Think you’re onto a red-hot business idea? Think again.
According to Fast Company, serial entrepreneurs know they have a winning idea when the problem they’re attempting to solve meets three important criteria:
- Solving the problem has the potential for significant financial impact.
- A solution likely can be found.
- The problem and its solution are acceptable to both customers and management (it solves problems and fits strategy).
So before you race off to invest time, talent and cash into your “red hot” product or service idea, consider whether you’ve found a problem worth solving.
Tip #1: If your problem is not served up with a healthy side of pain, keep looking.
While all businesses aim to provide great products and services, the mark of a truly standout entrepreneurial proposition is the one which fills a market need AND addresses a long-standing pain point for customers. Without the pain factor, your solution is just a nice-to-have. Alternatively, resolving a deep-rooted user pain makes your offer a must-have.
Let’s take a look at Droom, for example, India’s first and largest online marketplace to buy and sell automobiles.
Founded in 2014 by Sandeep Aggarwal, “Droom has taken a completely innovative and disruptive approach to building trust and pricing advantages for buyers.”
And how did Aggarwal know he was onto a winner? Simple. He found a transaction, a process, an industry even that was ripe for reinvention because it had built-in inefficiencies.
According to Aggarwal “The current experience of buying and selling an automobile is completely broken, antiquated and full of pitfalls. Droom offers a truly 21st century experience in buying and selling automobiles. With its technology-driven marketplace approach, Droom enables transactions between buyers and sellers by bringing transparency, building trust and mitigating information asymmetry.”
So, remember. If the problem is not painful enough for customers to solve, it’s not likely profitable enough for you to solve.
Reading List:
Entrepreneurs: Here Is How You Can Find Problems to Solve
How Serial Innovators Find The Best Problems To Solve
Interview: Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of droom.in