struggling to come up with a website idea

[DAYLEGALLAGHER96]

okay so ive been struggling to come up with a website idea. I'm wanting to start a business in the online world, and I really like the idea of running a saas business or some sort of subscription based business.
I really like the idea of how scalable and flexible a business like this could be. So if anyone has any ideas on how to come up with a website idea id appreciate it.

also if anyone is in the same boat as me I came across this post on another forum
http://www.retireat21.com/website-ideas

but the only problem with it is i just dont see how I could turn those niched ideas into an saas or subscription based business

 

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[AgainstAllOdds]

If you can't come up with an idea, then you're not ready to start a business.

Ideas are easy. Testing them. Validating them. And then executing them is what's hard.

 

[MarkNNelson]

Welcome to the forum! Have you read the book yet? If not, you'll want to get on that. You're looking for needs that you can solve...people that you can help.

Have you thought about the whole "productized service" idea? Start with a service business, presumably something you already know how to do, and build it into a fastlane vehicle.

 

[MattR82]

There are books available, one in particular that I can't remember at the moment, that are about helping you exercise the part of your brain regarding finding creative ideas etc.

Having ideas should not be the problem!

 

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[AndrewNC]

1. There is no such thing as an idea.
2. Stop looking for ideas.
3. Stop framing everything up as 'a website idea'
4. WHY DO YOU WANT THIS? What is important to you in the business you start besides the money?
5. Start helping people solve their problems.
6. Don't look for problems, just find problems that come up to you and learn how to help people solve them.
7. After a while, you will help enough people who are similar (dog owners, entreprenerus, athletes, etc.) you will notice common themes.
8. And by this time you will have the experience solving the problem, so you have your idea, and your product and you are now ready to learn how to market and sell..which will be easy if you can actually sovlve problems.

Stop looking for ideas and start helping people.

You're not going to get rich quickly by 'coming up with a busienss idea'. Go solve problems.

Message me after you help 100 people and tell me what you learned and then I'll tell you what to do next to find your website idea...but only after you help 100 people.

 

[DAYLEGALLAGHER96]

1. There is no such thing as an idea.
2. Stop looking for ideas.
3. Stop framing everything up as 'a website idea'
4. WHY DO YOU WANT THIS? What is important to you in the business you start besides the money?
5. Start helping people solve their problems.
6. Don't look for problems, just find problems that come up to you and learn how to help people solve them.
7. After a while, you will help enough people who are similar (dog owners, entreprenerus, athletes, etc.) you will notice common themes.
8. And by this time you will have the experience solving the problem, so you have your idea, and your product and you are now ready to learn how to market and sell..which will be easy if you can actually sovlve problems.

Stop looking for ideas and start helping people.

You're not going to get rich quickly by 'coming up with a busienss idea'. Go solve problems.

Message me after you help 100 people and tell me what you learned and then I'll tell you what to do next to find your website idea...but only after you help 100 people.

Hi thanks for getting back to me, I think your right! I'm looking at this all wrong. My problem is that im looking for an idea and then I want to start a business with the pure aim of making money with that idea. I'll do what you said and help 100 people and see what I come up with and get back to you.

 

[Deer Friend]

It's great that you are receptive to this advice! Please read the book. Mindset is so important to calibrate but really hard to change. The book slaps you hard enough that you're finally facing the right direction.

Welcome to the forum. See you in the fastlane

 

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[Growth & Learn]

okay so ive been struggling to come up with a website idea. I'm wanting to start a business in the online world, and I really like the idea of running a saas business or some sort of subscription based business.
I really like the idea of how scalable and flexible a business like this could be. So if anyone has any ideas on how to come up with a website idea id appreciate it.

also if anyone is in the same boat as me I came across this post on another forum
http://www.retireat21.com/website-ideas

but the only problem with it is i just dont see how I could turn those niched ideas into an saas or subscription based business

3 Basic Steps For SAAS Idea Generation

1. Find a pain or inconvenience that you notice lots of people have.
2. Come up with a solution.
3. Figure out how to deliver that solution in a format that people would be willing to pay monthly or yearly to get rid off.


Idea generation is the easy part. Execution of the idea is where the real fun is.

 

[JAJT]

Read this: http://foreverjobless.com/most-profitable-businesses/

 

[zerobrainwash]

Message me after you help 100 people and tell me what you learned and then I'll tell you what to do next to find your website idea...but only after you help 100 people.

That's an excellent advice and exactly what I have been doing for past couple of weeks! So far not sure what I have learned but it definitely feels nice to consciously look for ways to help others. The goal now is to help 1000 people for starters. Everything is recorded in a spreadsheet for future reference.

Now, perhaps a silly question in regards to your proposed idea but what in your opinion constitutes as helping people? I personally record all the people that recommend my articles on Medium, upvote answers on forums indicating they found them helpful. I also recorded the time when I went to the nearest forest to pick up all the rubbish in there, helped a colleague at work solve a programming problem and cleaned up a shared house space unasked. All these count as helping people for sure but if all you are doing whole day is walking grandmas through a busy street or cleaning up for others, how good is that?

