How to launch your startup company - start with an Idea

Startup companies is a newly business corporation. It was an “in thing” especially is the dotcom era before the burst of the dotcom bubble. According to the Wikipedia, Steve Blank and Bob Dorf had defined Startup as an “organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model”.

However, the term startup is not confined to technology-based companies only. The term startup gives the notion that the company is ambitious, innovative, big scale, and has the growth potential. The new business model may operate in a red ocean but the idea is to disrupt the current markets; turning the market into a blue ocean (and the competitors too). You may be familiar with these ‘disrupters’ like Amazon, Google, Apple, and Uber.

The only issue now is to find the business idea that can disrupt the markets.

You may have an idea but you don’t know where and how to start. That’s is a dilemma. There is another dilemma, you want to start a business but you don’t have any business idea.

How to come up with a business idea?

Some say you do a research. Business idea is actually all around us waiting for the picking. Let me explain.

Ask your self, what one problem that irritates you the most and keep you awake at night. 

Every day we interact with our surrounding, doing our routine stuff. However, if you pay attention and question the norms, you may be able to pick up business ideas.

You may ask your self:

What if there is one thing that should be invented to solve this problem; or

How can I simplify this process?

That question may lead you to a raw business idea. The idea is still raw but you need to develop that idea into a viable business. Basically, you need to develop the idea into a tangible form that you can sell it to your customers. The idea must be able to solve a problem or fill the gap in the marketplace.

To give you some ideas, I lay down some trends that you may find the gaps/ opportunities:

Economic Forces

i.                condition of the economy

ii.              disposable income of the consumers

iii.             consumer spending trend

Social Behavior

i.                current social and culture bias

ii.              changes in demographic pattern

iii.             the latest craze

Technology

i.                new technology

ii.              future technology

iii.             recycle of old technologies

Political and regulatory changes

i.                new policy

ii.              new laws and regulations (or you may want to lobby for new laws)

After you have formed a tangible business idea, you need to go to the next stage of developing the idea into a business. Most inspired startup fail to go to the next stage as they are trying to do everything themselves. You need to learn to let go and concentrate on your core competencies; developing your idea. Leave the rest to the experts.

Startup founders should get the assistance of the lawyers to advice the best structure of the business entities, partnership agreement, protection of intellectual properties and other legal matters. Startups also need professional to design their website/ logo, preparing the business plan, and financial structure. It is important to construct a concrete foundation before proceeding to the next stage.

Now, I let you sit under the tree and wait for your eureka moment…good luck in your quest to find the idea that can be the next market disrupters J

Note:

This is the first article in our guidelines for startups series. Wait for the next article when we give an easy guide to turn your idea into meaningful (and profitable) business venture.