How to pick the perfect business idea

Most ideas reveal themselves as you build and grow, so it’s more important to just start something you’re excited about. Here's how

Jul 30, 2024

Images from my last business, Breadcrumbs

Hey you,

Today, I want to talk about how I figured out which business to launch.

At first, I spun my wheels for a couple of months, looking for the “perfect idea.” I realize now that this is a form of procrastination - there aren’t any perfect ideas. Most ideas reveal themselves as you build and grow, so it’s more important to just start something you’re excited about. For example, my first official business was Breadcrumbs, where I helped young professionals transition into a career they are passionate about - a problem I was struggling with. The pitfall was I hadn’t solved this problem for myself. I was a chemical engineer transitioning into entrepreneurship, not any of the careers I was targeting: product management, software engineering, etc. This created problems like

Feeling like a snake-oil salesman
Not knowing what to build & reaching product market fit
Ultimately, struggling to build a successful business

While I validated this was a problem, I struggled to help people due to my lack of expertise. I eventually pivoted to ScatterMind. I was confident in ScatterMind because

I solved this problem for myself so I didn’t feel like a charlatan.
I knew what to build and which problems to focus on. With Breadcrumbs, I felt like I was starting from scratch.
There was immediate validation - friends were willing to pay me $100/month without me even having a product.

But I wouldn’t have arrived at these realizations without first starting Breadcrumbs. Breadcrumbs taught me

the best ideas reveal themselves when you’re executing. I had no idea that ScatterMind could be a business before I launched Breadcrumbs. Without Breadcrumbs, ScatterMind wouldn’t exist.
Before attempting unfamiliar problems, get your first win under your belt with a problem you have solved for yourself or others.

When I followed these steps, I saw quick success - I hit $1000 MRR within 2 months and then doubled it by October. If I could travel back in time, here’s how I’d start:

Identifying a business idea

I’d get a piece of paper and brainstorm by asking myself these questions

What audiences am I a part of? —> For me: ADHDer, Runner, Weightlifter, Entrepreneur, Black, Socializer, Partier
What problems have I solved in these audiences? —> Go 1 by 1 and generate a list. For example,
1. ADHD: stop double booking myself, remembering my to-dos, waking up on time
2. Runner: Flat feet and ankle pain
3. Weightlifting: Injuring myself, gaining muscle, losing body fat
Put them together and rank them by interest
Start number 1 and commit to it for a couple of months.

If you can’t identify a problem that you’ve solved for yourself, then I’d follow a similar process to get started

What audiences am I a part of?
What problems are in these audiences —> Use ChatGPT to help you generate some ideas
Rank them based on interest and excitement
Start number 1 and commit to it for a couple of months.

If you lose interest, no worries! Take your learnings and start with the next idea like I did. Ultimately, hesitating is the worst-case scenario because you aren’t growing, prolonging your journey. Entrepreneurship is all about execution and learning.

Validating that business

The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you

Once you get started, I’d validate this idea by conducting user interviews and generating pre-sales. Here’s how:

Create a list of friends and family who are in this audience
Conduct user interviews and assess if they are struggling with this problem. Check out Mom Test for help - Here’s a quick summarization!
Take the information you discover to refine your idea
Collect at least 5 interviews of people validating the problem
Then, attempt to generate pre-sales to see how painful a problem is

If you can generate pre-sales from your idea, that’s clear validation that you have a winner and should dive in deeper.

Conclusion

Committing to one idea can be scary because you feel like you might miss out on other ideas, but in reality, if you never start, you will 100% miss out on all ideas. The best-case scenario is you win with the first idea, and it gives you the resources to start all the others so you can operate them all at the same time. Just a reminder, all of the best entrepreneurs won with one idea before they diversified and did a bunch of other stuff. So, go get started! Doing teaches you more than researching ever will.

If you’re looking for accountability and guidance with this process, check below!