Finding and Defining Ideas

So, you have a startup idea—that’s fantastic! Now prepare for your venture to go through many changes. Maybe you’ll discover your great idea already exists on the market. Perhaps you’ll see that people simply aren’t interested in it. We’re going to show you how to handle these challenges.

Read on

Find a problem and try to solve it

Is there a problem out there that makes you angry or emotional? While you can’t take on all the world's issues by yourself, you can at least contribute to solutions that will make a difference. The complications you tackle could be related to your everyday life or past experience, or you could try to resolve a pain point that, say, your friends, family, or community are dealing with. If you’re determined to fix a global problem, there’s nothing stopping you from trying.

Incorporate your experience, strengths, and knowledge into your ideas

Maybe you once had an exciting idea. Perhaps you told your bosses about it, only to discover your company’s priorities weren’t aligned with your vision, or its processes were too cumbersome to enable you to develop your idea efficiently and cost-effectively.

Regardless of what kept your idea from getting greenlit, hold onto the experiences you gained from your failed attempts. Think of the lessons you learned, which aspects of your concept got overlooked, and issues with the way your company operates in the market.

Has anyone beat you to it?

You're drinking your morning coffee, and, all of a sudden, you're blessed with a great idea!

Before you start assembling resources and planning the development of your Eureka Moment, you need to research whether similar ideas already exist. At U+, we use Crunchbase, where you can quickly find similar launches. Crunchbase is also an excellent tool for getting ideas, and we recommend spending a few hours studying the site.

Ok, so you're sure your idea hasn't already been developed by someone else. Sweet! Now you can start writing a description.

Define the primary motivation or personal goals that inspired your idea

Understand what you want your business to be, and what you want from it. For example, it could be:

  • A hobby-based business, like making soap to sell on Etsy.

  • A part-time lifestyle business that could become full-time, like a wine investment club or a full-time startup hoping for acquisition in a few years.

  • A large, cash-flow positive business, like a B2B furniture import and delivery business.

  • A path to industry credibility and networking over financial gain, like a scriptwriting peer-training exchange for aspiring comedy writers.

Business Model Canvas

If you're sure your idea hasn't been developed by someone else, you can start writing a description of it. This step is crucial because you're trying to figure out who your target group is and the value you can offer them.

The Business Model Canvas is a form that has proven to work for this stage. You can see a short introduction about how it works in this video. There's a great paid tool, or you can simply use a free printable canvas to make notes in.

It's important to note that the next phase is the validation of your canvas, and much will change, so don't write anything permanently on it.

For us, the categories of "value propositions" and "customer segments" are the two most essential items and demand a great deal of attention. A value proposition is a reason to buy your product. If this category is weak, it could very well be the death of your startup.

The customer segment is the person who buys your product. Try to be as specific as possible. If you think your clients are all in the demographic of 30- to 40-year-olds, you're probably wrong. You have to define your customers in detail, not only demographic data but how they behave and what problem you're solving for them.

Value Proposition Canvas

The Value Proposition Canvas was created to map value and target group better. Download a helpful free Value Proposition Canvas template.

  • Great value propositions are embedded in a great business model.

  • Focus on the jobs, pain points, and gains that matter most to your customers.

  • Focus on unsatisfying jobs, unsolved pain points, and gains your customers haven’t achieved.

  • Out of these jobs, pain points, and gains, select a few specific ones to resolve.

  • Address emotional and social jobs beyond typically paid careers.

  • Determine how customers measure success and align your idea with this.

  • Focus on the jobs, pain point solutions, and gains people are willing to pay for.

  • Differentiate your solution from competing businesses.

  • Beat the competition in at least one area.

  • Define what makes your idea unique and difficult to copy.

Other fields in the value proposition canvas aren't necessary yet, so you can skip them for now and go back to them after you’ve validated your solution’s value and defined your target groups.