A playbook for Generating Business Ideas

Conclusion to Chapter 7
Consider Your Goals
As with the other methodologies in this book, consider your goals when
considering if this approach is right for you. Here are a few key considerations:
●
Money/Risk - If your main goal is to make money and/or reduce the
risk of losing money, I think “doing what’s working” is a great strategy.
●
Creativity - If the opportunity to be creative and build something new
is, to you, one of the most appealing aspects of starting a company, this
might not be your best strategy. Doing what’s working reduces the need
for creative thinking by identifying previously validated solutions.
●
Upside - Because doing what’s working generally involves competing
directly or indirectly with an existing company, there is some risk that
there is limited upside because it would be harder to capture the entire
market. However, (1) even if you develop a completely new solution, there
is risk that new companies will enter the market and make it harder for you
to capture market share, and (2) you may not need to capture the entire
market to build a large business.
Key Takeaways
●
You don’t need a wildly new or unique business idea in order to build a
successful business. As you can see from the above examples, some of the
most successful companies in history have had some element of
replication.
●
Being a “second mover” has some major advantages over being a first
mover.
●
Consider your goals to determine whether it’s right for you to use a “do
what’s working” business idea.
●
“Doing what’s working” mitigates the risk of building something no
one wants. If another company is getting traction with a given product or
service, it’s an indication that people want it.
●
To put this methodology into practice, pick any startup you see getting

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traction. If you are passionate about the problem they’re solving and the
customers they’re serving, feel it has the potential to meet your goals, and
have the skills and assets to be able to compete, you could start a similar
company.

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Chapter 8: 46 Business Ideas
In this chapter, I will give you a few business ideas (that you are free to steal!).
This chapter is intended to: (1) give you some business ideas that you can start
right away, so that you don’t even need to go through the process of coming up
with an idea, and (2) illustrate how some of the systems from this book can be
applied. I hope that the illustration can help you do it yourself.
I have grouped the ideas into three categories: (1) small business ideas, (2)
online, from home, and passive income business ideas, and (3) high growth,
large market, scalable business ideas. I will explain what each of these categories
means in its respective sub-heading.
Remember, consider what your goals are and what you are capable of doing
when deciding if any of these ideas are right for you to pursue.

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