Whether simple or revolutionary, at the heart of any good business is a great idea. Often times, arriving at these ideas is the real challenge in getting a business started.  

So how do all these people find the inspiration to come up with that magical idea? 

How to Come Up With a Great Business Idea

In order to come up with a great business idea, you need to:

1. Wake up your brain
2. Know your limits
3. Keep something with you where you can keep your ideas
4. Be sensitive to problems around you
5. Find a niche
6. Seek inspiration around you
7. Think about what’s coming next
8. Have a goal
9. Let your mind go wild
10. Remember that there is no such thing as a completely original idea

1. Wake up your brain

You can’t come up with an idea if you don’t get into the proper frame of mind.  Do whatever activity that gets you thinking.  It can be reading a book, taking a stroll, playing a game or simply hanging out at your favourite coffee shop.  

The objective of this exercise is to get you relaxed and start getting your creative juices flowing.  Don’t force yourself into an idea thought! That’s one way of ending up with less than stellar ideas.

2. Know your limits

What is your expertise and how does that relate to other fields?  What are your strengths and where do you think you’ll need more improvement?  Knowing your limits will help you focus on ideas that you can actually work-on.  You might come up with an idea that sounds great at first, but you won’t be able to follow-up on it because it really isn’t in an area of your expertise, or a topic that interests you. 

3. Keep something with you where you can keep your ideas

Inspiration may strike you at the oddest of places.  It is important that you are able to record your ideas so that you’ll never lose them. It can be a small notebook in your pocket, or perhaps a note-taking app in your mobile device.  Whatever it is, it’ll have to be always with you so that you can always capture those fleeting ideas.

4. Be sensitive to problems around you

Find out what’s bugging you about everything around you.  Often times, finding a problem and coming up with a solution to that problem is an excellent basis for creating your business.  Get your hands dirty and try working on different things and find the sore points in that process.  

5. Find a niche

Even with the wide variety of products and services in the market today, there are bound to be gaps.  Find these gaps and see how you can find solutions to bridge these gaps.  A great example of this was the iPhone.  

While smartphones existed well before the iPhone, most of these aimed at the business user.  Steve Jobs created a smartphone for the common consumer, a niche many of the big players at the time missed and the rest is history.

6. Seek inspiration around you

The thing about great business ideas is that it works well with people.  Don’t hole-up into your own world trying to find the next best thing.  Talk to your family and friends and see what they’re up to.  Often times, you’ll be able to find ideas by reaching out to the people around you. 

7. Think about what’s coming next

Research and find out about trends in industries you are interested in.  This is especially useful if you are into technology.  The fast development pace of today’s technology world always opens up new opportunities to introduce something disruptive that people will need and want. 

8. Have a goal

Having a goal for yourself is a great way to find an idea to get to that goal. The key here is to work backwards from that goal.  What do you need to do to reach your goal?  What kind of business do you need to enter into to reach that goal?

9. Let your mind go wild

Think big.  Sometimes, ideas that may seem outlandishly impossible at first actually makes perfect business sense when you look closer into it.  Thinking big opens up an opportunity for you to come up with a whole different genre that can be your big ticket to success. 

10. Remember that there is no such thing as a completely original idea

In today’s connected world, it is very rare to stumble across a completely new idea. All of the great ideas have evolved from iterations of other ideas so don't be discouraged if you find your idea building on something that is already been done. Just do it better.

Final Note

These are just some of the things that will help you get into a creative mood.  But remember, the most important thing is to remain driven. Your list of ideas won’t be going anywhere if you do not maintain the motivation to do something about them.  

A good idea, conviction and drive are your tickets to success.