
Ask HN: Do you have a business idea? Why haven't you tried it? - codazoda
Some books, such as The Lean Startup and The 4-Hour Work Week suggest testing your idea before building it. I&#x27;ve recently built a buy button for testing ideas and I&#x27;m interested in how I can expand the service.<p>Do you have an idea?<p>Would you be willing to test it?<p>What&#x27;s stopping you?
======
dhfhduk
Here's what I've started to see as my problems:

I'm very good at identifying needs, in the sense of "here's a fundamental
problem, and here's some ways of addressing that problem."

However, I'm not very good at identifying ways of turning that into a
profitable enterprise. Often when I think of problems and solutions, it's
because others are neglecting something, and aren't even aware of the problem,
so there's no motivation to pay for any solutions. That is, you'd be selling
something that people don't want because they aren't even aware of the looming
problem or risk they have. Later on, sure, when things fall apart, everyone
wants the solution I had in mind, but at that point it's obvious and there's
too much competition.

My other problem I run into I get too absorbed in my own interests and am not
really motivated enough by the profitability of something, even when I know I
should be more motivated by it. So here's two ideas, A and B. I'm very
interested in A and see it as important, but maybe not so profitable. B is
less interesting and maybe less important but more profitable. I
subconsciously tend to gravitate toward A, to the thing that I see as
interesting and important, but that might not garner a lot of recognition or
compensation in the short-term.

I think so far I've been kind of unstrategic about where to go in life, and
people have just seen me as smart and valuable enough to have around to solve
problems. That's gotten me fairly far, but I've reached a point where maybe I
need to be more entrepreneurial.

I've also seen enough things in my life to know that there's a ton of
unpredictable social dynamics that go into these ventures, and I'm kind of
burned out. Fads, corruption, etc.

What's stopping me? I think it's mostly burnout and disillusionment.

------
danieltillett
Having other business ideas that are successful that take up nearly all my
time. My other good ideas just sit around gathering dust.

I have a ludicrous dream that I can find talented people and give them the
ideas and money and let them go off and build something great, but I know the
world doesn’t work like this. People would rather work on their own crappy
ideas with no money than work on someone else's good idea backed with money.

~~~
nadermx
Of course it does. Isn't that what running a business is? in some instances
you hire someone to execute you idea..

~~~
danieltillett
If only it was that simple. Startups are not successful if started by
employees. You have to be 100% focused on the business and have the passion
and commitment to make it work.

~~~
odonnellryan
I don't agree. I can deliver a good CRUD app quick and cheap -- 10-20k in 2
weeks -- because I've done it so many times.

I'm not bored of it. It pays the bills. I still learn stuff all the time.

Point is, you're right in the sense that you probably want people who have
good domain knowledge. However, there's nothing special about technical
founders without that.

I'd even say most times their skills at getting an app out quick and fast (and
good) are probably not that great, which is important for startups.

~~~
cynicalbastard
building the actual application is like 10% of starting a business, and
businesses that need applications built are probably only 10% of businesses in
general. let's be generous, and say it's 25% each.

i know this is impossible for you to believe.

so in other words, the aspect of 'business' that your particular skill covers
is probably about 1-7% of the entire domain.

~~~
odonnellryan
I don't know what you're getting at. There are literally millions of
applications...

------
miguelrochefort
I have thousands of ideas. I very rarely encounter ideas I haven't had before.
Most ideas (including startups ideas) seem trivial to me.

Once you have thousands of ideas, you realize you can't pick just one. Then
you realize they all have things in common. Then you notice a trend, general
principles that apply to all of these ideas. Ultimately, you find one idea
that makes the previous thousand ideas obsolete. You become obsessed with the
idea, try to tell everyone about it, try to figure out where to start.

Nobody understands the idea. People actually reject it. They feel threatened.
You start having doubts, you start questioning everything. You look for the
meaning of life. You challenge axioms.

Ten years later, you're still thinking about this idea every day. Yet, you
achieved nothing. Why?

I don't know why.

~~~
juice_bus
Does anyone else have the opposite problem? I have plenty of technical skills
but can not for the life of me come up with an idea.

