How to Brainstorm Business Ideas When You Have No Ideas

Do you want to start a business but have no ideas? 

Do you find yourself looking at lists of business ideas online only to find that none of them really fit you? 

If so, you’ve come to the right place. In this post, we’re going to look at how you can brainstorm and develop business ideas that are relevant to you. 

Instead of just listing the same old ideas, this post will provide you with a framework that you can take away and use to generate your own list of unique ideas.  

Brainstorming ideas when you when to start a business but don’t know where to start

This can be tough. That’s why so many people head straight to online lists to see which ones stand out to them. 

This is not the way to start a successful business. 

First of all, coming up with an idea is nothing compared with actually setting up and running the business. To stick with your business during the inevitable challenges and the many hurdles you’ll face, it needs to be something you’re committed to. And this is much more likely to be the case if it’s an idea you came up with yourself.

Secondly, the best business ideas are likely not going to appear on any list. 

Lists online tend to be overly generic so they appeal to the broadest possible range of people. This is why might see ideas like “start a live stream yoga class” and “become a handyman” next to each other. 

While these are not necessarily bad ideas by any means, the best ideas tend to be those that are super relevant to yourself and/or those not many people have thought of before. 

Just think about it. Removify is a new, rapidly growing business started with the idea of helping other business address unfair and fake reviews online. You would never have found that idea on any online list. 

How to develop business ideas

So, how do you brainstorm and develop business ideas if you just want to start a business? 

Well, there are a few questions you should be asking yourself. These are:

• What are you interested in or passionate about?
• What are you good at?
• Is it something that you can realistically execute? 
• Is the business model viable and does it have the potential to make a profit? 

The first two questions are about developing ideas that are relevant to you and the last two are about it’s the right type of business to run. 

Let’s explore each one of these questions in detail.

1. What are you interested in or passionate about?

The first stage of your brainstorming session should be to create a list of everything you’re interested in or passionate about. 

At this stage, don’t worry about formulating them as business ideas. The goal is to note down as many interests as you can in a massive brain dump. 

To help you write as many interests down as possible, some things you might want to consider are:

• Your hobbies
• Causes you’re passionate about
• Problems you want to solve
• Things you wish exist but don’t yet

If you really get stuck, think about the following questions to help get the ideas flowing:

• What do I love doing so much that I’d do it even if I wasn’t paid? 
• What am I curious about? 
• What topics can I talk about for hours without getting bored? 
• What would be my dream job? 

2. What are you good at?

The second stage is to think about what you’re good at. This can often be related to the first stage but not always. And that’s okay.

You might have interests that you’re not particularly good at (yet) and skills that you don’t have any particular interest in. The key here is to find the intersection of the two. 

Some things you might want to consider include:

• Your qualifications or experience
• Any awards or recognition you’ve received
• Compliments you often get from others 
• Something you can do better than most people you know 

If you’re stuck, here are a few prompts that might help get the ideas flowing:

• What do I find easy that others find hard?
• What do people often ask me for help with? 
• What could I teach somebody else to do? 
• Is there something I’m naturally good at that I take for granted? 

By now, you should have a long list of interests and things you’re good at that you can potentially develop into business ideas. 

For example, if you’ve listed cycling as something you like doing and being mechanically minded as something you’re good at, then a potential business idea could be starting your own bicycle repair or maintenance service. 

While the best ideas will come from overlaps between what you’re interested in and what you’re good at, it’s fine if they only come from one list. 

So, consider your two lists and see how many business ideas you can develop from what you’ve listed. 

3. Is it something that you can realistically execute?

Now that you’ve got a list of potential products or services you can offer, it’s time to refine the list. 

The first step to refining the list is to ask yourself whether you have the capability to start and run the business. 

This is not about being overly harsh on yourself, but being honest about what’s realistic at this stage. So instead of opening a bike workshop to repair bikes, you might instead start off by letting people drop their bikes off at your home for repair. 

To help determine whether your business ideas are ones you can realistically execute, think about whether you have: 

• The necessary skills
• The required qualifications (if any)
• The time to commit to the business 
• The financial resources to get started 

To help think about these points, you may want to ask yourself the following questions:

• What do I need to learn in order to make this happen? 
• Do I know anyone who could help me with this? 
• What are the first steps I need to take in order to make this happen? 
• Do I have the time and energy for this right now? 

This is an important step because it ensures that you only pursue ideas that are achievable. There’s no point in getting your heart set on an idea that you’re not able to execute. 

And, even if an idea is achievable, it might not be the right time for you to pursue it. If you don’t have the time or energy for it right now, that’s okay. You can always come back to it later. 

By now, you should have a shorter list of potential business ideas that are realistic for you to execute given your current circumstances. 

4. Is the business model viable and does it have the potential to make a profit?

Lastly, the last question to ask about the business ideas you have before you go off and start your own business is whether they’re financially viable. 

In other words, can you make a profit from them? 

There are a few different ways to approach this question. The first is to think about whether there’s a market for what you want to offer. In order for your business to be viable, you need customers who are willing to pay for what you’re offering. 

This means asking yourself the following questions:

• Who would buy this product or service? 
• What problem does this product or service solve? 
• Would I buy this product or service? Why or why not? 

Another way to think about whether your business idea is financially viable is to consider your costs. Can you make enough money from selling your product or service to cover your costs? 

Again, this means asking yourself some questions, including:

• What are the one-time costs associated with starting this business? 
• What are the recurring costs associated with this business? 
• How much would I need to sell in order to make a profit? 

If you want to go the extra mile, you might want to consider doing some market research as well. 

Conclusion

You should now hopefully have developed a list of great business ideas that you can choose from. 

By having generated these ideas through the brainstorming process outlined above, your business ideas should be tailored to your unique strengths and interests. They should also be economically viable business models. 

Now it’s just a case of picking one and getting started! 

Meaning you can move on from brainstorming ideas to writing business plans, acquiring any licenses and permits you might need, and potentially applying for business loans. 

All the best with getting your business up and running!