Looking for a business idea? It's actually quite simple. First of all, you need to learn to find the voids in the markets and pay attention to them. Stanford University professor Tina Seelig has developed the following exercise
Participants are asked to get their wallets. They then pair up and tell each other about their wallets. They discuss what they like or hate about them, or talk about how they are used for shopping and for keeping documents.
Most people who use wallets are more or less annoyed by the limitations of this item. Therefore, after completing the interview, each of the participants begins to create a new wallet design for their interlocutor, the “client”. The designer has only simple items at his disposal: paper, duct tape, markers, scissors, paper clips, and the like. Customers love new concepts and often say that if a wallet like this were on sale, they would definitely buy it.
There are tons of lessons learned from this exercise. First, the wallet is a symbol that problems can be found everywhere, even in your own pocket.
Second, only minor efforts may be required to resolve these problems. People are usually happy to tell you about their problems.
Third, simple solutions can be found through simple experiments. They require neither a significant amount of work, nor resources, nor time. And even if you fail, your costs are minimal. And all you need to do is just start over.
For more Stanford secrets, check out Tina Seelig's DIY book.
