Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.—Helen Keller
It’s something you probably say to yourself regularly: “If only a product or service existed that would solve problem X.” Usually this type of thought comes naturally within the course of a day—while you’re cooking, cleaning, driving, taking care of the kids, golfing. Whatever your activity, opportunities to solve challenges regularly present themselves. If you’re creative, you probably come up with new ideas frequently.
The third approach to entrepreneurship taps into this type of creativity, which aims to identify a problem and solve it. What could be improved or made more efficient? What is missing from the marketplace that could make life easier/better/more convenient? While the solution could be a product invention or a variation of an existing product, it might also be a service that could improve peoples’ lives or address a specific need. In some cases, the “solution” is actually creating a new market. Even so, whether consumers were asking for it or not, a need exists and the solution gains demand.
This approach can represent both the greatest monetary risk and the greatest potential for creative and financial reward. Even if you have knowledge related to a new venture, because it is truly novel there are simply many unknowns. And, unlike the second approach, there is no proven market, so your sales forecasts are hypothetical, or, as an investor once said to me, “pure fiction.”
The “solve a problem” approach requires the highest learning curve and can require significant investment. Also, it is not uncommon for powerful competitors to enter your space just as you begin to gain momentum.
Because the minority of people who attempt this approach overcome these barriers and achieve success, the rewards can be extraordinary. If successful, you can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars—perhaps millions. And these are the kinds of companies that can be sold to larger corporations for sizable sums. Further, there are few things more satisfying and fun than to see something you have conceived all the way through to fruition.
When it comes to this approach, I can speak from personal experience: I created my business in response to a market need I observed and then met. It began when my toddler-age daughter found great entertainment unraveling the roll of family toilet paper. Cute, yes—until she clogged the toilet. When I went to the store to purchase the gadget that would prevent this, it didn’t exist, and there came my inspiration. I reached out to other parents to find out if this was a challenge for them too, and when I found out it was, I went through the process of inventing and launching the TP Saver® into the marketplace. Seven years later, it is being sold through retailers across the country.
Throughout the invention process, I met many people along the way who helped me, and I realized that after going through the process I was in a position to help others. That’s when I conceived of my first business, Mom Inventors, Inc. Today, the company helps other moms bring their products to market by offering them information and support and by licensing, manufacturing, distributing, and selling products invented by moms under my internationally trademarked Mom Invented® brand.
It’s something you probably say to yourself regularly: “If only a product or service existed that would solve problem X.” Usually this type of thought comes naturally within the course of a day—while you’re cooking, cleaning, driving, taking care of the kids, golfing. Whatever your activity, opportunities to solve challenges regularly present themselves. If you’re creative, you probably come up with new ideas frequently.
The third approach to entrepreneurship taps into this type of creativity, which aims to identify a problem and solve it. What could be improved or made more efficient? What is missing from the marketplace that could make life easier/better/more convenient? While the solution could be a product invention or a variation of an existing product, it might also be a service that could improve peoples’ lives or address a specific need. In some cases, the “solution” is actually creating a new market. Even so, whether consumers were asking for it or not, a need exists and the solution gains demand.
This approach can represent both the greatest monetary risk and the greatest potential for creative and financial reward. Even if you have knowledge related to a new venture, because it is truly novel there are simply many unknowns. And, unlike the second approach, there is no proven market, so your sales forecasts are hypothetical, or, as an investor once said to me, “pure fiction.”
The “solve a problem” approach requires the highest learning curve and can require significant investment. Also, it is not uncommon for powerful competitors to enter your space just as you begin to gain momentum.
Because the minority of people who attempt this approach overcome these barriers and achieve success, the rewards can be extraordinary. If successful, you can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars—perhaps millions. And these are the kinds of companies that can be sold to larger corporations for sizable sums. Further, there are few things more satisfying and fun than to see something you have conceived all the way through to fruition.
When it comes to this approach, I can speak from personal experience: I created my business in response to a market need I observed and then met. It began when my toddler-age daughter found great entertainment unraveling the roll of family toilet paper. Cute, yes—until she clogged the toilet. When I went to the store to purchase the gadget that would prevent this, it didn’t exist, and there came my inspiration. I reached out to other parents to find out if this was a challenge for them too, and when I found out it was, I went through the process of inventing and launching the TP Saver® into the marketplace. Seven years later, it is being sold through retailers across the country.
Throughout the invention process, I met many people along the way who helped me, and I realized that after going through the process I was in a position to help others. That’s when I conceived of my first business, Mom Inventors, Inc. Today, the company helps other moms bring their products to market by offering them information and support and by licensing, manufacturing, distributing, and selling products invented by moms under my internationally trademarked Mom Invented® brand.
