How to build a profitable business from a startup. Startup business ideas

The fashion for the term “startup” has led to the fact that now this is the name for any small business in its infancy, regardless of its focus, model used and characteristic features. In an attempt to attract attention and attract investment, entrepreneurs are calling their rabbit farms and furniture-making workshops startups.

Features of start-up

Meanwhile, small business start-up projects in 2019 are fundamentally different from other types of entrepreneurship at the level of the idea and the method of its implementation. Such companies are temporary structures created to find a model that is extensible, repeatable and quickly scalable. Simply put, every successful startup has huge potential growth that can, if the business is properly managed, recoup the initial investment many times over. In addition, a genuine startup is characterized by several more distinctive features:

1. Creating a fundamentally new product or making improvements to existing ones. Thanks to this, young companies can compete in their field even with the most major players markets for which profit is more important than innovation;
2. The idea of ​​a new business project is not only interesting, but also unique and non-standard in its own way. It is this that constitutes the main asset value of the company being created and serves as a kind of bait for investors;
3. The founders of the startup are young people, yesterday's students, full of strength, ambition and desire to create their own unique product;
4. A team of several people works primarily not for profit, but to implement the idea and prove its viability. This idea is the main link through which several people gather into a team and begin to act;
5. The evolution of a business project from scratch requires the mandatory attraction of investments. The volume of investments is determined by the stage of development of the company, the presence of a developed prototype and the organization of basic business processes;
6. A startup as a temporary structure cannot exist for long. Consistently passing through all stages, it either ceases to exist due to mistakes or miscalculations of the creators, or turns from promising business project into a full-fledged company engaged in further developments in the chosen field.

There is an opinion that start-up projects are an innovative, knowledge-intensive product. This is partly true, but with some amendments: the main task of such companies is not only the development of high-tech gadgets, but also the use of progress to satisfy the most ordinary needs of customers, as well as to facilitate and increase the efficiency of any action, be it ordering a taxi or preparing a family meal. dinner.

Making a profit from a startup involves two things: possible ways: independent development of a business project with minimal investment or a profitable sale of an already operating enterprise to a large corporation. Thus, since 2001, Google has already bought more than a hundred young companies around the world that have developed software products in the field of mobile applications, Internet business and communication technologies. The transaction amounts ranged from seven million to twelve billion dollars.

Based on this information, there is a reasonable opinion that the most profitable business projects for beginners are websites and various services. The launch of such startups does not require huge initial investments, the purchase of raw materials, fixed assets, rental of premises and investments in advertising, and the main assets are the knowledge, time and intellectual work of the creators.

Virtual nutritionist

Excess weight, thanks to fashion healthy image life has become a real problem for many. At the same time, belief in miracles makes people rely on diets and try to find a way to lose weight without any effort. Meanwhile, the solution is obvious: strict self-control and maintenance of energy balance - the number of calories consumed should not exceed the number expended.

To facilitate the calculation process, an interesting small business project was created - the Dia-Life service, which allows you to instantly calculate its energy value using the name of the product and approximate weight, and obtain information about the content of vitamins and microelements. Calorie consumption is calculated using a built-in calculator, in which you can specify many types of active activities. In addition, ready-made diets and recipes are available to registered users low-calorie dishes and much more.

Subscription for set dinners

The next startup with minimal investment is the complete opposite of Dia-Life, as it is intended for lovers of exotic cuisine. The Swedish company Middax delivers recipe kits to its customers on a weekly subscription basis. national dishes all countries of the world, as well as necessary ingredients for their preparation.

The dishes are selected in such a way as to suit most customers and even children: for this, each of them is tested many times by volunteers. For those who suffer from allergic reactions, a selection of special lactose-free kits is available.

The cost of a weekly subscription is 750 CZK. This price includes recipes and meal ingredients for five days of the week for a family of four. Those in doubt can purchase test kits that include ingredients to prepare one dinner.

Service for finding doctors

Anyone who has been to a hospital knows about hours-long queues and difficulties in finding a competent doctor. In order to optimize the process of visiting medical centers in Minsk, 2doc was launched - a business project with minimal investment, which greatly simplifies the choice of a specialist and making an appointment.

Today, several dozen private and public clinics, represented by doctors with all major specializations (more than forty areas), and thousands of patients have used its services.

A new way to rent a car

It would seem that it is difficult to come up with something new when it comes to car rental, but the creators of a startup idea from America noticed that hundreds of thousands of cars sit idle in the parking lots of major airports every day while their owners are on vacation or on a business trip.

It is logical to assume that car enthusiasts would prefer to save on the daily payment for a parking space, however, the authors of the project went further and offered them a reward of $10 for each day of rental. For those who want to use a car, the price is already $15 per day, however, part of the company's profits is spent on washing and refueling the car.

