Starting Again, Finding a Need

[TryHardTriad]

*This is a 5 minute ramble so be warned!*

I'm currently in the process of finding a new need to start a business, so felt like making a thread to collect my thoughts and hopefully get some advice.

I believe my last 3 business gave mild results because I violated the (slightly) important commandment of need.

Based on internet comments and little feedback I hypothesised: people needed better looking women's cloaks (business 1 - lol), more indulgent cookies (business 2) and healthier health bars (business 3). But all the markets were already established before I went into them, a few people loved my products but the majority didn't find them 10x enough to beat the established competition at their price points.

In summary, the need for my products simply weren't great enough for enough people to become a worthwhile business.

4th Time Lucky

This week, I was fortunate enough to speak to an actual multimillionaire who gave me a lot of advice. Concerning need he said:

'The best businesses come from either scratching your own itch or solving a pain point a large number of people are having'.

When I think of scratching your own itch a couple of examples come to mind:
- Sara Blakely (Underwear without show through)
- Mark Cuban (watching sports online)
- Phil Knight and his running coach (wanting better shoes to run track in)

When I think of solving a pain point for a large number of people:
- RX Bar (people demanding cleaner/paleo snacks)
- MJ (people wanting a reliable Limo service and easy quote when travelling to a new city)
- Amazon, Apple, Netflix and millions of other top 100 companies etc.

If I am going to truly "stop chasing money and start chasing needs", I will have to stop slightly improving things and start filling a real need.

Back to the Drawing Board

Way I see it, I have a two options:

1. Come up with a pain point of my own

Pros:
- I am the target market so I can give myself honest feedback quickly
- Work on a project that I am more 'interested in'
- More entertaining founder story ha

Cons:
- The need might not appeal to enough people to be a real fastlane business

2. Find and fill the needs of many

Pros:
- Avoids the risk of running into a saturated market (it wouldn't be a need if it was already filled)
- If I do my research right and calculate the current market size and future upside = fastlane success is mathematically possible

Cons:
- Hard to come up with a need that isn't already filled for many
- I likely will have little to no knowledge about the market

As I haven't come up with a good pain point myself (quite a relaxed person), logically option 2 is harder but better.

Filling the Needs of the Many

Ok so now, which market should I look into the needs?

1. Pick an area I have a little expertise in (Dentistry - but very saturated)
2. Pick a new emerging market with upside (A.I., Robotics, something I haven't even considered yet - less competition, cool but very hard)
3. Older but saturated billion dollar market that could be disrupted by a fresh startup (Possibly lucrative but competition will be tough)
4. Pick a market I could enjoy and would enjoy working in (Dogs, exercise, food - fun but saturated)

Asking my millionaire friend this question, he said it would ideally be one with:
- A large enough market size
- A little personal interest in
- Some expertise in
- An actual need in
- And importantly - the result and journey of the venture will help you reach your goal

Conclusion

Obviously this time, I will be asking the right people in person 100x more than I did to check there is an actual need.

But before than, I'm unsure which market to assess if there is a need in it...maybe I'm overthinking it?

Thanks for reading.

What do you guys think? How did you find your need to pursue?

 

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[sparechange]

I think your millionaire mate answered your own question. Although I'll throw you an exercise to try out that came into my head.

Walk around the city and try to empathize with other people going around. What do they want or need? Try to imagine yourself in that persons life day to day, the cop down the street what is he struggling with? Maybe all that heavy body armor and his gun holster.

The mailman that's carrying a million different boxes all at once while being pressured by time, how can you make his life easier with a product? Or the construction worker that's wearing an uncomfortable harness while climbing around the roof.

Then if you can come up with an idea go up to that person and talk to them, maybe ask them about their struggles in day to day life. Cheers

 

[TryHardTriad]

Hey @sparechange thanks for taking the time to reply.

Yes, he definitely did. But in terms of how to actually find a place to start, I love your idea.

I will start watching people, and simply imagine a life in their shoes from a fresh perspective. Asking myself why things are done, and then asking the person if there is a better way.

It's gonna be little uncomfortable going up to a random people and asking strange questions!

But hell, I'll try anything at this stage!