An alarm that’s triggered when you fall asleep while reading; an app to help people find spare terrace café seats in city centres on sunny evenings; an eaterie that combines the ‘most addictive aspect ‘of social network Facebook with a new restaurant… René Andreasi-Bassi had so many potential business ideas he didn’t know what to do with them.
So he created BuyMyIdea.com, a website where you can buy one of René’s business ideas for a dollar and do what you want with it. We think that in itself is a rather brilliant idea, so we invited René (R A-B) to share his thoughts on business ideas with Enterprise Nation (EN) readers.
EN: Why do business ideas matter?
R A-B: In a start-up phase you need a solid idea to get things going. Not only practically, but also mentally. A strong idea is the basis of a good company. People need to deeply believe in the business idea to get stuff moving for you. And as the world changes quickly, you always need new additional business ideas that innovate your business in order to keep up with global developments.
EN: How would you advise small business owners and people thinking of starting a business to come up with a good idea?
R A-B: Keep an open mind and look beyond your niche. Look around in your direct environment and spot the opportunities no-one else sees immediately. There’s an old record shop in the centre of Amsterdam (where René lives) that also sells apples! I was curious and talked to the owner. He recently told me he earned as much from the apples as from his records. Why? Because the walking distance to the nearest fruit shop was too great. He noticed this by talking to his clients who complained about it and he took matters into his own hands.
So, start to know your target audience by the book and even better. Invest time in your customers and even get to know them a little personally. After that try to also broaden your target audience slightly and do research on this larger group. I’m sure you will make marvellous discoveries.
EN: Where do you get your ideas from?
R A-B: I’m glad you ask that! I’ve noticed that my ideas can come via three ways. The first is via a traditional well-known way: I simply look around me for issues and problems that scream for a solution. As soon as I see a problem my mind starts working, after which it comes up with numerous solutions. Some of these solutions are plain simple and others are more unique. After I’ve done some research, I often notice that someone else has thought up the obvious ideas. The more unique ideas, however, have never been tested or used, and I place those on my site.
The second way is by just turning things around. For example, I think of the most obvious love story or the most common way to purchase a new book. I simply flip reality upside down and see if my new created reality fits a hole. Sometimes I just need to shape the new reality a bit and its perfect for realisation. In these first two ways of harvesting ideas, I use my conscious mind as my guide. These are mostly smart ideas that fill a space in a market and fix a problem.
The third way is one that I believe comes from the unconscious and is triggered by a quick abnormal event in my daily life. Funnily enough, this event has nothing to do with the final idea. These ideas are often an addition to society and don’t fill in a hole in the market. They create their own extra piece of market, like iPhones and Redbull. We didn’t really need them but now we can’t live without them.
EN: What’s been your favorite business idea?
R A-B: Good one! Okay, now I’m going to reveal the second best idea that is on my site! Note the time and date of this interview as I hope it triggers entrepreneurs to realise it for me. The idea is called Point Of Few, a website where people can start their own political party. You can add your political views, logo and sponsors, and voters can sign up with your party. If this idea goes global as Facebook does, it can become the main tool that measures the political climate in countries that are in the middle of elections. Imagine the PR from being in the news every day.
EN: Are you aware of any of them having actually been implemented? Do people feed back to you?
R A-B: Not yet. I sometimes see ideas I’ve previously thought up getting realised by others. That’s normal, as other people will see the same problems and come up with similar solutions, and my site has been online for just a few months now. And yes, I get a lot of emails from people who purchased an idea. They are often pleasantly surprised by it and want to discuss it further.
EN: What gave you the idea to create the site and sell your ideas? Is it a successful business model (ie, do people actually buy the ideas or simply browse the site)?
R A-B: I work a full-time creative job in television and love to think of new start-up ideas on the side. As my overdriven brain comes up with so many ideas, it’s practically impossible for me to execute all of them. That’s why I created BuyMyIdea.com where I put all my best ideas up for grabs. You know, 50 years from now, when I lie dying on my deathbed, I don’t want to look back and think of all the great business ideas that never saw the light of day. Instead, I want other people to get hold of as many of my ideas as they can and realise them for me.
BuyMyIdea seems to be successful as I sell a handful of ideas every day. Also, traffic is increasing every month so I guess I created something people like. To me the success lays in getting my ideas out in the open and in the hands of the right people. That is why I ask for a small fee ($1), so that only the really interested people get to know them.
EN: Why sell them so cheaply? And why allow others to benefit from your thinking?
R A-B: All ideas cost a humble $1 as I truly believe that ideas are just a multiplier of execution. To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. Execution is worth millions, hence the low fee. I think up new ideas in seconds and execution takes months/years. If I see that one of my ideas is realised I am happy.
It seems we tend to copy each other’s ideas more and more. I would like to inject a positive stream of ideas into this world to keep life original. If others want to benefit from my ideas they help me in this quest.
EN: What sort of things do you notice people picking up on most (ie, any trends you can identify)?
R A-B: There are numerous trends every year. One thing I notice around me is that many small shops go bankrupt in high streets. They lose the game against the global giants. This is going hand-in-hand with the increase of web shops. It looks like our local bookstores, antiques stores and record stores are going digital. In 10 years, I reckon our main high streets will be filed with global brands only and more unique stuff will be found online. Having said that, I would like to defy this in a way. I post innovative retail ideas on my site that could bring back the independent shops to the high streets by actively standing out from the rest.
EN: What’s your day job? And would you rather be spending all your time on BuyMyIdea?
R A-B: I lead a creative services team at Discovery Channel. My team thinks up and produces new brand campaigns for series on Discovery, TLC and Animal Planet. The job is great as I am able to express both my creative and leadership skills. I love to get the best out of my team members, as I truly believe they are little gems adding a unique specialist skill set to the company.
I spend a lot of time on BuyMyIdea now. It is practically a second job to me now as soon as I get home. The good part is, it doesn’t feel like a job, as it has become a natural extension of my being. Whoa, that sounded geeky! You get the picture. Just do what you really love doing and you will stop working.
Send your ideas for Free Range Friday
Every Friday is Free Range Friday on Enterprise Nation, where we write about fresh, fun and innovative business ideas – whether to do with improving products and services or simply making businesses run better. We’d love your contributions. Are you doing anything new? Have you spotted anything that’s a little out of the ordinary? Email your ideas to our editor or speak to us on Twitter using the hasthag #FreeRangeFriday.