Key Concepts In Generating Business Ideas

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Jul 10, 2012 1. Infinite Ideas Remarkable new product ideas are everywhere and there is a limitless supply of concepts waiting to be commercialized, launched and marketed. They are there to be seen and pursued by those who seek them. In fact, ideas are available to everyone, worldwide.

The start of the year is a great time to gear up to start a business. But, of course, you first need to figure out a winning concept. 'You have to come up with a lot of ideas to be successful,' says Stephen Key, cofounder of the website inventright.com based in Glenbrook, Nev., and author of One Simple Idea for Startups and Entrepreneurs: Live Your Dreams and Create Your Own Profitable Company, (McGraw-Hill, 2012).

Key, who has licensed more than 20 products in the last 25 years, says he generates ideas by finding different ways to engage his mind, from walking the aisles of stores to brainstorming about holes in the marketplace.

Here are eight techniques from Key and other experts that could help get your creative juices flowing:

Ask yourself, 'What's next?

Successful business ideas are often ahead of the curve. Think about trends and technologies on the horizon and how you might move into those areas, says Sergio Monsalve, partner at Norwest Venture Partners, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based venture capital group. He suggests, for example, thinking about innovations related to the living room and home entertainment systems now that companies like Apple are developing new television technologies. 'What can that mean in terms of new ways to live in your house and be entertained?' he says.

Related: How to Turn a Worthless Business Idea into a Million-Dollar Startup

Do something about what bugs you

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When Colin Barceloux was in college, he thought textbooks cost far too much. In 2007, two years after graduating, he decided to take action and founded Bookrenter.com, a San Mateo, Calif.-based business that offers textbook rentals at about a 60 percent discount. What began as a one-man operation created out of frustration now has 1.5 million users and 200 employees. 'You just have to look at what frustrates you,' he says. 'There's your business idea right there.'

Look for new niches

Your business idea doesn't have to reinvent the wheel. Take a look at what some of the big players in an industry are missing and figure out if you can fill the gaps, Key says. In 2003, for instance, he started the company Hot Picks, now based in San Jose, Calif., after realizing the major brands in the guitar pick industry weren't offering collectible novelty picks. Key designed a skull-shaped pick that filled an empty niche and was sold in 1,000 stores, including Wal-Mart and 7-Eleven. 'The big guys leave a tremendous amount of opportunity on the table,' he says.

Apply your skills to an entirely new field

Think about your skills and whether they might be useful in a new area, suggests Bill Fischer, professor ofinnovation management ?at IMD?, the top-rated Swiss business school, and co-author of The Idea Hunter: How to Find the Best Ideas and Make them Happen (Jossey-Bass, 2011). Consider, for example, JMC Soundboard, a Switzerland-based company that builds high-end loudspeakers. Jeanmichel Capt invented the speaker by applying his experience building guitars as a luthier, using the same resonance spruce to create a loudspeaker that produces a high-quality sound and looks like a sleek wood panel. There's also Providence, R.I.-based Dear Kate, a company founded by Julie Sygiel, who used her training in chemical engineering to create a stain-resistant, leak-proof underwear material that active women can use without worrying about menstrual leakage during a workout.

Related: Zipcar Timeline: From Business Idea to IPO to $500 Million Buyout

Find a category lacking recent innovations

When coming up with ideas, Key likes to identify markets that haven't had many recent innovations. For example, when he realized there were few new developments in the product information label business, he created Spinformation, a label consisting of two layers--a top layer that rotates with open panels through which you can see, and a bottom label that you can read by spinning the top layer over it. Companies needing to fit more information about a medication, for example, could use the extra label space for the details.

Make a cheaper version of an existing product

Companies often get their start by offering customers an existing product at a lower price. Take Warby Parker, an eyeglasses company launched in 2010 by four business school friends. The New York-based business sells prescription glasses, which are typically priced at $300 or more, for $95. Since its launch, it has grown to 100 employees.

Related Video: Warby Parker and Inspired Vision

Talk to shoppers

To come up with an idea that meets people's needs, there's no better way than by talking to shoppers. If you are interested in mountain bikes, hang out in the aisles of sports and bike shops and ask customers what they wish they could find in the marketplace. If you're interested in developing an e-commerce business, consider sending an online survey to potential customers to learn about their needs and interests.

Play the mix and match game

Walk up and down the aisles of a drug, hardware or toy store combining two products across the aisle from each other into one, Key says. That should spark quite a few ideas, but be prepared for most of them to be bad. 'You will come up with all these horrible ideas, and every once in a while you will find some brilliant idea out there,' he says.

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Too many people say to themselves: 'I'm just not creative.' But creativity is a skill that can be developed with practice and dedication. It's about solving problems and refusing to take no for an answer. The most creative people I know ignore what's widely accepted in favor of the unconventional. Let's face it: some of the best ideas -- like cellphones, for example -- were once considered too out there.

But exercising your creativity shouldn't be a chore. Sitting alone in a room, forcing yourself to come up with new ideas is unproductive. Let yourself be inspired and stimulated by the world around you. In the early stages of idea generation, it's not about what's actually feasible. The more ludicrous my ideas are, the better.

To inspire new ideas and force myself to think outside the box, I play these three games:

Mix and Match

What two products could be brought together for the first time to create a new one? Don't be afraid to get unconventional. Walk down the aisle of your favorite retail store and ideas abound. For example, the decision to combine a flashlight with a screwdriver was ingenious. It's now possible to work in dark areas without having to hold a flashlight. And of course, what would our phones be without a camera?

One of my students came up with the idea to combine a license plate frame with a dry erase board. People want to have their license plate reflect their interests and style and with this product, they're able to craft and modify their own unique message whenever they want.

Related: 5 Essential Ingredients of a Winning Business Idea

Solve It

Tune into the world around you and question everything. How could things be better? Listen to the complaints of your friends and family. What difficulties do they encounter in daily life? What annoyances do you deal with in your own life? Identify problems, and start throwing out solutions. A lot of entrepreneurs and inventors work this way.

One of my favorite examples is a product one of my students created to help people better organize their stuff. He noticed his wife was always rifling through her purse, unable to find what she needed. In response, he developed a bag insert with adjustable elastic bands that hold items in place so that they're easy to find.