Finding a Sellable Idea

QUESTION

Dear Joey, for years I’ve always wanted to start my own business. I believe I have the entrepreneurial skillset to be successful, but I can’t figure out what my business should sell or offer.

I feel stuck in getting started. The more time passes, the more frustrated and discontent I am in my life. How do I get unstuck and make the dream of owning my own business a reality?

—Jo G. from Chicago

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ANSWER

Dear Jo, even though starting a business is a large and potentially intimidating project, it’s a lot like making anything else. Whether you’re writing a book, creating a spreadsheet, or building a company, the most important thing you can do is experiment.

The very nature of creating something new (and worthwhile) necessitates that you can’t know where you’ll end up when you first begin. Which means the only way to find an ending you like is by beginning as many times as it takes.

Do you remember the Scientific Method from elementary school science class? In a nutshell: Identify a problem, construct a hypothesis, experiment, review results, and draw conclusions. The Creative Method is identical.

• Define the problem. First, find something that you think you can improve and explicitly write how and why you’re doing it. For example, if it bothers you that your mug has a ten minute window for the perfect coffee temperature, that’s a problem. Even better if the problem is something that you are better equipped to address than others.

• Gather inspiration. Then do your research, learn as much as you can in a reasonable period (don’t wait until you feel ready; you never will), and construct hypotheses—potential solutions to the problem you’ve identified. The more you gather, the more ideas you can pull from to create your own approach.

• Build a prototype. Finally, jump in. There’s a reason Nike’s “Just Do It” slogan is so popular: It speaks to the truth. Starting is hard. There comes a point where you have to surrender to the challenge and give it a shot. You may fail at first (you probably will), but you’ll learn something. Then dust yourself off and try again.

Don’t make it your goal to launch the perfect business. Instead, focus on building something and selling it to just one single person. You’ll learn a lot just from doing, which you can then apply going forward. As long as you’re learning, that’s progress. Even if you head in a different direction, you still carry that learning with you.

Baronfig is my fifth company. While the other four weren’t failures, they didn’t produce results that I enjoyed. As I experimented, I learned not only how to better start and grow a business, I also figured out what I wanted from it. For example, one of the earlier ones required that I do more administration than designing. Despite it being successful, I chose to move on.

If you don’t try, it's guaranteed that you'll never get anywhere. If you do try, there’s no guarantee of success, but at least it becomes possible. And the more you try, the more probable success becomes.

Ray Bradbury, the legendary science fiction author, said it best: “Jump off cliffs and build your wings on the way down.”

—Joey

A commissioned illustration from the early days of Baronfig. By The Half and Half.