(I've tried thinking about 'solving my own problems' and such to no avail)

~~~
codazoda
I do the "solve your own problem" all the time. I have a list of "ideas" that
I keep in a To-Do list app. I just counted and my idea list is 51 items long.
Some of them are simple and some of them are complex. Many people say there's
no value in an idea, it's about execution. So, maybe you don't need an idea.

Today I head this idea in a podcast... Listen to people's complaints. Do you
hear the same complaint from multiple people? That's probably a good problem
to solve.

Here are some idea's from my list; I doubt they will resonate, but maybe
they'll get you started.

Simple Stat Recorder - Think Google Analytics (complex) meets the old school
web page counter (simple). Omniture and Google have proven there's money here.

Independent Music Site - There was a site called Aimee Street that did this
well. Tracks started free and then went up in price as they were purchased.
Amazon bought it and shut it down. I miss it.

Search Netflix by Rating - A personal one; I want to search by rating such as
NR, R, MA, PG-13, etc. I can't be the only one.

Now, go build something.

------
tluyben2
I used to have many of those and did many of them; I noticed I always need a
partner who does the business side while I do the tech. I sometimes can do
both, but generally it interferes too much. Usually now it is more a social
thing where I find someone with the good idea and enough business skills to
complement me and then go ahead. That is not getting easier; seems many people
now simply outsource the mvp, fail, think it was the idea and move on. Not
enough prep, drive and engagement of the fou nder(s).

~~~
odonnellryan
> seems many people now simply outsource the mvp, fail, think it was the idea
> and move on.

People have been saying this here. I've been involved in a few of these
products, and you're right, they do happen.

In my experience it's just tough to run a business. The outsourced product can
be great, but it is going to be an MVP. You need to focus on it.

~~~
tluyben2
Yes, I do not mean outsourcing does not work per se; it is more the feeling
you can toss a few $1000 over the wall and then start selling that is wrong.
Focus is important.

------
thinkingemote
Do you think many here are employees who are stopped beacuse of their
employment contracts stating that anything they produce are the employer's
property?

~~~
dasmoth
it's certainly a factor.

------
mamcx
Many ideas.

\- What's stopping you?

Money. Time.

Or have a partner that is capable of survive without money from some time.

~~~
beckler
I suffer from the same. :'(

------
chemcoder
I have an idea in healthcare sector in India. For that i personally made a
field study and went to 30 potential. I had made a decent presentation of the
basic 3 features and went as a direct walk ins . Half of them were not only
willing to use my "product" (which wasnt built yet) but also write a cheque
for it. They were bargaining on price at that instant

This was 3 months back. I already run a growing fmcg business . It has drained
me of time and resources. I cant find time to give it for this project. I am
decent in marketing and especially cold calls and walk ins so i am confident
to get things done. But existing commitments and ventures are making it hard
for starting the project.

~~~
sbmthakur
Interesting. Can you share some more details about the work you are doing?

~~~
chemcoder
About my fmcg business?

------
geekodour
I am 21, I have a lot of proper ideas, most for side projects, and 2-3 for
real business idea which are still not very great. I think, to start building
an idea we atleast should be really good at something(code/design/lead/other)
and then I can do my part of the work and the others needed eventually. I am a
college student, and I am just recently starting to learn about how software
is being deployed at production and about how things fit together. As I am not
good with the lead part, so I think should get better with the tech part and
then I start.

~~~
davidbwire
I have found that the best way to be really good at something is by
practically doing it. I would suggest that you start building out your
business ideas despite the little coding you may have. You coding and design
skills will greatly improve. It's also been the most efficient way, for me, to
learn.

------
tpae
Are you talking about
[https://www.launchrock.com/](https://www.launchrock.com/) ? I already use it
to validate my ideas and run campaigns before I build it.

~~~
codazoda
Not that one; similar idea.

------
cylinder
I'm not working right now and literally spend all my time looking for a
business to start. Note I don't say idea, because I'm not trying to find a
unique idea (although that would be nice). Even as far as entering an existing
industry, I'm really not finding something to get into when I don't have
domain knowledge / experience / passion in that. "General business" seems to
be dead for new entrants. Look at Amazon, Alibaba, eBay etc ... there's really
no way to start an old school wholesaling / distributor business as so many
immigrants have done unless you come up with a new niche product ... My
passion is to run a busy business, not any particular thing, which I have done
in the past several times, but I don't know what to do now. It's a rush to
start something new.

------
jetti
I have a few ideas but the hard time is picking which one gets my interest and
time. I have a product that is almost done that gets some attention, I have
another idea that is a blogging engine written in Elixir (no Phoenix, just
Cowboy and Plug) that I plan to go the WP/Ghost/etc route by offering it for
free but then charging for hosting.

Then I have other obligations that get in the way. I'm writing a book, doing
contract work, working full time and managing a family.

------
ssono
For the past year, I've obsessed over ideas about education and credentials.
I'm confident that the problems I'm interested in exist and are important.I
would love the opportunity to test, refine and create my ideas. However, I am
18 and lack the skills and connections to do much more than pitch ideas to my
friends or strangers on the internet.

