How to find a sustainable business idea
A business idea does not have to be revolutionary to succeed, doing something others already do, just better in some way, can take you a long way. Here is the process that will help you find yours.
What is a business idea and what should it cover?
There are many definitions of what a business idea is. In short: a business idea describes how your company will make money. It answers questions like:
- Which people and which needs are you targeting?
- What product or service will you sell?
- How does your company differ from the competition?
To formulate a business idea you need to find a need and a gap in the market to fill, something that is actually easier than it might seem. You can start from trends, everyday problems and your own areas of expertise. More on that below.
Inspiring examples of business ideas
It is easy to think of Spotify, IKEA and H&M when looking for examples of successful business ideas. But the world is full of growing companies, and the "hidden gems" are often the best source of inspiration.
RevolutionRace is one of the clearest e-commerce success stories of the past decade. What began as a D2C (Direct to Consumer) experiment in outdoor clothing is now a publicly traded company with revenue in the billions. The idea was simple: really good functional clothing with great fit at an affordable price, no middlemen.
Northern Spirit built its success on extreme niche focus: training apparel for crossfit, full attention on one audience and one discipline. There is a lesson worth taking in there, in a world where every category has 100 generalists, a strong niche can still stand out.
Other examples: specialists in heat pump spare parts found a gap in the market, paired it with close supplier relationships, and built a thriving business. The takeaway: "We treat our suppliers as partners. They have seen our business plan and we work closely together to continuously improve the customer experience."
A business idea, in other words, does not have to be revolutionary to succeed. Doing the same thing as others, just better in some way, can take you a long way.
Three tips for brainstorming your own business ideas
1. Start from trends
Sustainability, AI-driven personalization, secondhand marketplaces, livestream commerce, subscription models, social channels as storefronts, all examples of trends shaping the 2020s. The train has not left: in fact, applying trends to new industries or in new contexts is how many of the most exciting business ideas are born.
How to do it: Write a list of trends (what people care about and how they spend their money) and a list of industries. Combine trends with industries by drawing lines between options. What happens if you apply "AI-driven personalization" to "greenhouse stores"? Or "secondhand" to "children's clothing"?
2. Spot your (and others') everyday problems
Problems are a strong driver of inventions and purchases. Start from your own and other people's everyday frictions to find potential business ideas. American Dollar Shave Club found premium razors unnecessarily expensive, so they built a cheaper subscription-based version. The rest is history.
How to do it: Write a list of problems you, family, friends or colleagues run into. Carry a notebook for a while and jot down what irritates you. Then go through the list and think about how you could solve each problem.
3. Look at your own expertise
Business ideas often hide in areas you already know. It is easier to spot room for improvement in fields where you have experience. Founders with deep domain knowledge tend to see gaps that outsiders miss, whether it is in public outdoor environments, niche hobbies or B2B verticals.
How to do it: List existing stores, products and services in your areas of expertise. Go through them with critical eyes. Where is there room to improve, selection, quality, features, price, delivery time, customer experience?
Bonus: AI as a brainstorming partner
Since 2023, LLM-based tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) have become excellent brainstorming partners. Feed in your industry knowledge, your everyday problems and your trend lists, and ask for 50 business ideas in a specific category. Not all will be great, but you quickly get plenty of ideas to bounce around.
Our experience: AI works best as a volume amplifier on top of human creativity, not a replacement. The very best ideas often come from unexpected tangents an LLM would never reach on its own. Use AI to top up the list when you get stuck.
How to test your first business idea
Once you have a business idea that feels right, it is time to throw it out into the real world. Do not get stuck on paperwork and checklists, start testing. It is the only way to know whether the idea is worth pursuing.
- Talk to your future customers. Do they actually need what you plan to offer? What are they willing to pay? If you have a sketch or prototype, show it and ask for feedback.
- Make your first sale. The first sale is not just a sign that you have found a viable idea, it raises motivation enormously. Set up a first sales channel and get started as quickly as possible. With Quickbutik you can go from idea to working store the same day.
- Talk to other founders. Ask for input from others. They can challenge your thinking, point to things that need work and share their lessons. Find them in Facebook and LinkedIn groups, or through formal mentor programs and incubators.
Tip: Online founder communities and e-commerce groups on Facebook and LinkedIn are still gold mines for swapping knowledge with other store owners.
Working out a business idea takes time. Be creative, test, adjust and test again. And remember, the best idea is not the most revolutionary one, but the one you actually dare to start.