Crash Course Business Entrepreneurship: How to Develop a Business Idea (12:20)
One effective way to come up with new business ideas is to first try and identify opportunities. In an opportunity journal, you write about opportunities in the world that you notice.
Opportunities are situations or circumstances in which a market may deem a new product or service as desirable. They take many different forms. For example, an opportunity may be a trend, problem, pattern, or need that exists amongst a group of people. It may surprise you that it’s easier to write about solutions than it is opportunities, but this is precisely what entrepreneurs do best. The best business ideas have a clearly defined opportunity, for example, people’s desire to communicate with one another quickly, in real-time, all around the world (Twitter).
Perform research on websites, such as: search.twitter.com (try the advanced search option) to identify problems or pain points that people have with current solutions
Search for recent news articles (try google.com/advanced_search) or read customer reviews on websites such as amazon.com
Speak with several students on campus and summarize these conversations (support with other research)
Go to a physical place of your choosing, for at least 30 minutes, and observe what is happening, e.g. an airport, mall, beach, library, gym, etc.
Map out a day in your own life and analyze different pain points throughout the day – both personally and while at work
Get inspired by available grants
What methods did you use to identify the opportunity?
Describe the trend, problem, pattern, or need that you observed.
Think through the 5 “W”s – who, what, when, where, why, and how was it happening.
How pervasive or frequent is this trend, problem, pattern, or need? Are there any special conditions required for the opportunity to exist?
After you have reflected on the opportunity, think of feasible potential product or service solutions that you believe could be created based on what you’ve observed.
School of Entrepreneurship faculty and staff
Read the sections below for idea inspirations.
Having trouble coming up with an idea? Leverage AI. There are sample prompts within each section.
Sign up for ChatGPT if you haven't already. How to start using ChatGPT (1:48)
Integrator Ideas
Who you are: What do you enjoy to do? (make a numbered list with 5-10 things) (think about your traits, tastes, and abilities that few others have)
What you know: What do you know a lot about / could teach someone? (make a numbered list with 5-10 things) (think about your unique education, training, expertise, and experience)
Randomly select two things you enjoy or know a lot about from your lists, like the top item from each list or the top and bottom item from one list. How could they be combined to form an innovative product or service?
Make a list of at least three product or service ideas based on the combination of the same two items with a short description.
Sample AI prompt: "What are some entrepreneurial business, product, or service ideas related to the combination of ___________ and _____________?"
Lucas Hall Ideas
Which of these four tracks related to entrepreneurship most appeals to you?
creativity and design
technology and analytics
startups
corporate or family business growth
What resources available in Lucas Hall are you most interested in utilizing and why?
Glowforge laser engraver
3D printer
Deskbot CNC machine
Cricut
Media Production Room
Make a list of at least three product or service ideas based on the combination of the track and the resource you chose with a short description.
Sample AI prompt: "What are some entrepreneurial business, product, or service ideas for someone interested in __________________ involving a ________________?" (fill in the first blank with the track and the second with the resource)
BOSI based Ideas
Take the BOSI Assessment. Screen capture your results using the Windows Snipping Tool or Snip and Sketch on a Windows computer or Shift Command 4 on a Mac along with a description of what they mean. Write how you feel about them clearly demonstrating that you have watched Entrepreneurial DNA (17:36).
Make a list of at least three product or service ideas based on the combination of your primary DNA, secondary DNA, and something you enjoy (like from your earlier list) with a short description.
Sample AI prompt: "What are some entrepreneurial business, product, or service ideas for someone who has a primary DNA of ___ and a secondary DNA of ___ on the BOSI assessment and an interest in _____________?"
Skills based Ideas
What are you passionate about? If you weren't going to school, what would you do?
Complete the CareerOneStop Skills Matcher - rate your skills and get ideas for careers. Be honest / conservative (you're probably not an expert at any).
Screen capture the Careers matching your skills from the results page.
Then click "see your full list of skills" under Your Skills and screen capture them.
Make a list of at least three product or service ideas based on your highest rated skills.
Sample AI prompt: "What are some entrepreneurial business, product, or service ideas for someone who is interested in _______________ and rates high in the following skills: " (then copy and paste your skills from under "Skills you rated highest" from the Skills Matcher results)
SDG + Personality Ideas
Take the Big 5 Personality Test at sakinorva.net/test/big5 or idrlabs.com/big-five-types/test.php and record / screen capture your results. Write an analysis of your results that clearly demonstrates that you read Analyze your Big 5 test results and How The Big-5 Personality Test Identifies Entrepreneurs
Which Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are you most passionate about and why? Clearly demonstrate that you have watched The global goals we've made progress on -- and the ones we haven't (14:02)
Make a list of at least three product or service ideas based on your personality and SDG interest.
Sample AI prompt: "What are some entrepreneurial business, product, or service ideas related to UN SDG ___ for someone with the following scores on the Big Five personality test: Openness - _________, Conscientiousness - ________, Extroversion - ________, Agreeableness - _________, Neuroticism - ________."
Complaint based Ideas
List three to five problems in your life, complaints you have, things that bug you, things you think you could do better, or products or services you think you could improve.
Perform research to verify that other people share your opinion for at least one item from your list using websites such as Twitter (twitter.com/explore "Trending" or Advanced search) or Amazon product reviews.
Make a list of at least three product or service ideas based on your complaint.
Sample AI prompt: "What are some entrepreneurial business, product, or service ideas related to solving the problem of __________________?"
Social Issues + O*Net Interests Ideas
What social issue are you most interested in? 10 Examples of Social Issues in the US
Complete the O*NET Interest Profiler and record / screen capture your results.
Make a list of at least three product or service ideas based on your chosen social issue and interests.
Sample AI prompt: "What are some entrepreneurial business, product, or service ideas related to the social issue of ____________ for someone who scored highest in ___________ and _______________ on the O*Net Interest Profiler?
This combines most of the prompts from above into a big prompt based on the principles of the theory of effectuation. You don't necessarily need to include all parts.
"I want you to act as a consultant for an entrepreneur. I am going to tell you who I am, what I know, and whom I know and you are going to reply with ideas for creating a feasible entrepreneurial business, product, or service. Here is some relevant information about me for you to consider.
Here are some things I enjoy doing:
Here are some things I know a lot about:
Here are some tools I have access to: Glowforge laser engraver, 3D printer, Deskbot CNC machine, Cricut Maker 3, Cricut Mug Press, Cricut Hat Press, Cricut BrightPad, a heat press, standard hand tools and power tools, a Media Production Room,
Additionally, I have the following financial and non-financial resources:
I took the BOSI assessment and my primary DNA is ___ and my secondary DNA is ___.
Here are some things I am passionate about:
I took the CareerOneStop Skills Matcher and rated highest in the following skills:
These are the UN SDGs I care about:
I took the Big Five personality test and got these scores: Openness - _________, Conscientiousness - ________, Extroversion - ________, Agreeableness - _________, Neuroticism - ________.
I would love to solve this problem statement ________________________ or solve a problem related to ___________.
The social issues I am most interested in are:
I took the O*NET Interest Profiler and scored highest in ___________ and _______________.
I know people who know a lot about the following:
What are some ideas I should consider?"