~~~
helen842000
Forget you're 18, you don't magically get the skills you need at a certain
age. You get them by starting as soon as you are ready. You don't need
anything else. The first steps towards your ideas may seem trivial and even
too easy but it is a start and when you get chances to pitch and discuss your
voice will be all the more louder for the effort you have put in on your own
initiative.

~~~
tyrw
> You get them by starting as soon as you are ready.

* You get them by starting. Period.

------
sh87
I have ideas. They seems to crop up out of nowhere. 'Why does this have to be
so hard', 'Why's does this have to be this way in 2017?', etc. are some common
themes among them. Well whether there's a business in there or not is a game
at a different level. But i dont think ideas drive businesses. Customers do.
And what drives customers towards businesses ? Their problems and pains and
concerns and hopes and anger and annoyances that they can get addressed for a
'fee'. But thats just one variable in the equation, then there's regulations
to meet, money to throw away at a bunch of things just to get set up, and
there's competition. Put all of this together and suddenly jumping to the next
idea is easier, sexier, lucrative and sensible than making a business out of
it. So yeah, just ideas so far. On to the next one...

------
id122015
I have many ideas just like others but whats important is that I dont have a
job and nobody wants to employ me in IT. Its the only thing I can do, to try
smth by myself. Recently I talked to a few people on Angel website and with a
few of those I was about to have a Skype interview. But didnt get any response
back. And I'm not the type of guy begging for a job.

So my idea is just what my passion is, I dont even know if people will need
it. This is the only time I go by the saying 'build it and they will come'.

------
rajeshp1986
I have business ideas, some small scale business ideas and some tech startup
ideas. The main reason I am not able to pursue anyone of them at this point is
because of visa limitations. I am on H1b visa which does not allow me to start
a business or startup. I have to always work for a employer who sponsored my
visa. I took H1b visa and came to US because my then would be wife moved here
and I had to put family first. My finances and personal situations did not
allow me to start a business in India and now I am stuck because of visa
restrictions.

------
davidgh
I have never struggled to come up with ideas. Every problem to me seems to be
an opportunity.

Add to that - I love building things that solve real problems. As such - for
years I allowed myself to become a mini-factory of widgets built upon my
ideas. It is a great way to learn new things and keep skills sharp. It often
isn't a great way to make money or build a business.

When you have lots of ideas, the skills to start building things around those
ideas and you enjoy doing it - it can open you up to a serious problem: all
too often you end up with a product that you spent a lot of time on (it might
even be a really good product) and you realize you don't have any clue how to
take it to market.

Taking products to market is hard. It feels like anything that solves a real
problem should take itself to market. It rarely happens that way.

If your goal is to make cool products to learn, build a portfolio, etc. then
this doesn't matter. Keep doing it and maybe you get lucky and one of your
products takes off on its own.

But if your goal is to start a business - I have learned that it is very
productive to spend a lot of time before I build identifying how I will get
the product out there.

This isn't said to discourage anyone. It's said to help you know which
products to spend your time on.

The exercise is simple - pretend that you just finished your idea and it is
now a product on your screen. It's beautiful and has all the awesome features
and really works well. What now? If your ideas are limited to "Product Hunt",
"AdWords" and "viral" there's a red flag.

When I sit back and think - I realize the many of the ideas I am most capable
to take to market (due to my own network, industry, relationship with
potential customers, etc.) are often the ideas I'm least excited about. These
ideas usually overlap with what I do all day every day so don't seem fresh and
exciting to me. They aren't as fun. They feel like work.

To be sure, taking a product to market successfully is absolutely possible. A
lot of your engineering skills (repurposed) will help you in this effort to
track, measure, analyze and experiment. You'll learn a ton as you do so. Just
make sure that through careful consideration you are prepared to give proper
respect to the challenge of product distribution, or change your expectations
of outcome.

I have also found that not being greedy and secretive helps a lot. Talk openly
about your ideas and be willing to bring others into projects if you see they
have things to offer that you don't. The participation of others can make a
massive difference in the outcome.

------
richardknop
I have had several ideas over the years. I only tried to implement one of
them.

What's stopping me from trying more is that last time I tried I wasted a lot
of time not working for somebody else and getting paid plus a lot of my own
money for infrastructure costs and contractors to develop mobile apps for my
product. In the end it didn't work out and I am worried next time I'd try I'd
just burn a lot of cash again.

So happy working for somebody else now and making a good salary.

------
msnower
People are often scared of testing their business ideas. Having this awesome
idea of something that "might" work is a lot more pleasant than learning if it
actually does. Most ideas fail right out of the gate - even the ideas of
people who've had previous success. When I, or one my friends is excited
enough to work on an idea, then the actual execution of the test is the easy
part.

------
graystevens
Time.

I have various ideas, one of which I am actively working on now, but with a
full-time job and a young family, my time is rather precious.

Luckily I have a very understanding and supportive partner, who is happy for
me to crack on with work in the evenings. Once my primary idea is released, I
plan on scaling it up to a true business, rather than a side project. This
will mean those other ideas may take a while to come to fruition!

------
ptr_void
For reasons that are appropriate, I will not be taken seriously. The idea is
only 1/3 software centric and can't be properly tested with prototype/at
smaller scale. Also, no money. It's not that complex and I'm sure someone with
the right circumstances will make the connection eventually.

------
niyikiza
I live in a foreign land. It can be really difficult to launch a business if
you're not a native. I have the tech skills I need for my idea, and I have
taught myself some bits of the business side ( I happen to be a people person)
but still looks like I would need a local partner.