The idea behind this promising project small business is quite simple: before departure, the owner contacts a FlightCar representative and gives him the car, indicating the date of his return. The car is parked near the airport, from where any arriving passenger can pick it up and use it for a specified period. Upon returning, the owner finds the car in the same parking lot and receives his reward.

Mentor search service

How can you connect experienced executives who want to become mentors with young entrepreneurs who need help? The answer to this question is given by a New York business project with minimal costs Everwise, which allows you to select a business coach for individuals and entire teams. Well-known directors and top managers, representatives of large corporations can act as teachers.

A startup is interesting to both parties: novice entrepreneurs receive invaluable experience, and experienced businessmen receive a team consisting of young, active and ambitious employees. In addition, Everwise users are provided with self-education tips and tricks, lists of books, videos, and teaching aids, the study of which will be very useful. The service also provides a control system personal development, a mechanism for setting goals and tracking the process of achieving them.

Project "Here-Here"

The development of online services can be considered one of the most affordable small business projects with low investments. Knowledge in the field of programming and design is quite enough to develop a worthy and popular product: this is the path taken by the Moscow authors of the startup “What-what”, who created an application to solve the problem of communication between fathers and children.

It is known that addiction to gadgets is typical for modern teenagers. Parents greatly contribute to the development of this hobby when, in an attempt to keep their child occupied, they hand him yet another electronic “entertainment” and forget about their direct responsibilities. With the help of the application, the developers hope to change the existing trend and twice a week they send their clients new tasks aimed at developing communication with children. The emphasis is on teaching the child creative thinking, the ability to dream, and reason logically.

Aimed at boys and girls ages 6-12, the app is free to download, but additional tips are available with a paid subscription.

Design resumes

It is difficult to find an employer who, when searching for an employee for a vacant position, would not require a resume from candidates. However, HR workers note that all applicants provide boring template forms and standard texts that do not attract attention.

As a result, the Loftresumes service was created - an original business project for beginners, which allows you to choose an original and memorable one for $99 appearance your resume based on pre-prepared layouts. Reworking the text, adding pages, the author's unique design and urgency of order fulfillment are paid additionally, but as a result, the client receives an electronic document that can be printed or immediately sent to the employer.

Although this idea of ​​a startup without investment is not a fundamentally new approach to writing a resume - it is originality design design has already attracted the attention of several thousand users to the project.

Business based on complaints

Many of us are prevented from mastering the art of writing complaints and reclamations by lack of time, non-conflict nature or ignorance of the intricacies of bureaucratic language. Meanwhile, everyone at least once found themselves in a situation where the rudeness of the service personnel, poor quality job responsibilities or the fraud of management companies led to damage not only moral, but also material.

To help people protect their rights, the creators of an Australian startup with minimal investment in 2019 offered users their services in correct design claims and transferring them to the appropriate authorities. The vast experience, perseverance and professionalism of the authors of this business project with minimal investment for beginners allows them to win almost hopeless cases: they once returned more than eighty thousand dollars to the budget of one married couple. This confidence in success allows startup founders to charge clients only if the results are positive.

Meeting tourists with locals

When going to a foreign country or an unfamiliar city, 69% of tourists prefer to have local friends who will help organize leisure time, show them the sights or explain the intricacies of the local mentality.

Despite the fact that the creators of the Belarusian project MeetnGreetMe focus mainly on the capitals, this idea for a startup in a small city, if there are interesting places and architectural monuments, may turn out to be no less popular. The scheme is quite simple: a foreign traveler uses the service to find a local resident who agrees to provide guide services for a certain amount. Especially appreciated non-standard programs- not a visit to museums and theaters, but a bathhouse, a trip to pick mushrooms, the opportunity to live a couple of days in the rural outback.

The idea of ​​such a business project for small town is not new, but previously the services of a personal assistant were available only to wealthy clients. The authors’ goal is not an impressive budget, but accessibility and popularization of their native land.

Vegetables from your own garden

Ideas to bring games like Farm Frenzy to real life spoke out more than once, but it was the Italians who first implemented such a business project in agriculture, calling it Le verdure del mio orto (“Vegetables from my garden”).

The idea of ​​the project is as follows: the user of the service selects a virtual plot on the website and plants it with fruits and vegetables from the proposed list. All his actions are repeated in a real vegetable garden located on one of the farms in Northern Italy. After paying the rent (16–32 euros per week, depending on the area), the beds are processed according to all the rules by professional farmers. As vegetables and fruits ripen, they are delivered to the tenant’s home.

This small town or rural start-up has received a lot of positive feedback: users are attracted not only by the game-like process, but also by the opportunity to get their own organic products, different from the vegetables offered in supermarkets, treated with all sorts of chemicals.

Video on the topic Video on the topic

Infinite flash drive

Everyone has it active user Over time, the Internet accumulates a huge amount of materials, documents, games, videos and photographs. Of course, you can store them on your computer, but carrying a laptop or hard drive with you everywhere is not always convenient. Therefore, flash cards and flash drives are widely used as a practical and compact storage of information, but they are not without drawbacks in the form of limited volume and insufficient data security. In an attempt to solve these problems, Samara startupers designed an “endless flash drive” Flashsafe, through which information is uploaded to an anonymous and encrypted cloud storage.

