Have you been through every possible opportunity but still struggling to find a good business idea?
Have you thought of any of these?
Provide house clearing and recycling services
When people repair their homes or simply want to change some furniture, they have waste and need someone to collect their unwanted items.
You can provide house cleaning services. Remove those unwanted items and either take them to a waste disposal centre or resell them on online marketplaces making extra money.
Fill in the gap of someone who’s retiring
Not every business owner has someone to pass their business to once they decide to retire.
Do the research and find out whether there are any business owners like that in your local area. If you find anyone, you might have a great opportunity to fill in the gap in the market and open a business that serves the same customers.
Use business closures as an opportunity
The recent lockdowns have forced many small traders out of business. Now that things are slowly going back to normal, people are looking for things to do instead of staying at home. This means there might be great opportunities to replace the businesses that have been lost such as local shops and cafes.
Spend some time researching those businesses that had to close down. Find who their customers were. What are those people doing right now? Is there any other business that serves the same needs of the same target audience? If not, it might be the best time for you to start your own business!
Commercialise research carried by local universities
If you have an academic background and are interested in doing research, this could be a great opportunity for you.
Many university researchers start their own businesses after spotting an opportunity. When the discovery is made in the lab or through another academic pursuit, the researchers have the potential to commercialise it by linking the technology as closely as possible to market needs and launching their own company.
If research is commercialised successfully, the researchers receive funding. This means they can explore their idea even further and improve their discovery.
So if you have both academic and commercial skills, try to contact your local universities and find out if there’s anything you could do!
“Piggyback” your idea into an existing business
Have you ever seen a coffee shop inside of clothing store? This is exactly what this means.
If an existing business is willing to accommodate you, you can start a business that is beneficial for both of you.
Let’s take the same example of a coffee shop inside of clothing store. If you open a coffee shop inside the existing (and successful) clothing store, you already have a great chance to attract customers. Shopping can be exhausting, so people are likely to come and relax at your coffee shop. At the same time, they’re likely to spend more time and money at the clothing store. Win-win situation!