Where I am getting at is that in order to learn some valuable lessons by helping people it probably also matters who you help and how? Perhaps trying to find ways to help others through the skills that you have i.e. writing, programming, cooking, painting, etc. is really what we are looking for in this case?

 

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[marklov]

There's also tons of opportunity offline aswell.

One of the nicer things about working offline as well is Bartering services.

I get free Lunch anytime at one of my favorite restaurants because I helped them sell more food..

1. There is no such thing as an idea.
2. Stop looking for ideas.
3. Stop framing everything up as 'a website idea'
4. WHY DO YOU WANT THIS? What is important to you in the business you start besides the money?
5. Start helping people solve their problems.
6. Don't look for problems, just find problems that come up to you and learn how to help people solve them.
7. After a while, you will help enough people who are similar (dog owners, entreprenerus, athletes, etc.) you will notice common themes.
8. And by this time you will have the experience solving the problem, so you have your idea, and your product and you are now ready to learn how to market and sell..which will be easy if you can actually sovlve problems.
   -------------------------------------------------
   
   
   1. I added value to them buy helping them sell one of their least popular but delicous dishes.
   2. I wasn't looking for an idea , I saw an opportunity to add value.
   3. I didn't frame it as a "marketing idea", instead "I can help you sell more of that dish"
   4. Getting free lunches at my favorite place was worth more than any money they could pay me.
   5. Their Problem was throwing money away (FOOD)
   6. I searched for where additional value could be added (Selling their unpopular dish)
   7. Most of my marketing experience is in trades and manufacturing.
   8. I am sure I could package what I did and offer it to other restaurants (but nah I like food).
   
   
   

 

[AndrewNC]

That's an excellent advice and exactly what I have been doing for past couple of weeks! So far not sure what I have learned but it definitely feels nice to consciously look for ways to help others. The goal now is to help 1000 people for starters. Everything is recorded in a spreadsheet for future reference.

Now, perhaps a silly question in regards to your proposed idea but what in your opinion constitutes as helping people? I personally record all the people that recommend my articles on Medium, upvote answers on forums indicating they found them helpful. I also recorded the time when I went to the nearest forest to pick up all the rubbish in there, helped a colleague at work solve a programming problem and cleaned up a shared house space unasked. All these count as helping people for sure but if all you are doing whole day is walking grandmas through a busy street or cleaning up for others, how good is that?

Where I am getting at is that in order to learn some valuable lessons by helping people it probably also matters who you help and how? Perhaps trying to find ways to help others through the skills that you have i.e. writing, programming, cooking, painting, etc. is really what we are looking for in this case?

I say this in two contexts, depending on where you are in busienss:

1) When you phrase something as your goal "I want to make money. I Want an idea to make money" or anything that indicates that you are on the receiving end....I suggest getting in the habit of genuinely helping others in any way to build the habit of giving....that could be anything.

But that doesn't lead to direct sales.

2) When you reached the point and you now understand you must GIVE in order to receive... this is how I do it:

I have my skills that I know: Programming, NLP, hypnosis, EFT, Marketing, product development, influence, etc...

I then help others for free using those skills (for me - nlp or marketing alone could apply to anyone - do you want to market a product? or a song that you sing? or a book that you write?). I pick one demographic. On the forum here, I help entrerpeneurs. But I also help with relationships, junk food addictions, etc.

I pick one audience and help for free until I get others results.

Then I put a price on it based on the value I add...and I continue to give, but I have the paypal button there to make sure I receive as well.


And for most people on here - it's not so much in terms of skills or knowledge they already have. A lot of people on here design a physical product to be the solution. There are many examples of that on here. The first step is to help others until you notice common themes, and then you find the solution to the common themes.

Hope that helped...

 

[zerobrainwash]

And for most people on here - it's not so much in terms of skills or knowledge they already have. A lot of people on here design a physical product to be the solution. There are many examples of that on here. The first step is to help others until you notice common themes, and then you find the solution to the common themes.

That's a great answer, thank you!! Essentially, everyone has to go through Step 1 first and learn the value of helping others. As for Step 2, I see where you are coming from. Help others, find common themes, develop a generalized solution to the target market.

It seems then that in order to "find software product ideas", as the OP is trying to do, you have to help others and find common themes. Thus, as a software developer you can either try help out your colleagues on StackOverflow and similar forums to figure out what common things people are struggling with, and find ways around it. For example, deploying Node.js apps for many developers was painful so the guy made an incredibly simple hosting provider that solves this problem.

Or you can learn another skill other than programming, get expertise in that area, learn about pain points in that market, and by combining your knowledge of programming and another field, solve the problem. This for me looks like a better route since software developers are already creating so many tools for each other that it's hard to really stand out.

None of the routes are quick or easy but both will surely eventually lead you to the problems that need solving!

 

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[Andy Black]

Some great advice in here.


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