The “endless flash drive” itself has software that allows you to access data from any device. In fact, this is a kind of key that replaces the means of authorization on the service. Even in the absence of access to the Internet, the device allows you to store up to 8GB of information, and if you have a network connection, the amount of data is almost unlimited.

Cube with cartoons

Many startups dedicate their small business projects to working with children and overcoming their addiction to gadgets. One of these innovative projects in 2016 it became very popular: this unique portable projector weighing 250 grams, called “Multicubic” by its creators.

The device’s 8GB of memory allows you to record and project films, cartoons, and play audio stories onto any available surface at a distance of up to three meters. Thus, “Multikubik” is a kind of home cinema, which, thanks to the simplicity of the interface, a child can easily handle independently.

The developers claim that conventional electronic devices cause poor posture in children, hyperexcitability, weakened vision and lead to weakened social skills, since the child is left to his own devices at such moments. At the same time, “Multicubik” is free from these shortcomings and allows you to organize leisure time not only on your own, but also in the company of friends.

Conclusion

Examples of successful startups show that promising business projects do not necessarily have to be based on some innovative futuristic developments. It is enough to find something unusual and non-standard solution any of the problems associated with human activity.

At the same time, many startups develop quite successfully without investment or external financing. The main assets in these projects are the knowledge and work of the developers, as well as their desire to offer the world something new and useful. Of course, not all of them will eventually turn into full-fledged companies, but based on their experience we can draw a conclusion: even a small team of like-minded people has all the sufficient resources to create a viable and profitable business from scratch, based on just one idea.
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Ideas for startups: the “freshest” ideas from all over the world - 3 keys to success + TOP 5 ideas from all over the world + 3 startup ideas from Russian developers.

Why startup ideas Are they becoming increasingly popular in the business sphere and bringing owners a lot of capital?

First of all, because they offer completely new, innovative solutions to people’s pressing problems.

Therefore, it is quite logical that in search of inspiration for creating your own startup, you should not rush “deep into history.”

Follow trends, fashion trends, what is actually in demand now.

This article, which brings together the main business trends and forecasts regarding future discoveries in the entrepreneurial “art” market, can help you with this.

What is a startup?

Before talking about startup ideas, it’s worth defining what we mean in general.

Most have only general idea about startups. That’s why some believe that this is the name given to new resources on the Internet, while others believe that this is a business created by young people without experience.

There is some truth in this. However, the concept itself is broader.

Startup is a business idea that is based solely on the use innovative technologies or introducing completely new products.

That is, the composition of the team and the format of the company do not matter (startups often begin to develop without being officially registered).

The main thing is that the team helps solve some problem of humanity by offering something unique.

Also distinctive features startup speakers:

• limited money to start;
• starting work from scratch;
• Most often, startup partners were previously connected by some kind of relationship (worked together, studied together).

And although the world learns about such companies in their first steps, when the market position is not yet strong, only those companies that have already manufactured a product can be called startups.

The development or “raw” project is only the basis for creation, but not the startup itself.

What is the key to success of a startup idea?

If you analyze the ideas behind startups that have been particularly successful, you can identify several common features.

Conventionally, they can be called “secrets of success.”

Factors on which the success of a startup idea depends:

What exactly do you think about the idea that became a startup?

Do you think it can bring in a lot of money?

Or are you really “on fire” and confident that this business will be useful to people and become innovative?

Only in the second case does the startup really have a chance of success.

If you don't have a genuine interest, you can quickly burn out.

Moreover, startups rarely bring immediate profit.

A lot depends on the team.

It is obvious that a team of like-minded people working on the same wavelength can do more than one person.

Don't try to put everything on your shoulders.

You should not calculate how many people will have to divide the profit, but take care of the perfect quality of every detail.

Youth is a plus.

Let this statement sound like discredit.

But the fact remains: investors are more focused on investing in the young and ambitious.

Let people with experience do their thing - run large organizations and share their knowledge with others.

For those who no longer consider themselves a “young man”, but are eager, let us clarify: success in business has no age restrictions.

Do you have any doubts? Look at this picture:

TOP 5: global startup ideas

As a rule, startups are concentrated in the field of IT technologies. We decided to create a selection of ideas that were created and brought to life by ordinary people.

This step is designed to inspire you to implement your own ideas, even if you do not have any special education or many years of work experience.

1. An eco-friendly idea: a special shampoo

"Nephentes" looks like an enema or something.

In fact, this startup idea can have a significant impact on the environment.

Few people think about it, but ordinary plastic bottles from "" are a product harmful to the environment. The decomposition period of one bottle can be hundreds of years!

Do you remember how much you use them throughout your life?

