Hey, are you planning to start a Startup but not sure about what Startup idea you should choose? If yes, then this mini guide will help you on How to Find a Startup idea.

After finding your “reason to start a startup,” the next step is to find and validate your Startup Idea and find a niche market. It is a very critical step in the process of starting a startup or a business. So, in this blog I will let you know some methods to find the best start up business ideas. So, kindly read this blog till the end to find how to get a startup idea.

As a Startup founder, you will put a lot of time, money, and effort into a startup for the next few years. So, you must put all these efforts into the right idea that has the potential to build a startup. See, a startup can only be successful when you have a paying customer. So, you have to solve a burning problem of your customer for which they are ready to pay.

A startup does not start with hiring people, building products, or building an app or website. It only begins when you find a burning problem of your customer, and you are ready to solve it. It starts when you fulfil an unmet need of a market.

It means that someone else is not fulfilling that unmet need. And, even fulfilling then, they are not doing it well. So, you have a chance to do better. Before starting the Startup, you should validate your startup idea whether there is a need for the product/services you want to build in the market or not. Do not start a startup just because you have got a brilliant idea. It is always best to start when you have identified your customer’s burning problem.

When you start a startup, you give your valuable time, efforts, money, and hard work to it.  And, nothing can be more frustrating & disappointing if you find that there is no demand in the market for the product/service you have built.

Most entrepreneurs make this big mistake when they start executing their idea before even validating it. This happens because they get so deeply attached to their business idea that it becomes impossible to get out of their fantasy and face reality. As a result, they end up creating the wrong product/services for the wrong people.

So instead of wasting your hard-earned money and hard work, it’s better to face reality and validate the business idea & Niche. Understand this, any Startup that is successful today is solving some problems of its customer.

For example, finding an On-Demand Taxi was a big challenge, so Ola and Uber are solving this problem. Imagine, you are in a market, need a cab for your home; you take out your phone, and within a minute, you book the cab. Within 5-10 minutes, a taxi is at your place to pick you up. It was never so easy to book a taxi like this.

Take Another Example- you are at your home and want to order food online.  Finding a good restaurant near you and ordering your favourite food was a big problem. So again, you open the Swiggy or Zomato app on your phone and order from your favourite restaurant.  Within 40-45 minutes, you get hot piping Food at your place.

Ordering your food was never so easy; companies like Swiggy and Zomato have brought the revolution in the Food industry. They are solving their customers’ problems and helping their restaurant partners generate more revenue.

There are a lot of examples like this, but the point is that all the successful Startups are solving some or other problems of their customers.

So, the business idea is nothing but the solution to a problem.

See, it doesn’t matter how good your products or services are. Customer does not care about who you are; they just care about themselves.

So, find a Problem that is big enough and build a product/service to solve that problem. Find out your potential customer’s pain points and solve that with your awesome products and services.

Also Read: How Would You Know That You Can Be An Entrepreneur?

How To Find a Startup Idea?

Are you one of the aspiring entrepreneurs who desire to start a startup but can’t still find a great business idea? If yes, then let me help you here.

First, don’t overthink about this and make it complicated that finding a business idea is too tuff. On the contrary, finding a business idea is not so hard.

So, Let’s Talk about How to Generate Ideas for Your Business and then Choose the Best One to Build a Startup Around-

1. Look At The Skills And Passion You Have

It is the first thing you should consider getting a startup idea. Do you have a skill or a talent that can solve a problem?

Byju Raveendran, the founder of Byju’s education App, worked as an engineer for a shipping company in the UK when he started helping students prepare for the CAT Exam. And most of the students whom he taught were getting selected in IIMs. He found his natural talent and passion and built a massive startup around this.

I know a person who spent years doing the job as a hotel chef. He left the job and started with a single small restaurant. but today, he runs his chain of restaurants and is the owner of 10+ restaurants all over India.

So, find out your passion and validate it to start a startup.

2. Look At The Existing Businesses

Most aspiring entrepreneurs keep searching for a unique idea. They think that a Startup can only be successful if the startup idea is unique. It is completely a myth so, please don’t make this mistake. No idea is unique in this world, so don’t waste your time searching for a fantastic but unique idea.

Your idea doesn’t always be a unique one. Just find out the existing startups and find out how to provide solutions better than them.

The taxi booking facility was already there. There were many companies providing these facilities like Meru Cabs and others. But, Ola and Uber just provided the better solution for booking an on-demand taxi through a simple to use the app.

