Videos How to Choose Business Ideas | Product Design | Udacity 3 min read 3 years ago Admin Transcript 0:00 You have all these ideas and 0:01 at this point, you should be wondering, which idea should I choose? 0:06 Well, to answer that question, you have a lot to think about. 0:09 Here are some of the considerations you should keep in mind. 0:12 First, is your idea a painkiller or vitamin? 0:15 Pain killers address an obvious and functional need for users, 0:19 while vitamins address user’s emotional needs and are really nice to have. 0:23 Now, both types, but 0:24 especially painkillers, can lead to successful companies. 0:28 For vitamin type ideas, 0:30 you’ll need to figure out how to get your users to be sticky, so 0:33 that way they continue to come back and use your product over time. 0:36 The second thing you should look for is how easy it is to monetize the idea. 0:40 Now you don’t need to monetize an idea on day one. 0:44 But understanding how to make money out of the service or 0:46 product is essential to building an enduring business. 0:50 Next is the idea simple? 0:53 Can you explain your idea in just a couple sentences? 0:55 For example, bagborroworsteal.com is like Netflix, but 0:59 instead of renting movies, you can rent, buy, or sell designer items. 1:04 Law enforcement and judges might say the simplest explanation is usually 1:08 the right, or truthful, one and this should also be true of your product. 1:12 Users should be able to describe the product and 1:14 its benefits to other potential users easily. 1:18 And here’s where we get to the heart of the matter. 1:20 Is your idea personally relevant? 1:23 For example, you might be a diabetic and want to develop affordable and 1:27 convenient blood sugar monitors for other diabetics. 1:31 Now, don’t underestimate this one. 1:33 This is of great importance, as it relates to how likely you are to 1:36 persevere in the face of challenge, uncertainty, or worse, looming failure. 1:41 You’ll be more likely to see an idea come to life if you care about the idea 1:44 in the first place. 1:46 Now another consideration for an idea is whether or 1:48 not you can follow through on it. 1:50 Think about your ability to organize a small team or 1:53 a large team to execute on that idea. 1:55 Can you get from a to b? 1:57 Next you should wonder if you have a large enough size of the market. 2:00 You want a really big slice of the pie. 2:03 The market just refers to your number of potential customers. 2:07 You should be able to calculate a lower estimate as well as an upper estimate 2:10 for your market size. 2:12 If you’re unfamiliar with market sizing, refer to the Instructor Notes. 2:15 There’s a resource link there. 2:17 And finally, does your idea have a legitimate secret sauce? 2:21 Does your idea leverage technology or patents in a unique way? 2:25 Or do you have talent and capital that no one else would ever have? 2:27 For Google, the secret sauce was the page rank algorithm. 2:31 The secret sauce has grown over the years to include many features 2:34 that bring millions of page results in fractions of a second. 2:37 Now that you have some considerations for what makes a great product idea, 2:41 I’d like you to evaluate the idea for the SuperDuper Shopping App. 2:45 You can find a survey that’s linked in the Instructor Notes. 2:49 Once you’ve taken the survey, 2:50 you can check this box to continue when you’re done. Continue Reading Previous 4 awesome online business ideasNext 3 Branding Ideas Small Businesses Can Learn From Artifact Uprising