According to the idea of ​​this startup, manufacturers produce products in huge containers, pouring the required portions into customers’ “Nephentes” bottles.

It is curious that the design does not even involve the use of a lid! The neck is simply bent and inserted into the compartment.

Another plus: you can finally use 100% of the product, including what usually remains at the bottom.

2. Indian startup idea

If you think that all that India can do is dance and make films, then you will be surprised - quite a few startup ideas have been created in this country.

Interestingly, there is even a kind of analogue of the American Silicon Valley.

In addition, India is really interested in the issue of the huge amount of garbage on the streets. Innovative ideas appear regularly.

For example, an edible spoon - great alternative plastic appliances. After eating, you can eat it as a dessert or, of course, just throw it away.

Obviously, such “material” as flour decomposes as quickly as possible and is absolutely harmless to nature.

The creators also assure that vegetarians can safely eat the product. And in the future there are even plans to develop a gluten-free version.

3. Idea for junk food lovers

Who among us is not familiar with such a problem: you carefully take chips or something else greasy, and your fingers get so dirty that you have to go wash them.

And you need to be extremely careful not to catch or stain anything!

A startup has appeared in Italy, the idea of ​​which is to create finger pads. They are very thin, but the latex fits tightly around your fingers.

Thanks to this, consumers can safely enjoy the goodies and then simply throw away the “attachments.”

It is assumed that these devices will not be sold on their own, but as a set with chips, nuts or similar food for which they were invented.

4. Startup: “folding” napkins

But the idea of ​​this startup is designed for higher cuisine – that is, for restaurants. It appeared as a reaction to the fact that ordinary napkin holders are already becoming an obsolete item.

But napkins pressed into a small round “puck” are a different matter. To use such a thing, visitors must immerse the “tablet” in an antiseptic solution.

And immediately the fabric unfolds, acquires a pleasant smell, and even becomes a “killing weapon” for harmful microbes on your hands.

Don't immediately assume the increased costs for owners: these towels are not disposable. So the startup idea will not harm your wallet or the environment.

5. Startup idea with social value

Often startups are still called upon to solve global problems, and not just improve the already comfortable lives of consumers.

For example, a special supermarket was created in Denmark – “WeFood”. Its concept is that they sell goods here that cannot be displayed on “decent” shelves.

Incorrect labeling, torn packaging, an approaching expiration date, or even being out of date - all of these are usually reasons for writing off, returning, or even disposing of goods.

Meanwhile, even in Denmark there are many people who have to save on everything.

The supermarket idea not only helped low-income people eat more nutritiously. It also revealed a 25% reduction in the amount of food wasted across the country!

This is such a useful and, oddly enough, profitable startup.

What about Russia: 3 domestic ideas for startups

Although the words “conditions of economic decline” have already become classic words for the reality of Russian entrepreneurship, in the field of startups everything is not so bad.

The “buy and sell” guideline is gradually giving way to an innovative approach.

Original solutions still do not have such powerful state support, as in other countries.

However, their number is increasing, and investors are ready to invest their funds. This is especially clearly seen in the variety of startup ideas in 2016.

1) A startup you've definitely heard of

Have you seen the original photo processing on Instagram that turns an ordinary frame into an artistic canvas? Most likely, you already know what we are talking about.

For the rest, let’s clarify – the “Prisma” application is a service that allows you to process user photos in an original way.

It will come as a surprise to many that Prizma was developed by Russian programmers. Moreover, its creator is a former employee of the well-known mail.ru.

The peculiarity of the program is that it does not simply impose some filters on top of the card.

Thanks to the use of algorithms neural networks(which you may have heard a lot about too), Prism analyzes the frame and then creates it from scratch. But already in the form of a painting.

The fact that almost everyone now knows about this application is already an indicator of success. It remains to be added that the Facebook administration banned the use of the program on its network only because it considered it competitive.

2) Idea for a startup on cards

It is believed that various savings and discount cards are gradually becoming a thing of the past. At a minimum, because no one wants to carry dozens of options with them without knowing which one they need.

The developers of the startup “Cardberry” came up with the idea of ​​​​creating a device that can accommodate all kinds of cards.

We won't go into technical details. The bottom line is that any user cards are, as it were, entered into the memory of this electronic device.

Every time a person needs a certain card, he goes into a special application and selects it.

“Cardberry” adapts to your choice and becomes a full-fledged replacement for the required card.

For your attention, we offer a cool video

about the 10 most successful startups in the world:

3) Startup idea for a comfortable life

You may not be familiar with the SVET company yet, but you have every chance to hear about them.

As the name suggests, the team offers lighting equipment. What makes this startup idea innovative?

The fact is that the light bulbs from this company are designed to imitate ordinary natural lighting.

Moreover, the device settings can be adjusted (for example, according to the time of day or night).

This startup idea is not only original and adds more comfort into everyday life. But it also has a beneficial effect on human health.

