Creating business ideas

Creating business ideas!!! Get rid of gloomy lightBulb

Pull the trigger. Generate new ideas by trying an exercise Koulopoulos calls "triggering." First, state your problem or challenge. For example, let's say you want to create a new product to compete in the crowded protein bar market. You would then gather several unrelated items, such as a stapler, coffee cup, a yoga mat, and a pencil. "I put them all on the table and say, 'Relate every one of these things to your problem,'" he explains. "What happens is people start to think in very nonconventional ways." Maybe your protein bar could be formulated with herbal ingredients for energy (idea sparked by the coffee cup) or relaxation (think yoga mat). The ideas don't even have to make sense at first. The goal is to find ways to connect them back to the product.
Related Video: The Esquire Guy's Witty Guide to Collaboration

Create a massive matrix. Gather 'round, get out your big white pad, and create a huge matrix -- he calls it a “morphological matrix” -- of all the possible ways that you could address a problem or seize an opportunity. When done in groups, Koulopoulos says this gets everyone thinking about how to attack every element of the problem. Then, recombine those elements in unique ways. "Burger King's new bacon sundae is a good example of how you can take a company's existing resources and recombine them into something new that people are talking about," he adds.

Roll through the day with an eye looking for change

1. “I would argue most great entrepreneurs are simply able to look at everyday things in a slightly different way than others,” he says.
2. “Just walk through life for a day and think about all the things that frustrate you and write them down and think about what you could do to solve that problem, because, if you have that problem, then lots of other people are, too. And if you can solve that problem, then you'll create value and build a business,” he advises.
3. He says it involves conscious practice – thinking about inefficiencies, wasted time and wasted money, and always being on the lookout for these things.
4. . Network online. Many Web sites let users post their business ideas and get feedback from other users. Here are four I’ve come across:MeetUp.com, PartnerUp.com, ClubENetwork.com, ideablob.com

Tools for BrainStorming

1. Defer judgment — no criticism right now. Remember the people who said that airplanes were impossible? Don’t be one of them. Yes, at some point it is important to judge an idea, but don’t do it while you’re trying to generate ideas.
2. Strive for quantity — Osborn said that, “quantity breeds quality,” or the more ideas you come up with, the more likely it is that one or more of them will be a great idea.
3. Seek unusual or wild ideas — Osborn said, “it is easier to tame down than to think up.” In other words, we can worry about how to make it work later, so look for as many seemingly “crazy” ideas as you can — the wilder the better.
4. Combine and build on ideas — “piggyback” or “hitch-hike” one idea to another to create a new idea. An example of this is the combination of a combining an engine with a horse carriage to create the concept of the horseless carriage, or what we now call an “automobile.” Sound familiar?

Just sayin

So many gadgets. So little time. But we are told that the latest gadgets save us time?

I dont know about you but I am not hugely tech savvy but I do want to make use of technology in a productive way. Sometimes I want to make movies, sometimes I want to alter photographs and maybe even write a short story with pictures.

I enjoy letting my creativity go but often don't know where to start especially with the technology that I need.

Here's an idea. What about if I could go to a website or app and enter in the kind of needs I have?

Say if I was an mature women and I wanted to email, take photos and store them, write a Mills and Boon novel, and watch Youtube for knitting lessons? If I could enter my needs in a simple way that I could understand and this website or application could give me a simple answer into what product and brand would best suit me.

Another example could be a University student who wants to make movies, create presantations and talk on Facebook? What product would I need?

The name could be simply.tech

Just sayin

Relaxation Drinks

Sick of energy drinks?
There seems to be a new one out every week aiming at different but minute places in the market

There is a new trend that has seen the formulation of 350 new businesses in since 2004 that has been named the Anti energy drink market. It is slowly gaining traction and some compaines are exporting to Europe.
Some of the compaines such as Marley, Blue Cow and Mary Jane make up this growing industry.

Many of the new drinks use the same relaxing ingredients shown below
 Passionflower: Reduces anxiety 
Hops: Promotes relaxation, inhibits adrenaline 
Chamomile flower: Reduces anxiety 
Valerian root: Promotes relaxation without drowsiness Lemon balm: Enhances mood, alertness and calm 
Melatonin: Relaxes muscles

Anyway here is the point.

I think New Zealand would be a perfect place to create a new relaxation drink. Using New Zealands clean green image would give the drink credibility throughout the world. Obviously it would have to be a premium product that isnt aimed at young teenagers wanting the effects of marijuana and not being able to get the real thing!

Look at how Fiji water took off in major markets after celebrities were seen drinking it in reality TV shows. 42 below vodka is another example of a drink using New Zealands clean green image to sell premium quality drinks.

I have been exploring this option and altough it seems like there is a new competitor in the relaxation drink market everyday a New Zealand drink could aim at the premium end of the market,

Shrink wrap advertising

If you haven't started seeing these buildings popping up around you must be driving around with your eyes closed. I first saw these a few years ago while I was doing one of the worst jobs of my life. Scrubbing boats bottoms which takes forever. Every rainy cloud has a silver lining. Their are a few companies around that are doing Shrink wraps, the main objective of them is to cover up buildings during the wet winter months in order for work to continue as usual. 

I dont really want to ask questions such as how environmentally friendly the stuff is because I have a feeling I might not get the best answer.

I think these give local businesses an ideal opportunity in which to advertise at a discount rate on this space. This would be a cheaper alternative than hiring a bill board and would only be for a temporary time advertising deals they have going for a month. This could create benefits for the building owners and also the shrink wrap customers. The local business community would also benefit.

Some questions I have still have to ironed out.

How would you attach the signs to the shrink wrap and what the basic costing structure would be. 

I was lying in bed thionking about it and there could be a way to do quite personal advertising on it and set up a unique way to buy this advertising such as an app or easy to use website.

These are my thoughts for now!

THis is my start at blooging. I will be blooging about ideas and creations that interest me in a business sense