website, ideaWhenever i come up with an idea for a startup, i go google it.
And every time it turns out that somebody else has already worked upon that idea.
What should i do in such situations? Can there really be anymore innovative and useful ideas that are yet to be implemented?
Just because there was Myspace didn’t mean there couldn’t be Facebook, that took them over, or imagine how many different supermarket chains you have in your town.
It’s all about pursuing your idea and the execution. The market is huge, you have 7 billion people to choose from, for whom you create a solution.
If the ideas you pursue are also being pursued by others, that’s usually a sign that it’s worth the effort and there’s something there!
Best of luck, and just go for it, otherwise you’ll never know!
(And of-course there are still innovative ideas that are yet to be implemented, we see new approaches and solutions surface daily)
To try to solve new problems is hard; you have to convince far more people that this is actually a problem. I have heard from my Dad that the first in a niche is not always good. You have all the groundwork and trailblazing to do, and then somebody will more often than not come afterwards, see your mistakes, and not make them. That makes them more competitive than you.
First, it is no problem if ideas are already there; no one person has any one idea. Ideas generally spring up all over the place; if it’s a solution to a problem, there is a big chance that you are certainly not the only person with that problem and an entrepreneurial spirit, so don’t ever count on being the only one with an idea.
Next, innovation of an existing idea is generally where the money is. Toyota - the largest automaker - was not the first to make cars, as a matter of fact, it was founded in the 1940’s, I think many decades after the internal combustion engine, the first car, and the assembly line. So, that should drive the point home.
Finally, another possibility is being the first with an idea in an area or a specific location rather than being the first anywhere.
A lot of good answers already. Remember that Apple wasn’t the first computer out there, it was the first “personal” computer. Nor was it the first MP3 player or smart phone or tablet. Apple looks at the market, decides what’s missing from the current products out there and improves on them. Maybe not in the way people want, but they build products that they want to use.
If you look at competitors out there I’m sure you’ll say, “They’re good, but why aren’t they doing…” and that’s your angle.
You need to solve old problems.
As makers, we want to exercise creativity. That should be applied to specialized solutions rather than identifying problems to solve.
People still spend on the same things: housing, transportation, food, education, etc.
If the problem is transportation, one can solve that with horses, cars, ride-sharing, or teleportation. It’s about building specialized solutions to old problems.
When You look at a cow, can you dream of a revenue source which no one else has thought of? One guy took dead cow, stuffed it. Painted it. Glasses cased it and sold it for millions.
Idea is all about seeing an opportunity in most trivial sources.
For any market, industry, platform, or whatever other paradigm of life, there are always “pain points” that increase the necessary time, effort, and costs of achieving some goal.
Each pain point is a problem that can be solved. And each problem presents an equal and opposite opportunity, to the extent that you can provide assistance in some way.
Yes there are lots of business ideas already taken (and even then you can compete on execution). But as long as there are problems and inconveniences, there are opportunities. Focus on these and the process of “customer discovery.”
Whether or not the idea already exists is kind of irrelevant.
There will always be amazing ideas that never end up going mainstream because they are not marketed or implemented correctly.
For example, by taking an existing product/service or even idea and implementing it differently. You can come up with your own unique brand.
Don’t forget. Even if you did create something original. It wouldn’t be long before others start competing for your customers.
Think of it like a game. Whoever plays the game the best will come out on top.
All content is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.