There is perhaps only one downside to the idea: this moment one device is priced at $70. The amount is too significant for Russians. However, the startup is in demand abroad.

Collected above ideas for startups They only emphasize: anyone can create a business based on an innovative idea. The field of startups is not limited to the field of IT technologies.

The main thing is that you bring something new and useful to the world.

And if the idea is worthwhile and the execution is diligent, it can make you rich, no matter how trivial it may sound.

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We translated his text into Russian, slightly changing the style - that is, all the smart thoughts there are from Lifshitz, and all the stupid jokes are from us.

By the way, the fact that Yuri’s text is posted on the new website Medium, in itself already shows how you can act when “everything has already been invented”: while the world is captivated by Twittering and Instagramming, one of the creators of the same Twitter has made a convenient platform for those who still like to write and read long texts - and on people went to her.

How to find new ideas for starting a company

Coming up with business ideas is a skill. And you can develop the habit of seeing opportunities for launching new projects in everything that surrounds you.

Many serial entrepreneurs have a special notebook for new interesting ideas. You can get one for yourself too.

Actions:

• Choose tools to find ideas.
• Generate some ideas with them.
• PROFIT

1. Live in the future

Stay on the cutting edge of MacBook Air. Use something that didn't exist yesterday. Read about new inventions. Think about products for the new generation.

The future lies in wearable gadgets, self-driving cars, DNA testing and atom-thin materials. What products and services should arise around such things?

Think about change by finishing the sentence "If you are in the future...": for example, "if you are in the future, all the cars around are electric" or "if you are in the future, no one uses cash." And then create a company that makes it happen.

2. Become an expert at something

There are areas where you can't get to from the street. Customs, prisons, medicine, defense, nuclear energy, bridge construction. Usually they create their own company in such areas only after many years of experience in others. Become such an insider and you will open your way to a large market with a high entry threshold.

Michael Bloomberg worked in IT at the investment bank Salomon Brothers. In 1981, he was fired, receiving compensation of $10 million. With this money, he created the company Bloomberg L.P., which provides financial information to organizations interested in it. Now the company is the market leader, Bloomberg is the mayor of New York, Bloomberg’s fortune is on the 13th line in Forbes.

Become a master of some powerful tool. Learn to do mobile applications, online stores or use big data. Then date a bunch different people, ask about their problems and see if you can help them.

Be really great at two different things at once. Medicine and sales, IT and government contracts, culinary and retail. At their intersections there are a lot of unique opportunities.

3. Solve your own problems

Find the problem that is stopping you from living. Pay attention when you can't find something for ready-made solution. And problems arise when something changes in your life. When you become a parent, you will see so many new opportunities, it’s impossible to find enough.

It's the same in the B2B sector. You have one company, and it cannot solve some of its problems. A second company is created to solve such problems, and then this second company suddenly becomes larger than the first.

Patrick Collison founded the Stripe payment system after being tired of connecting other people's inconvenient payment systems to his previous projects. Flickr came into being when developing an online game required convenient way store user images, and the game itself is safely closed.

4. Look for pain points

Look where people waste time and money, work ineffectively, suffer, lose everything and generally look like a Munch painting. And then go out in all white and correct this with your project. Know as much as you can about hunger, poverty, epidemics, unemployment, crime, traffic jams, pollution and corruption. Make friends with those who have been working on these problems for years.

5. Improve what's already there

Look for what people hate. Finding rental housing, parking, obtaining visas, moving, visiting doctors. Find a better way to solve these problems.

Use modern technologies to rethink the way we do everything. How should workers perform their jobs in the smartphone era? How should hospitals operate in the digital age?

Monopolistic leaders have almost no incentive to develop. It’s very difficult to challenge people like that, but sometimes it works. Virgin Atlantic began as an attempt to provide a better service than British Airways.

6. Link low-cost resources to rich buyers

Buy cheaper, sell more expensive. This simple formula has worked for centuries, and now it becomes even easier to connect the product and the buyer with different ends Sveta. China has a ton of cheap manufacturing capacity. Cheap in developing countries work force. Somewhere there are abandoned factories that can be rented for pennies. And somewhere in the other hemisphere people have a lot of money and unsatisfied needs. For example, freelance job boards like Odesk and 99Designs connect workers from developing countries with successful companies.

7. Copy and improve

Most ideas are derivative. Many successful companies started out as clones. See what you can add to successful ideas. New sales channels, better service, improved quality?

In small business, trendy topics come up all the time. Today coworking spaces and bubble tea are popular, tomorrow everyone is talking about private kindergartens, and the day after tomorrow a wave of SMM agencies arrives. These waves move through the world with a significant delay, and you can have time to be inspired by a new one. It's safer than something unknown and more fun than buying a franchise.

In the USA, each college has its own merchandise - sweatshirts, T-shirts and caps. This was not accepted in Russia. One student decided to change this, founded UniFashion, and now students wearing his products can be found in any dorm.

