Think differently about business

Don’t start with a product. Start with a problem.

Creating something to sell is only the beginning. Your challenge is to think more deeply about the customer, the market and the value your business will create.

The purpose of this challenge

Enterprise ideas often begin with “What can we make?” Candles, popcorn and other products can become good businesses, but only when there is a clear reason for somebody to choose and buy them.

The common starting point

“Let’s create a product we can sell.”

This describes an activity. It does not yet explain the customer, demand, difference, route to market or why the idea should succeed.

The stronger business question

“What problem or desire can we serve?”

Then ask who has it, how many people have it, whether they will pay and whether a physical product, service, website, app or marketplace is the best solution.

Digital does not have to mean “build an app”.

A business can sell a physical product while using eBay, Vinted, social media or a website as the mechanism that makes sourcing, trust, discovery and selling possible. Ballers CP is a useful example.

Your thinking framework

For every business, look beyond what it sells. Work through the same questions and identify where the value really comes from.

01What is the problem?
02Who has it?
03How many people?
04Will they pay?

Choose a business

Discuss your first thoughts before opening the page. There may be more than one sensible answer.

Business 01 · Physical product + digital route

Ballers CP

Vintage football shirts, trust, rarity and nostalgia.

Explore the business →
 Business 02 · Hospitality + brand

Coffi Lab

A coffee brand designed around dogs and the community halo that creates.

Explore the business →
 Business 03 · Digital platform

Student Beans

Verification, discounts and a valuable student audience.

Explore the business →
 Business 04 · App marketplace

Too Good To Go

Surplus food, local discovery and perfectly timed demand.

Explore the business →
5
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Before anyone clicks “reveal”

Choose one business and agree your own answer to these questions:

  1. What frustrating, expensive, risky or inconvenient problem or unmet desire exists?
  2. Who experiences it, and who actually pays?
  3. What does the business do that customers cannot easily do themselves?
  4. Is the best answer a product, service, digital tool or a combination?
  5. How could you test whether enough people want it before spending much money?