A Good Copy of a Business Idea is Half the Battle! Why You Don't Need a Unique Business Idea
Hanifmr.com - Many start-ups are very concerned about the ideal business idea because that is where the success of self-employment often stands and falls.
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| Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash |
Self-employed people in particular are often looking for the philosopher's stone and thus for a particularly stunning business idea. However, this is usually not necessary or often makes no sense.
In this article, I'll look at what makes a good business idea, why it doesn't have to be unique, and what my experiences are. I also go into what my readers think about it.
A Good Copy of a Business Idea is Half the Battle
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| A Good Copy of a Business Idea is Half the Battle! |
In my article Better to steal well than think badly yourself? it was about the question of how useful it is for German startups, in particular, to simply transfer business models from the USA 1: 1.
This is something that existed many years ago, when, for example, one of the other German social networks was simply a Facebook copy. A web developer who worked for a large German social network around 10 years ago once said to me that you simply took Facebook as a template and copied it page by page. Only the adjustments to Germany were made.
You get the idea that there aren't many creative founders in Germany. Is that so or is it not even important to have a unique business idea?
Advantages and Disadvantages of a Unique Business Idea
Admittedly, not every start-up entrepreneur is looking for the egg of Columbus, but especially on the Internet, many try to build something completely new that has never been done before.
And congratulations to those who manage it, because your new business idea is of course something great, even if there is always a risk that this idea will fail. Tried and tested business ideas have a great advantage in that they have already been tried and tested.
You can learn from the mistakes of others, you can orientate yourself on best practices, look at practical examples and even talk to other self-employed people about their experiences.
With a completely new idea, things look very different. You don't know in advance whether this will work. You have no experience and you cannot learn from mistakes that others have made with this business idea. At least not exactly for that, even if you can of course always learn from similar ideas.
New Business Idea - Evolution Instead of Revolution
I'm more of someone who develops my business step by step and doesn't try to make a big leap. In terms of the business idea, this means that I prefer to start from a tried and tested idea and modify it, develop it further, or something similar.
Apart from the fact that adopting and modifying an existing business idea is often more worthwhile (or even feasible) for the limited resources of a self-employed person, you can make something special out of a known idea and improve it.
Just because you copy an existing idea as a starting point, that doesn't mean that you can't make something of your own out of it. This is a secret of the success of many self-employed, as I can say from my own experience.
On the other hand, whoever tries to start something completely new as a lone fighter not only has to struggle with a lot more difficulties but is also more likely to fail due to the many challenges and tasks.
Find Business Ideas
But as has been written so often, it's not about simply copying. Instead, you should use existing business ideas as a starting point, as a basis. This can and should be further developed and in this way, something new can be made of it.
You do this by, on the one hand, incorporating your own experiences and, on the other hand, ironing out obvious deficiencies and making improvements. In addition, adjustments will automatically be made during implementation, which gradually ensures that you get something unique.
After all, your requirements are also completely different. You have different experiences yourself, you have different know-how and different wishes and ideas. Ideally, at the end of the implementation, you have made something unique out of the business idea.
What's your opinion?
The majority of the self-employed are quite realistic and approach a new project in a more down-to-earth manner. Existing ideas are copied and ideally adapted and further developed. At least that's what the results of one of my last surveys show:
Business ideas - would you rather steal well than think badly yourself?
- Copying well is half the battle. (57%, 79 votes)
- A new idea of your own is better. (36%, 50 votes)
- No hints. (7%, 9 votes)
Number of participants: 138 (1 vote)
With 57%, more than half of the 138 survey participants in my blog believe that the most promising is to copy an existing business idea and build your own business based on it.
The advantages are obvious: a tried and tested business idea can be launched with little effort and risk. However, there is nothing perfect, so I would recommend making improvements and adjustments. Especially since the adaptation to your target group is always useful and necessary.
In contrast, 36% think that your idea is better. That may often be the case, but unfortunately, it is not that easy to find a really good and viable new business idea. In addition, this is then not tested and thus the risk and the implementation effort are correspondingly high. That doesn't suit everyone.
7% stated that they did not know which of these variants was better. Since both have advantages and disadvantages, it is not that easy to decide.
Conclusion on the Business Idea
Of course, there is nothing wrong with starting a new business idea if you come across one. But that's rather rare and you shouldn't search for it forever. Many wastes a lot of time in which they could have implemented and improved another business idea.
You should also be honest with yourself as to whether you can tackle a completely new business idea.
That is why it is often better for start-ups to take an established business idea as a basis and adapt it to their own needs and wishes to make something new out of it.
What experiences have you had concerning the business idea?
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