8. Travel

Understand successful business from the other side of the planet. Every industry has its own innovation centers. Fashion business ideas come from Paris and Guangzhou, software business from the Valley, financial business ideas from New York and London.

In the early 1980s, Howard Schultz worked at Starbucks. At that time the company was only selling coffee beans, without offering any drinks in their stores. Having gone shopping in Milan, Schultz saw coffee shops on almost every street there. He discovered that they not only served excellent espresso, but also met people: coffee shops were public places, playing important role in the public life of Italy, and there were 200,000 of them in the country. When he returned, Schultz tried to convince the owners of the company to do the same. When he was gently sent away, he left Starbucks and opened his own chain of coffee shops. And a few years later he was so successful that he bought Starbucks itself and made it a world-class phenomenon.

9. Make decisions for newly opened markets

New products from big companies create many attractive opportunities. If you react quickly, you can become part of this market.

Venture capitalists understand this. Therefore, they create special investment funds for Facebook applications, Google Glass applications, Bitcoin services. When big changes come, entrepreneurs and investors try to ride the wave.

The same works for small local establishments. Follow large construction projects like metro stations and airports, the process of gentrification.

In 1975, MITS released the first commercially successful home computer, the Altair 8800. One Harvard student decided that selling software could become a business for him. He and his friends wrote a BASIC interpreter for the Altair 8800 and began selling it in partnership with MITS. This student was Albert Einstein Bill Gates.

10. Improve a useless product

Do anything on your knee in a couple of days. Ask your friends what needs to change so that they start using it. Update. Ask again. Repeat until you have a service for millions. Everyone knows the fairy tale about the porridge made from an ax, right?

11. Talk to smart people

Typically, entrepreneurs value their own ideas and consider others' ideas to be secondary. Don't let your ego get between you and a great opportunity.

Elon Musk once gave the idea to an installation and maintenance company solar panels to his cousins ​​Lyndon and Peter Rive. Today their SolarCity is valued at billions of dollars.

Bad ideas

Here are popular ways of coming up with ideas that very often lead to failure:

• Analogy. Every second person does X for Y, like “Hermitage for digital art”, “Instagram for video” or “Excel for hipsters”. It sounds impressive, but most of the time it doesn't work out. Most likely, your market has its own specifics and a solution from someone else’s market will not work. And if it does, then the source of your inspiration may come and trample you. Who needs numerous “Instagrams for video” now that video has appeared on Instagram itself?
• "Product Vision". Many entrepreneurs start by presenting their New Product with all the details and nuances. But it’s not difficult to come up with anything, and usually what you come up with has nothing to do with the real needs of the market. Majority good ideas starts with the client.

Every idea has its drawbacks

Even your best ideas will have downsides. Find and acknowledge them. An idea can be implemented if you find a way to effectively deal with shortcomings.

Don't discard ideas that involve a lot hard and unpleasant work. If you can cope with it, you will find yourself in a market with low competition and will be more reliably protected from young punks.

Availability successful competitors more of a plus than a minus: it demonstrates the presence of demand. If you have a demonstrable difference from them and evidence that this difference can attract enough customers, you can enter even highly competitive markets.

Sometimes successful business starts from a very small market. This can work if a few users simply pray for you, and there is a clear strategy for how to survive from a narrow niche to entering a wide market.

Ideas are born in the process of communication. Talk to everyone around you about trends, markets, and your existing ideas. New guesses are guaranteed.

Ideas are born through empathy. Understand other people's pain and you can come up with new solutions.

Ideas come from curiosity. How should everything work? What will the future look like?

Ideas come from the subconscious. Write down your area of ​​activity and the requirements for the idea. Then just do other things. A few days later, the idea will appear without any effort.

Successful business projects are based on innovative ideas. Thanks to them, new ways of satisfaction emerge human needs and solving current problems on a global and local scale.

• Enthusiasts achieve success
• Working with like-minded people
• Youth is your advantage
• A startup won't make you starve
• Perfectionism kills the idea
• Ideas for fast food fans
• Eco shampoo jar
• Napkins in tablets
• Socially beneficial startup
• A startup that improves comfort
• Photo processing service
• One card for all occasions

Ideas for a startup lie in the world around us, not in the milestones of history. To create your own unique project, you need to regularly look at what is happening around you, what trends are emerging in society and what worries people. In this article, we will look at the main business trends that will help you develop your startup project.

What does the term “startup” mean?

Everyone has their own idea about startups. This phenomenon evokes a variety of associations. Some believe that a startup is an Internet resource, others call a startup the business of young entrepreneurs who have never had experience and are starting from scratch.

In fact, this can be called true, but only half. Indeed, an Internet resource can also be a startup if it contains an original idea. Read what exists on the Internet.

In general, the concept of “startup” goes beyond these judgments. It represents an innovative business idea implemented through new technologies.

A startup is a unique product of the human mind, a fresh look at solving an old problem.

