the more relevant the Idea (which actually isn’t worth much unless it comes with the ability to execute it).
And yes, mine probably isn’t the best example in the world, but I can share some more impressive ones.
Problem #1 - Processing payments on the web
Accepting payments on the web may be easy now. It wasn’t ten years ago. John and his brother Patrick started debating the problem back in 2010 and decided to try and come up with a better solution than Paypal.
The solution to that problem started Stripe which is currently valued at over $35 billion.
Problem #2 - Ordering food
Back in 2008, Deepinder Goyal and Pankaj Chaddah were working at a prestigious consultancy firm in Delhi, Bain & Company. One day when heading to the cafeteria they noticed a queue of people waiting to look at a menu card and order lunch.
They decided to do a quick test by uploading the menu to a website and sharing it with everyone on the company.
That idea started Zomato, an online food delivery and restaurant discovery platform currently valuated at $3 billion and providing services across 10,000+ cities and 24 countries around the globe.
Problem #3 - Heavy bank fees and poor exchange rates
Back in the early 2000s, Taavet Hinrikus had to transfer euros into pounds during a stay in London. He was shocked to discover how much money he was losing due to Bank Fees and poor exchange rates.
Soon after that, he met Kristo Käärmann who had a similar problem. He was being charged excessive fees transferring pounds to Estonia.
They teamed up to help each other. The next month Taavet sent money from his account in Estonia to Kristo's account in Estonia and vice versa with their London accounts.
That idea started TransferWise, a money transfer company currently evaluated at 3.5B$.
Problem #4 - big learning curves on design software
Back in 2006, when Melanie Perkins was a 19-year-old commerce and communications student at the University of Western Australia, she got frustrated by how long it took to learn how to use the mainstream design software available at the time.
She set her mind on building an online design website that would be as easy as possible for people to use.
That led to the creation of Canva, a simplified graphic-design tool now worth over 3.2B$.
Problem #5 - uncomfortable underwear
Do you know how Sara Blakely got to be one of the world’s youngest self-made female billionaires?
One night she was getting ready for a party and not really feeling her clothing choice so she took matters in her own hands.
She took a pair of scissors and cut the feet out of her control top-pantyhose. She felt amazing so she went on to find a way to make that available for every woman.
That moment led to the start of Spanx which now is selling underwear, bras, leggings and activewear in over 50 countries. Forbes reports that Blakely turned an initial $5,000 investment into a 2018 net worth of $1.11 billion.
And the list goes on.
So, to answer your question, If you’re hoping to build a successful startup, start looking for real unsolved problems or inefficiencies.
Good luck. :)
