How to Come Up With Profitable Business Ideas
Business owners thrive on the quality of their ideas and their ability to act on those ideas.
Both ideas and action are necessary, but quality is the word I want to focus on here. Taking action on a poorly thought-out idea won’t do much for you, and can even damage your credibility.
So how can you come up with high-quality ideas that will increase sales and grow your customer base? I have a framework for that! Keep reading to see how I lay the groundwork for brainstorming sessions with my clients when they want to grow their revenue and find new customers.
Three ways to think about new business ideas
At a basic level, if you want to increase sales you can either sell more products or services to your existing customers, or sell your products or services to new customers, or try to do both. There’s also a third option: Expanding your business model to create new ways for customers to buy from you.
What do all of these approaches have in common? You’re building on what’s already working. Yes, a totally new idea aimed at a totally new customer group can succeed, but it’s risky. So today, we’re finding incremental ways to build on existing success.
Let’s look at examples from all three categories, plus some things to keep in mind as you develop your new ideas. I’m going to use a toy store owner (product business) and a chiropractor (service business) as examples to illustrate some of these concepts, but think about how they could apply to your business.
Selling more to existing customers
This is the easiest place to start, since you already know your customers and their needs and they already trust you. What else could you offer that would genuinely help them? How could you use your expertise to better serve them?
Questions to spark ideas for selling new things to existing customers:
What do I know about my customers’ needs and wants that I’m not currently fulfilling?
Have customers asked about products and services that I don’t offer, but could?
With my knowledge of my customers’ needs, is there a new way I could serve them that they wouldn’t even think to ask about? Do they have problems I could address with a new offering?
How can I get extremely specific with an idea that serves my customers in their exact moment of need?
Toy store owner: How about a curated birthday party gift + card that a busy parent or child-clueless cousin could stop by and pick up? It could cater to specific ages, interests, or themes.
Chiropractor: Try offering a specialized recovery session or custom injury avoidance routine to participants after a big local sports event (like the Buffalo Marathon).
Are my customers interested in learning more about what I sell or having a hands-on experience? If yes, then classes, workshops, or other events could be worth exploring.
Toy store owner: Host maker parties with DIY toy kits, or board game nights.
Chiropractor: Lead workshops on how to regain strength and mobility after an injury.
Marketing new ideas to existing customers is pretty straightforward: tell them! Talk to them in person about what’s new and mention it repeatedly in your marketing emails, social media posts, and any other communication channels you use.
By definition, these folks are already in your audience so they’re easy to reach. But remember, they’ll have to hear about something new many times before it really sticks.
Selling to new customers
After thinking deeply about your current customers, you’re ready to expand that thinking to new groups of customers. If you’re clear on who you currently serve and why they need you, spend some time thinking about other people who have the same needs.
Questions to spark ideas for selling to new customers:
For each target customer group you serve, what are some adjacent groups that are similar?
Toy store owner: Primary group is children. Adjacent groups could be tweens and teens, kids who love sports, and adults who love games.
Chiropractor: Primary group is athletic adults. Adjacent groups could be service industry workers who are on their feet all day, student-athletes, and tradespeople with physically demanding jobs.
If you sell directly to consumers (B2C), can you find a way to also sell to other businesses (B2B), and vice versa? B2B partnerships in particular can be very lucrative, since organizations often need larger quantities of products or a high volume of services.
Toy store owner: Partner with schools, pediatric medical providers, day cares, and other business that serve children to supply toys and games to them.
Chiropractor: Pitch a partnership with a local gym, collegiate sports team, or a restaurant group to be their go-to chiropractic care provider.
Marketing to new customer groups often requires direct outreach (send pitch emails, include them in ad targeting). You can also partner with peers who are already engaged with those groups (shared Instagram posts, podcast/email guest appearances, pop-ups).
If the new customer groups overlap with your current customers, word-of-mouth marketing can also work well.
Expanding your business model
This approach may not make sense for everyone. If these examples apply to you, and appeal to you, it may be worth pursuing a business model shift. If not, focus on the two previous categories.
The most common business models are retail sales and providing services. Additional business models that can be added to an existing business include wholesale sales, a subscription or membership model, and space or equipment rental.
Questions to spark new business model ideas:
If you create or design products and sell them directly to customers, are there retail shop owners who would carry them? Use Faire or reach out directly to retailers whose inventory aligns with your products. (Yes, this is the same as expanding to B2B sales.)
Do your customers tend to make repeat purchases? They may like a subscription or membership where they pay an annual or monthly fee for ongoing access to your products or services.
Toy store owner: Offer a subscription box with toys for specific ages that “grows” with a child.
Chiropractor: Create a membership where patients get a discount if they commit to monthly or quarterly appointments.
Does your business occupy a storefront or own in-demand equipment or items? You may be able to rent them out.
Toy store owner: You could rent equipment or toys to families that need them temporarily, such as a pack & play for traveling or a outdoor games for a party.
Chiropractor: Patients may want to rent expensive equipment, such as compression boots. Or, another practitioner could rent part of your space during your off-hours.
Marketing new business model offerings can look different depending on the model. Wholesaling often requires direct outreach to new prospective customers, while subscription/membership marketing is aimed at existing customers. Rentals can be marketed to both existing customers and new customers who may need the space or items being offered.
Two more things to keep in mind
First, no matter what kinds of ideas you develop and launch with this framework, it’s important that they’re ideas you can sustain. Your integrity and credibility as a business owner is tied to your ability to do what you say you’ll do, so don’t market a new idea unless you’re fully committed to delivering on it.
And second, by definition a new idea is something no one knows about. And if they don’t know about it, they can’t buy it. Always have a marketing plan ready when you launch a new idea. Even the greatest business idea can fail if the people who want to pay for it aren’t aware that it exists.
Cover image via Unsplash.
