Develop a business idea: Finding an idea, founding a company – this is how it works

The more detailed you plan and organize, the more complex your construction and the structure of the company is, the more people will talk about it – in the end you must be able to present your company, your idea, your business model within 15 seconds!

Business idea: This is the beginning of independence

15 seconds, this is the shortest time for an elevator pitch. This form is used e.g. for extremely short encounters, in everyday life, at events, or at the airport. Don’t waste a lot of time, the most important thing, let’s move on. The longest form of the short “Elevator Pitch” is 45 seconds. That means you have about 15 seconds for the presentation, up to 45 seconds. Within this short time window, everything important for the banker, the customer or the investor must be explained in a way that is easy to understand.

What exactly is your idea?

Create ideas? Go openly through the world

Stroll! The good strolling! If you didn’t know the word yet, I picked it up somewhere! Strolling is, so to speak, “going for a walk without having an exact goal in mind”. My absolute favourite for ideas, but also for a clear head! I myself like to walk around for hours and also do scripts for books or speeches, sometimes also for business models. Sometimes I run about 15 km on a Sunday. Stroll! The good strolling.

But creating ideas is not only possible by getting actively involved, of course it is also possible passively. Daily little problems you encounter in the old town. Challenges in everyday life. Small useful extension for your fellow men. For example, if you see more and more e-scooters in the city centre, it would make sense to think about the phenomenon.

Ask yourself questions about everyday problems

• Is there already a suitable lock for electric scooters? Are there already easy to install lighting systems?
• Is there already sound systems and music?
• What about an app and a small tracking box to find the scooter again, e.g. in case of theft?

Where do you see gaps, missing concepts?

Such ideas can also be found in the private sphere. If you have friends in your environment who have children, you could take up this idea and say, how could you make the life of your parents easier? Babies grow fast and therefore constantly need new clothes, but also new toys that suit their age. Maybe there is still potential in online trading, or even exchange opportunities. Is there perhaps already a platform on which parents can coordinate and vote for the kindergarten, play times or even babysitting can agree? Perhaps a common appointment calendar with befriended married couple from the kindergarten and the school?

Ask yourself many questions at the beginning! Of course, most of them will lead you to the realization that everything has happened before! But at some point you’ll get a few questions that are interesting and don’t have a concept yet! It is possible to compulsively create ideas, but it takes time. As an entrepreneur you will probably always have new ideas. Only after some time will you develop a feeling for what meaningful trains of thought are and what is just a waste of time.

keep your notebook and smartphone handy at all times

Therefore, my recommendation is to always have a small notepad and a pen with you, or simply the smartphone with the appropriate app for notes. Without a lot of bells and whistles, you just take notes and collect them. If you have a good idea, write it down! Because often ideas come all of a sudden and have to be recorded. While you’re talking to friends, while you’re doing sports or just walking. Of course, you don’t always have the right person to talk to when validating (testing) an idea, or a notebook to do more detailed data analyses yourself.

Sometimes it is also good to leave an idea lying, but if it is already noted down, it can no longer be forgotten. So your mind constantly subconsciously remembers the idea. So you will come over time to meaningful additions, or to the conclusion that the idea is not so good after all.

In the time in which your notes are well and securely stored, you can ask yourself further questions. What is the market situation like? Are there comparative offers on the Internet? Are there perhaps also competition which was not considered at all? If you see the people in the city centre, could you imagine them with your product? For some ideas, of course, there is no market yet, so try to put yourself in people’s shoes. What are the daily tasks, challenges and pros?