It’s great when you get that ‘light bulb’ moment and are inspired to create a new product or service. Unfortunately, inspiration doesn’t always strike when you need it to, such as when you’re thinking of ways to invigorate your business with a new idea, or flat out trying to run your business.
To come up with something new that solves a need for a specific market, there are a few places you can look.
The first and most obvious place to start is online. Look at third-party selling sites like Amazon or Ali Express, and trawl through the product reviews. You’ll be surprised how many ideas you can get just by reading about what products people buy, and what they like and dislike about them.
When you’re searching, try ‘new product ideas’, ‘future (your industry) trends’, ‘new product trends’ or anything that relates to what you do.
It’s also a good idea to make use of online news. Entering a topic such as ‘trends’ or ‘new products’ into search news will bring up news articles about trends that you can use as inspiration for your product ideas. If they have a regular blog or e-newsletter, then subscribe.
Also subscribe to any opinion leaders or people that resonate with you who are commenting about your industry or technology you may be using; you never know what may spark off a new idea.
The internet has splintered into millions of special interest groups. There will be a number that relate to your industry to find new ideas.
Search for businesses that are similar to yours. Review their products and services and look for ways you could improve on them. The idea is not to be a copycat, but to see what your competitors are doing differently from you and see if that provides some inspiration.
Look especially for businesses like yours that operate in other countries. Quite often you’ll find a wealth of new ideas far away from your current operation.
Get in front of new ideas by attending (virtual and physical) events that demonstrate new ideas or research. It doesn’t always have to be in your industry either, as often good ideas can be gained from listening to experts from other disciplines.
Many websites focus on identifying and showcasing current trends. Such sites focus especially on innovative or ground-breaking products.
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Ask colleagues or other business owners where they get their ideas from.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube are all great resources for new product ideas and inspiration. The trick is knowing how to search them and filter out the unnecessary noise.
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Talk to as many people as possible to tap into customers’ minds and passions. What new products, solutions, communications and “experiences” truly resonate? Try to find out what the pain points are – what problems need to be solved. Regularly brainstorm with staff, customers and even suppliers.
Start with problems that you are personally invested in. Think about what’s out there in the marketplace and what you wish was there. Talk to your family, friends and customers about products and solutions they’d like to be able to purchase.
Then look outside your own industry. Try to determine how other businesses are solving problems. They might be using an approach that for them is routine, but hadn’t occurred to you before, and that’s the beginning of inspiration.
Every time you encounter frustration with a customer experience, note it down. Ask yourself: is this a problem I could solve? Ask others if they’ve run into the same difficulty, and what they’d like to see done about it. Could you turn that solution into a new business idea?
The key to gaining inspiration is keeping an open mind. When you’re searching online or talking to people use your imagination to refine what might have been a previously odd observation into something that could be a genuine problem-solver.
The internet means that we as a global community are more connected than ever, so it’s easier to talk to people and find out what they want. You can research ideas across all business industries just by searching, as well as talking to suppliers and customers from around the world.