In the past, you could order food from a restaurant, and restaurant delivery boys could deliver it at your doorstep. But, Swiggy, Zomato, and other Food delivery Startups just simplified the process and provided a better solution by providing a single platform to book from multiple restaurants.

The hotel booking system was already there, you could book a room through the hotel website or by calling the hotel. But, the startups and companies like MakeMyTrip, Goibibo made the process easy.  Now, you can book almost any hotel with a better rate. And, you can even compare the hotel prices in a single window.

So, the hotel booking process was never so easy. The same applies to flight booking, bus booking, and train booking.

If I talk about our Startup, BeautyGlad, women used to call a salon and book an appointment; they had to go to the salon to get the beauty services done.

But the companies like BeautyGlad, Urban Company made the process easy.  We found that a lady with small kids, a pregnant lady, or a working woman hardly gets time to visit a salon. So, we provided them the platform, and now they can book the services in the comfort zone of their home and as per their preferred time.

If you believe that you can provide a similar or same product or service that is more convenient, affordable, and with a better customer experience, you should work on that idea. There is a better chance that you can build a successful startup.

So first, look around and find out how you can simplify the process, make things easy for the customers, and provide a better solution than the existing Startup or business.

3. A Problem You Or Your Relatives Faced

In 2005, Phanindra Sama, founder of RedBus, who was working as a Sr. Designer in a Company in Bangalore, was planning to visit his family during the Diwali Festive vacation, but he could not visit his family due to lack of an available bus ticket.

He contacted several bus operators, but he could not find a seat after a lot of effort. During this experience, he discovered that booking a bus ticket was a very complex process. He wondered why is it not centralized? This incident clicked a new idea in his mind, and along with his batch mates from BITS Pilani, he started the “RedBus,” and the rest is the history.

So, if you or your relatives face a problem that others are also facing and the problem is big enough, you can start a startup around that idea.

There are many examples of people who themselves or any relative faced a problem and solved that problem by creating a startup.

4. A Problem Faced By Entrepreneurs/Companies

There is a lot of businesses that need the help of other businesses to grow. If you find a problem that most businesses face.

When GST was introduced by the Indian Govt, small business owners were in a fix and were not fully aware of getting a GSTIN. Moreover, most small entrepreneurs and business owners still don’t know how to file GST for their businesses. So, the companies like mybillbook.in and others come in front and create billing software. These software does the GST billing plus helps prepare GST returns. This helps a small business owner who can not afford a CA can file the GST himself.

So, there are many goals an entrepreneur wants to achieve,. So, look at the businesses and find out what services or products you can offer to them,. Find a Service which can help them achieve any of the below goals.

See, almost every entrepreneur and business owner wants-

• They want to grow their business fast
• They want to increase their revenue

• They want to achieve more profits
• They need a better Marketing solution and want better ROI on their marketing.
• They want to automate their businesses so that they have more time for other things
• They need help hiring the right employees
• They want a better employee retention
• They want to increase work efficiency for their employees
• They need help in their business branding.
• They want to learn Time management

So, if you can provide the solution to some or any of the above problems, you can build a startup for that.

Also Read: Why Startup Fails – 9 Reasons of a Startup Failure

5. Look At What’s Happening Globally

Look beyond the boundaries and go globally. Check what is happening outside our country, What startups are doing great, and get the idea. Check if you can bring that idea to our country. You need to find out if there is a demand for the same product/services locally.

6. Go To Events/Workshops

I would highly recommend registering yourself for some online & Offline startup events. If possible, register for offline events or “startup meets” happening in your city or some other cities. First, this will help you make a network with like-minded people. And second, when you are surrounded by the people you want to be like, your mind automatically starts giving you the ideas.

I have experienced this personally, and it really works. Check what others are doing and what idea they are working on. This way, you can generate more ideas. You can also take the help of other entrepreneurs and business owners when needed.

Spend your time with different startups and learn from them.

7. Join LinkedIn

If you are not on LinkedIn, I recommend that you join this Social Platform and build your network. Send a connection request to the CEOs, MDs, Founders, and Investors. Make a healthy relationship with them.

Look at them what they are building & doing in the Startup world. You would also like to join BNI (Business Network International). BNI is the most successful business network organization with a global reach.

So, I hope you know how to generate a business idea.