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How to Never Run Out of Profitable Ideas

Coming up with new ideas that are profitable can be difficult. So, here are my four ways to help you produce valuable ideas for your business.


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Tavian jean-pierre

2 years ago | 5 min read

Photo by Frederick Medina on Unsplash

As a writer, I spend much of my time thinking about new ideas to put out into the world. It is marvellous to think that our 3-pound brain not only runs our whole body but can also form new concepts and frameworks.

Coming up with ideas is not too difficult for humans. We have been doing it all our whole lives and continue to do it without us knowing. We are constantly acting out new ways to do things. The hard part comes when we seek to make those ideas profitable for society.

Not all ideas bring about good ends, and not all of them are useful. So, as entrepreneurs, we often have to find ways to filter out the ideas that will not bring much value to our customers. We can use metrics like customer engagement to give us an idea of how good our new product or service is.

However, as you already know, many new ideas fail. Even those that start great can end up plummeting if not managed correctly. Ideas are a vital part of creating something that can bring about profit and more wealth in society. But it is even more important that we do not run out of ideas.

Not too long ago, I read an article that suggested new ways to come up with ideas. They highlighted four things we can do to continue coming with ideas. The four were:

  1. Constantly reading
  2. Spending time in nature
  3. Exercising
  4. Taking days off

Although I agree with all four, I do not believe they guarantee profitable ideas. So, here are my four ways to come up with ideas that are valuable to your customers and profitable for you.

Put a Twist on a Current Idea

The great company Starbucks started by putting a twist on an idea. Coffee culture did not come into existence in America due to someone seeing a gap. Instead, Howard Schultz, former chairman and chief executive of Starbucks, took an idea and twisted it.

In a business conference in Italy, he saw that people treated coffee shops as a third home. People were having meetings in there and gathered to create new things. He then decided to put a twist to the idea by adding an American flavour to it.

Instead of having the waiters dressed formally and only coffee served, He decided to add more flavoursome drinks and made it a more casual place. Starbucks became the powerhouse they are today by simply putting a twist on an already founded idea.

When trying to come up with new ideas, it can be hard to identify gaps in the market. A lot of the time, people think this is the only way, but it is not. Changing an idea slightly to suit your purposes is a great way to make profitable ideas.

By evaluating the ideas in the world that you like you can recreate something that suits your purpose. You could argue that this article is putting a twist on a current idea. I saw an article and decided to twist it slightly to make it applicable to my audience.

Update Old Ideas

Some of the best ideas that exist today are just updates to the old ones that pre-existed. Some of the best online resources, such as Wikipedia, are just updates to the standard library we would visit.

Taking old ideas and moving them onto a relevant platform in today’s world can be one of the best ways to come up with profitable ideas. Not only does this method create profitable ideas, but it also challenges the status quo.

One example of this is the idea of note-taking. I still use a notepad and pen, but I am tempted to move towards things like Notion.

I do have to say that this way of creating ideas can be difficult. That is because old ideas always appear to be effective. It goes back to that saying, “If it is not broke, don’t fix it.” However, if you seek to have great ideas, you must wipe this thinking out of your head.

Yes, the current system may be working fine, but is it the best it could be? Just by thinking about some of the current things you do in your business or at home, you can probably find some old fashioned ideas that need upgrading.

Be an Architect

Among all of the ways you can create ideas, this one is attempted the most. However, it also has the least success rate because it is so difficult to do. People like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Elon Musk have all applied this type of thinking.

They have scoped their landscape and thought about a problem that has not yet been addressed. By doing so, they have identified a gap in the market and gathered knowledge to address the problem.

It takes someone with high intelligence, analytical thinking and strong motivation to do it. Of course, everyone wants to be like these billionaires, but there is also a reason why they are rare. Unlike most, they can solve and find unaddressed problems.

When we say find a gap in the market, people see that as carrying out a few google searches. But an architect does much more than that. They build an in-depth knowledge of their landscape, spend hours becoming an expert, and they continue learning to ensure they miss nothing.

Not everyone can be an architect, but if you believe you are, use your skills to benefit society. You are probably someone who loves to go their own path, and you actively seek to discover things unfound.

People like Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and Leonardo Da Vinci would be in this category. Even great writers and thinkers like Carl Jung and Immanuel Kant would be in this bubble too.

I am not trying to discourage you from this way of creating ideas, but I do wish to show you how unique it is. By finding gaps and problems unaddressed in society, you can certainly create a profitable idea.

Combine Ideas

Finally, one of the more unique ways to create ideas is to combine existing ones. An example of this is Chipotle, a fast-food restaurant that serves top quality food. The idea was simple, can we take the speed of fast food and the quality of high-end food and mash them together? The answer was yes, and Chipotle was born.

Combining ideas does not always work, but it can bring much reward if it does. In most cases, it will create something revolutionary and potentially even create its own field like Chipotle.

I rarely see ideas being combined. However, I think it is a technique that should be used more often. Again, think about ideas you enjoy and see what they would like if they were brought together. I assure you that you will be surprised with the ideas you come with.

Finding Profitable Ideas

One thing all of these four ways of coming up with new ideas has in common is curiosity. It takes a curious mind to think outside the box and build these ideas.

It takes courage to question what mixing two things might look like or delving into an unanswered question. To build great ideas you must first be willing to question. Open your mind and explore the landscape you operate in.

Even though you can sometimes be void of ideas, I assure you the world is not. You have the power to create profitable and desirable ideas by simply being curious and trying these techniques.

So, give it a go and see what you come up with.

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Tavian jean-pierre

I am a Visionary and Writer who seeks to enrich society by challenging how we do business today to lead to a world of better leaders and opportunities tomorrow.


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