6 Unusual Ways to Discover Profitable Business Ideas

Entrepreneurs are good at finding inspiration everywhere. If you’re looking to start a business, it helps to have an open mind and curiosity. Your next business idea, whether it’s an e-commerce site or a brick-and-mortar store, can come from unexpected moments of learning, connection, and discovery.

Here are some ways small business owners can discover profitable business ideas.

1. Read business news and blogs

One of the best ways to stay inspired as a small business owner is to read business news. Subscribe to top business and finance news sources like Bloomberg, Wall Street JournalAND Economist. Find a few journalists and industry commentators you like to follow on social media.

Follow the latest trends in your industry—what are the biggest stories? Which companies are struggling or growing? Which stocks or sectors are seeing big changes in their fortunes? Is there a big trend in another city, region, or country that could be emerging near your area? You might be able to get in on the ground floor with a new product, service, or business model.

2. Use free resources on Shopify and HubSpot

If you’re looking to start a content marketing or e-commerce business, there are great resources available on sites like HubSpot and Shopify. You can use the free videos and guides on these platforms to learn digital marketing skills like search engine optimization (SEO), how to create a successful website, how to do search engine marketing, email marketing, and more.

Simply dive into the world of online business and you’ll often find inspiration to start your own online store or e-commerce company.

3. Check out online business brokers

Sometimes buying a business is a great way to get started as an entrepreneur. But even if you’re not ready to buy a business, you can find inspiration by looking at businesses for sale.

Check out online business brokerage sites to see what companies are available in your industry, area, or area of ​​interest. A few examples of business brokers that help investors buy and sell businesses online include Ecommerce Brokers (ecommerce-brokers.com), Flippa, and Acquire.com.

Sometimes broker websites can’t list the full details of every business for sale because some of the information is confidential — but it can still be time well spent if it helps you see what types of businesses have growth potential. You might find a great deal on an existing small business to acquire or get inspired to start your own new business.

4. Attend real networking events

A big part of being a successful small business owner is something simple that doesn’t have to be high-tech: networking. If you want to get inspired and find business ideas, simply go to local events through your local chamber of commerce, trade associations, or coworking spaces. Meet and talk to people and find out what excites the local entrepreneurial community.

5. Travel

What if you could find your next business inspiration by traveling to another country, attending an industry conference in another city, or simply taking a week-long vacation to the beach? Sometimes the best way to inspire business ideas is to get out of the house and change your scenery.

If you run a restaurant business, you might get inspiration to add a new dish or flavor to your menu based on a new food you try at a food truck by the beach. Or you might get inspiration from the latest fashion trends, billboards and advertisements at a train station in an international city, or eavesdropping on the buzz of conversation in a crowded coffee shop.

Discovering new places and reconnecting with the pulse of human life is always inspiring. Travel can take your mind off the usual comfortable routine and introduce you to new contexts, colors, tastes, and sounds that help you see the world in a creative, entrepreneurial way.

6. Think about the annoying, frustrating problems

Entrepreneurs are often optimistic, with a “can-do” attitude, but sometimes it helps to dwell on the negatives. Think carefully about the biggest pain points in your day-to-day life. What are the friction points in your career that are causing the most friction—what business could solve them? Your next business idea could be right under your nose.

Summary

Sometimes, at its best, entrepreneurship is an exercise in creativity and imagination. Starting a business is an act of hope, an investment in a better future, and a way to create positive change in the world. Entrepreneurs can use different ways to learn, engage more deeply with life, and discover profitable business ideas by harnessing the spirit of curiosity and problem-solving.