In addition, a startup is characterized by:

1. Small starting budget
2. Friendly relationships between partners
3. Work from scratch

It is also worth noting that the idea itself is not essentially a startup. This term can refer to a company that has already manufactured a product and has moved beyond the concept development stage.

How to understand that your startup ideas can be successful?

There are several basic traits that are common to most successful startups. These traits were identified during the analysis and observation of startup projects. Let's look at each in more detail and try to identify five basic rules for startups.

Enthusiasts achieve success

If you are launching a startup just to make a profit and are not willing to work for the idea, your project will not be successful. Startups are built on a strong desire to make a new contribution to society, so developing an idea requires a genuine interest in what you do. Otherwise, your enthusiasm will evaporate at the first difficulties. In addition, you should not launch a startup for the sake of making quick money. Such projects require a lot of preparation and a long run-up, therefore, as a rule, they do not bring profit at the very beginning.

Working with like-minded people

Learn to share responsibilities and delegate tasks to make the project work successfully. If you have a team of like-minded people who believe in the project as much as you do, then this is already a big step towards achieving your goals. It's much easier to cope together than alone. Plus, everyone can focus on what they do best.

Youth is your advantage

This does not mean that older people should be automatically written off. People with more experience can be first-class managers and coordinators, while young people are more in demand for developing new ideas. It is no secret that in modern realities, young people have more opportunities to receive grants and investments, because they are more ambitious and focused on change. True, beginning entrepreneurs often begin to have many questions about starting their own business. If you know all the nuances, open your not as difficult as it seems.

A startup won't make you starve

Many are afraid to start implementing their ideas, thinking that they will have to quit their main job, and there is neither the desire nor the opportunity to remain without money. In fact, people started implementing many successful startup projects while working in an office for a salary. You can always carve out a little time during the day for your business and you don’t have to radically change your life to do this.

Perfectionism kills the idea

In your day job, you may have tasks and expectations that you need to meet. Don't apply the same thing to your project. Make it your creative outlet. Don't be afraid if you feel like you're lost in the chaos of so many things you don't understand. Enjoy this chaos, try new things, introduce absurd methods. Let your project be an experiment, not a goal, then you can create something unique on a wave of inspiration.

New business ideas from around the world

Often a startup is associated with high technology and the IT sector. Because of this, people who do not have proper education in these industries and sufficient experience feel that they cannot develop their startup. We want to challenge this belief by collecting successful startup ideas created by ordinary people in this article.

Ideas for fast food fans

All of us, having eaten fatty foods, have encountered the problem of oily hands after a meal. For this case, the Italians came up with finger pads. This startup should solve the problem of dirty hands when eating burgers, chips, salted nuts and other similar foods.

Such fingertips will go on sale as an addition to the food for which they were intended.

Eco shampoo jar

Another original and useful idea of ​​the startup is special jars for Nephentes shampoo. Such bottles are a great contribution to the world ecology.

The shape of the jars resembles an enema. Their essence is for people to stop buying huge amounts of plastic bottles, which are killing the ecology of our planet, because plastic takes many centuries to decompose. By purchasing such reusable bottles, people can come to stores where the same shampoo will be poured into a bottle for everyone from a large container.

Nephentes jars do not have a cap. The bottle is made of elastic material, so the neck simply bends and locks.

Napkins in tablets

Napkins pressed into tablet form are another startup innovation. They were designed specifically for restaurants.

What is their advantage over regular napkins? Firstly, these wipes are germ killers. The tablet (napkin) is dropped into a special antibacterial solution, in which it opens and becomes ready for use. In addition, napkins exude pleasant aroma. Secondly, they are reusable, therefore they save the budget of establishments, which from now on do not have to spend money on purchasing large batches napkins. Thirdly, this is a big plus for the environmental situation in the world.

India is rich not only in cinema and national dances, but also in startup ideas. This country also has its own equivalent of Silicon Valley, although most people see only one side of the coin: unsanitary conditions and high level poverty.

Concerns environmental situation and a lot of garbage from Indian developers, has turned into interesting project. Its essence is to create edible spoons that will be sold instead of ordinary plastic ones along with ice cream or other desserts.

This spoon can be eaten or thrown into the trash after eating the dish. Flour decomposes very quickly and cannot harm the environment. The composition of edible spoons allows them to be used even by vegetarians. The developers plan to create a gluten-free edible spoon so that the invention will be available to everyone.

Socially beneficial startup

Startups can be aimed at more than just solving global problems, but can also locally improve the lives of the population.

For example, a socially significant startup - a supermarket for cheap products - was opened in Denmark. The supermarket is called “WeFood” and sells goods that are not displayed on the shelves of regular stores. What is meant? These products include products with defective packaging, expiration dates, and labeling errors. As a rule, such goods are disposed of regular stores, but are the main assortment of “WeFood”.

This idea is good because it allows people with low level life to buy goods at an affordable price and diversify their diet. In addition, thanks to the opening of such supermarkets, the volume of products that become undeserved waste has significantly decreased.

