Copy This Strategy to Turn Any Idea Into a Real Business

The biggest barrier to getting started isn't coming up with ideas—it's knowing how to take the ideas you already have and refine them into something you can actually build.

So today I'm going to show you a really simple framework that you can use right now on your existing ideas to look at them from a different perspective, to figure out if there's a better way to turn that idea into a business.

But first, if you can't change the way you think, then it doesn't matter how great your idea is—you will not succeed.

Step 1: Stop Thinking Solutions, Start Thinking Problems

You need to stop thinking in terms of ideas or solutions. You need to start thinking in terms of problems, because problems are what people will actually pay for.

So go back to the ideas you already have and ask yourself: "What's the underlying problem that this idea of mine might be solving?" Get really crystal clear on what that is.

Let's pretend, just for the sake of this example, that your idea is creating an app that's going to connect people who need their houses cleaned with people that will actually clean them.

The real question you'd have to ask yourself, though, is: Do people want and need an app, or is there some underlying problem that I believe this app solves?

Maybe the problem is just that people struggle to find reliable cleaners that do a great job. Maybe they struggle with the payments or the interactions. Maybe the cleaners themselves are struggling to find repeatable clients.

You have to dig deep and figure out what the problem is. And once you have that, then you can start thinking about different ways to solve it.

Because just building an app that nobody wants, that isn't solving the underlying problem, is not going to get you anywhere. It's not going to be a real business. And ultimately, you're going to end up back at square one, where all you're doing is thinking and researching yet again.

This focus shift from solutions to problems helps avoid the trap of analysis paralysis, where we get stuck perfecting ideas instead of understanding what people actually need.

Step 2: Find a Solution You Can Actually Execute

Once you understand the core problem—or even if you just kind of understand what it might be—then you can start thinking about different ways you can solve it.

And I want to be crystal clear here: It needs to be something that YOU can solve.

One of the biggest mistakes that most aspiring entrepreneurs make is they fantasize about these elaborate solutions that they can never execute on. They want to use AI, they want to build an app, but if you're not a software developer, if you don't have the money to outsource its creation, then it's never going to happen.

You need to find a low-friction way, a way that you can actually get started today. And usually the answer to that is to start some form of a service business.

Don't get me wrong—software is incredibly profitable. The margins are great. Once you build it, people start subscribing to it, you're basically printing money. But there are no margins on an idea.

If you can't get your thing built, or if you have to spend two years teaching yourself to code before you could even get started, you're probably not going to actually make it.

So you need to figure out a way that you can do something today. Maybe you could be coaching or consulting. Maybe you just go and do the thing that you've been thinking about.

The Cleaning Business Example

Let's use our aspiring entrepreneur—the one that wanted to create the app for cleaners and people who need their house cleaned—as an example.

If you recognize that the problem was people needed to find reliable cleaners, and it was really hard to do on short notice, and since he can't build an app, he needs to find a different way to do it.

The simple thing to do would just be to start a cleaning business. Be the reliable cleaner. Make it easy to book you even on short notice, and you'd be in the game.

I want you to really think about that. I know this is a trivial example, but if he did that:

• It would take him a few weeks to set up a website
• He could be the cleaner before he hires anybody else
• Within a month or two, he could be generating real income
• Over time, it might be enough to quit his job
• He could take that money and reinvest it to outsource the creation of the app he wanted in the first place

And while he was cleaning and growing the cleaning business, he could be his own first user. He could be the one using the app. It might differentiate him locally. He would learn how to make it better.

When he was ready to roll it out with some big announcement, not only would it be already improved, but he'd have cash flow to support the marketing.

That's why service businesses can actually be the best way to get started, even if it's something you're shying away from right now.

This approach builds real entrepreneurial confidence because you're learning by doing, not just planning.

Step 3: Rethink Your Customer and Distribution

The final thing to do on any idea you've put through the past two steps—or even just any idea you have lying around—is to challenge who the real customer is or should be and how you're going to reach them.

A lot of people start out thinking B2C (business to consumer). They want to build something and sell it for $10, $20, $100. And if they can just get 1,000 or 5,000 people to use it, they'll be set for life.

But reaching that many people is incredibly difficult.

Sometimes taking that same idea and just finding a different customer is the way to succeed. Maybe instead of selling to individuals, you want to sell to businesses. Each sale may take a little bit longer, but it might be 10 or 100 times the size.

Or sometimes it's just thinking entirely differently about your distribution model.

The Office Building Pivot

I'm going to use my cleaning app example one more time because he's my new favorite guy.

Let's say instead of selling to individuals who need their house cleaned, or trying to win one business at a time, he realizes that there's a new opportunity.

Because of COVID, office buildings are pretty vacant. And there's a need from every developer, every landlord to find new tenants. They are desperately trying to make their building as appealing as possible.

So instead of trying to sell individually, maybe he sees his path to success going out and selling a package to those building owners so that they can bundle cleaning services in for all of their tenants.

Now, they have a new way to promote their office, to differentiate themselves from every other location and space people look at: "Join ours, pay our lease, and cleaning will be taken care of."

And that person, the guy who has the cleaning business, now every time he gets a sale, he actually gets hundreds, maybe even thousands of customers, depending on the scale and scope of the business he's selling to.

That one idea he had—the idea for a cleaning app—went from something that he couldn't even action to now maybe the biggest cleaning business in his area. Maybe it's so big that he doesn't even need to build an app anymore, or maybe that's an offshoot product that he does just for the fun and love of it.

Your Framework in Action

That's how you can take any idea you have—the ones that have been sitting and floating around in your head for years—and turn it into something you could get started this week, this month, something that could be earning you money faster than you ever imagined, and maybe even grow into something bigger than that app would ever be.

What I've seen over the past 20 years is that it's the complexity that stops people from chasing their dreams and making their ideas come to life.

Instead, all you need to do is follow those simple three steps:

1. Think about what the real problem is
2. Think about the simplest way you can solve it
3. Think about the different ways you can actually bring it to market

If you can do that, you can turn just about any idea into something that's successful.

The Real Test

Now, this framework isn't the only thing that's going to determine success. But it will help you avoid the most common trap: spending months or years building something nobody wants because you never clearly identified the problem you were solving.

The beauty of this approach is that it forces you to start with real problems and real solutions you can execute. No more waiting for the perfect idea or the perfect moment. No more elaborate plans that never get implemented.

Just problems, solutions, and customers. The three ingredients every real business needs.

And if you've been stuck in the idea phase, wondering if what you have is "good enough" to pursue, remember: the best business ideas often look boring from the outside. They're not revolutionary—they're just better solutions to real problems that real people will pay to solve.

So take your ideas through this framework. You might be surprised to discover that the business you should start isn't the one you originally imagined—it's the simpler, more actionable version that you can begin building today.

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Wondering if you have what it takes to execute on these ideas? Learn about the 3 signs you're wired to be an entrepreneur and discover your natural entrepreneurial strengths.

Ready to stop planning and start building? The First Step Entrepreneur program provides structured support for turning your ideas into real, revenue-generating businesses.