~~~
charlesdm
What country might that be? Is it internet based? If so, have you considered
setting up a foreign corporation? Unless there are tax laws preventing you
from doing so, that would probably work for your use case.

------
yetihehe
Simple: lack of money, risk that it may not work, having good job which I'm
invested in emotionally (I'm THE developer in my company, if I quit, several
people will lose jobs).

I've started to make a prototype of my idea, but it will take some time before
I finish it.

------
tmaly
I am focused on one idea only right now. I just launched a new version of my
side project.

For all other ideas, I write them down in a journal just for this purpose.

Ideas are cheap, its the execution and focus that takes the effort in my
opinion

------
exabrial
Because "credit score meet".com would probably irritate a few critics

/s

------
paulcole
I do have an idea but I'm lazy and don't like putting in work.

------
helen842000
I have hundreds of ideas for businesses. Not all of them need to be built by
me. It's the long lists of ones I say no to that allow me to test the few that
interest me.

------
Liron
What's a "buy button for testing ideas"?

~~~
iends
He likely means a landing page that pretends to sell the product and when
people click "Buy" they are taken to a page to collect their email address and
say something like "We are currently in a closed beta but will send you an
email update when we are generally available." Then you can validate your idea
by looking at how many people click Buy and have some sales leads ready to go
when you actually launch.

~~~
iDemonix
^ This.

I did some bootstrap work for a client which almost went as far as to have a
mini mock ecommerce store which just displayed 0 stock, but you could click
the giant button to get a reminder when it's back in stock. Quick and easy
idea validation, and if it's validated, you have a nice list of targeted
users.

------
iDemonix
No but I'm deep in to learning Laravel for the purpose of making an MVP for an
idea I can't seem to come up with.

~~~
amorphid
I had a specific idea in mind when I got into programming. It wasn't long
before I liked programming more than the idea!

------
nnn1234
Let the world work for you.

My approximation for a solution is Crowdraising

------
qrbLPHiKpiux
Money

~~~
codazoda
You can probably create a simple version of your idea and test it for free.
GitHub, for example, will publish pages free if you are okay with making the
HTML code public (and for a static site, why wouldn't you be). Wordpress will
give you a pretty simple site free too. I don't think you absolutely need
money to test if an idea can get some traction.

Now, I'm not suggesting this, but I was listening to a story about Atari on a
podcast the other day. They got net 60 day terms from their suppliers, built
machines, and then sold them a few weeks later. The used their customers money
to pay back their suppliers. Risky, for a startup, but an interesting tool
they used.