From these startup examples, we can conclude that the original comes from the everyday. You don’t have to be a genius to come up with your own unique idea; you just need to look around and place the right accents.

It is not always possible to generate original ideas, so people prefer to make money on what has already been tested by the experience of others. There are a lot of interesting business ideas, such as: . Such a business allows you to conduct your business in comfortable conditions without leaving your home.

New startups and business in Russia

Let's see how things are going with domestic startups. Despite the instability of the economy and financial problems, this area is actively developing. Talented and creative young people develop innovative ideas, which, unfortunately, cannot always attract adequate investment. Let's take examples of startup projects from past years:

A startup that improves comfort

The Russian company SVET demonstrated its unique startup idea. A team of enthusiastic inventors offers lamps that imitate natural lighting. The device can be adjusted depending on the time of day.

Such a project can not only increase the level of comfort in the home, but also significantly improve the health of those who will use such light bulbs.

It would seem that this idea has no flaws, but there is one colossal minus - the cost of the product. This is a rather expensive project, because not everyone can afford to purchase one device for $70. Precisely because price category the startup of our compatriots is mainly in demand in other countries.

Photo processing service

Another startup whose popularity peaked in 2016-2017. We are talking about the Prisma application. Once upon a time, photos processed in this application were full of Instagram feeds and were the main photo trend. The developer and creator of the application was an ex-employee of Mail.ru.

For those who don’t know what the essence of a startup is and the features of photo processing, we’ll tell you. An ordinary photo is uploaded to the application, where it is turned into a fine art painting. The main highlight of this program is that it does not use standard filters, but draws a picture from scratch. Neural network algorithms scan the picture and recreate it in an artistic version.

One card for all occasions

A large number of discount cards together can cause inconvenience to their owners. You never know which card will come in handy and whether it’s worth taking this plastic set with you from home. This is where the innovative startup project “Cardberry” comes to the rescue.

Its essence is that one device replaces a whole stack of cards. How it works? You have one “Cardberry” card in your hands, all your main cards are integrated into a special application. At any time, you can go to your smartphone and select the card you need, which Cardberry will adapt to and subsequently perform its functions.

Be open to new things, study the history of successful startups and invent your own genius from the simple and everyday. All these examples show that startups are not just a way to make money, but a business based on innovation and the idea of ​​​​transforming the world around us. If the startup field isn't quite right for you, you might want to find out , because the Internet provides enormous opportunities for self-realization.

Platform for learning programming in English language, where 16 million users are registered (!). In 2012, the creators of Codecademy announced the launch of a Russian-language version, but never finalized it: only a few menu items and tasks were translated.

There are no video lectures on Codecademy. Each lesson consists of a short, funny text and a small task. The student enters the resulting code into a special field and proceeds to the next module.

There are no educational projects similar to Codecademy in Russia. Creating its analogue is not an easy task, but the result will be worth it: in 2016, the company attracted $42.5 million in investments.

When a developer launches an English-language application, he knows exactly where to start promotion: on the . It's an incredibly respected resource for finding apps and services: 100-200 upvotes on Product Hunt can attract thousands of new users. In addition, Product Hunt is an important source of information for foreign media.

When a developer launches a Russian-language application, the issue of promotion remains open. The Product Hunt community is English-speaking and is not interested in local projects. So why not open a similar platform for Russian-language services and applications?

We've all made mistakes of varying severity on the Internet: 18+ photos from parties, obscene comments on Facebook. How to find and hide all the incriminating evidence?

For example, using a tool for managing personal reputation on the Internet. The service helps you monitor mentions of your name on the Internet and shows you a step-by-step strategy for improving search results.

The problem is that the service does not track content in Russian and does not take into account search results in Yandex. If you close these gaps, you can create a new one based on BrandYourself useful product for Russian-speaking users.

It's the Uber for hair and makeup artists. Instead of calling salons or searching for a specialist on the Internet, US residents can now order makeup and hair styling at home through an app.

The investors of the famous Y Combinator believed in StyleBee, and the company received $1.2 million from them.

Women in Russia face the same problems finding hair and makeup artists as American women. And we need the help of Russian developers.

5. Eden

Imagine that all the computer technicians from the advertisements near the entrance are gathered on one site. They will not only fix your equipment, but also bring friends with them to wash the floor and paint the ceiling. This is exactly what Eden offers - a service for ordering technical support, cleaning and minor repairs to offices.

Eden is office-focused and based in San Francisco. But nothing prevents us from adapting such a service to apartments, retail premises, cottages or warehouses in any region of our country. Go for it!

New business ideas are the engine of progress. But there are also advantages to using the experience of other projects: someone definitely needs an existing product and a monetization model can be found for it. Additionally, the team can focus on design rather than thinking about the design. After all, the main thing is not to show off a new concept, but to create a sought-after product and develop it in a direction that is interesting to users.