Ask A Specialist For Gift Ideas With Lootist.com
I came to know Mike Sonders through Blog Mastermind, after he joined my program to learn how to use a blog as part of his marketing mix. Mike recently launched a brand new start-up and asked if I would tell my readers about it. I responded with a suggestion that instead he tell us how he came up with his business idea and explain his start-up story.
Mike’s business is called Lootist, a site where you can discover the best products by hobby or interest with guidance from real-life specialists. Now here’s Mike explaining how his idea turned into a business…
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I’ve met two types of entrepreneurs. There are those who have always known that they wanted to start a company, but they just needed to find the right idea, and then there are the people who stumble upon an idea compelling enough to convince them to start a business. I happen to fall in the latter group.
Based on my experience, one type of entrepreneur is not preferable or superior to the other. Chances for success are much more dependent upon the quality of the idea, a little bit of luck, and a lot of spot-on execution.
A good business idea (or a bad one) can come from anywhere: the classifieds sections of magazines like Entrepreneur, trends in industry-related or mainstream news, or the recognition of some “pain” in your day-to-day life, whether it’s at your job, at play, or at home. Many pains have a remedy (that you can monetize) if you’re resourceful and creative enough.
In mid-2006, a couple of months after graduating with my MBA, I needed to buy a gift for my then-roommate for his birthday. He was (and is) a DJ, and I wanted to get him something really cool that he’d appreciate and enjoy… but I didn’t know the first thing about DJs or the stuff that they use.
Web sites like Amazon and Epinions weren’t much of a help. They’re very useful when you know what you’re buying, but all I knew was for whom (an amateur DJ) I was looking to buy. Since I do everything online, I wanted a Web site that would help me find a great gift for someone with a particular interest or hobby.
And that’s how a pain in my everyday life sprouted an idea. Through my frustrations as an average online consumer, I had identified a genuine market need which I thought I could address.
Things Change
I’d argue that there’s no bad source of ideas, just bad ideas. For instance, if the market you’re considering is saturated with competitors, and your idea isn’t significantly differentiated, then you probably have a not-great idea on your hands. But that’s not necessarily a sign to give up; it’s a cue to ask yourself whether another, better idea can address the pain you’re trying to solve.
Initially, I envisioned a site where users would tag product reviews with keywords describing a hobby or interest. For example, users might tag a camera lens or a tripod with “photography.” That way, a visitor could search by hobby or interest and find a variety of products related to that topic.
As I conducted a competitive analysis, however, I discovered several product review sites already taking a very similar approach.
