3 Simple Steps To Finding A Guaranteed-To-Be-Profitable Idea And Turn It Into Successful Business

Step One: Find Products With Existing Demand

Pick a product that already has existing demand. Don't try and create something brand new that you aren't sure people will buy.

Product Hunt is NOT a good place to look.

Why?

Because it gives a skewed idea of what is in demand. It's full of early adopters that are looking to try out new shiny things.

Instead, look at companies that have paying customers and see what they are selling.

Step Two: Differentiate Yourself

Naturally you've got to differentiate your business if you're going to convince people to buy from you and not your competitors.

There are four main differentiators that, in my nearly 20 years experience of marketing, selling & building products, actually work.

1. Market

The market you target with the product. If you can be the first to enter a new market with a product that has existing demand then you're going to suck up all of the revenue from that market.

Example: when I worked with a conference company in London, we took a financial industry conference that was already successful in Europe and created a Nordic region focused version. As the only Nordic region focused event of its kind, it became a huge success because Nordic financial professionals could only buy from us.

WOULD I RECOMMEND?

No.

If you find it then by all means go for it.

But finding a virgin, untapped market is a rare and difficult thing to do. There's a far easier option as we'll see.

2. Features

Having a different set of features/combination of features than your competitors.

Quite simple to understand. And it's what most entrepreneurs try to do.

WOULD I RECOMMEND?

No.

For the following reason:

It often leads to founders spending too much time building/tweaking their product & not enough time marketing

Most entrepreneurs (especially indiehackers) fall into the trap of thinking that their product is the key to growth.

Its not their fault. We've all been sold this idea that the best product on the market is the one that grows the most.

But its not true.

With the right growth strategy you don't need the best product on the market. You can grow with a ok, good or even terrible product.

As such, its best to avoid trying to differentiate by building an amazing product with better features.

3. Price

Being cheaper than your competition.

Again, self-explanatory.

WOULD I RECOMMEND?

No.

There is always someone that can go cheaper than you. As indiehackers, you are at the mercy of companies with bigger pockets that can afford to undercut you.

And ultimately, do you want to have to manage thousands of customers to make a few thousand dollars month?

You'll be making life a lot harder for yourself if you go down this route.

4. Brand

This is my recommendation.

Its the easiest to create & pull off.

Create a brand new and unique-to-you belief about the best way to achieve a desirable outcome - what I call a BLUNT belief.

And then build/adapt your product around that.

A couple of examples of this:

One-man lifestyle business Bullet Journal. The founder Ryder Carroll created a BLUNT belief that about the best way to be productivity that was unique to him. He then created products (notebooks, a mobile app, a book and a course) specially designed to help his customers implement that belief.

If those that believe in this approach want to buy products to help them implement it, they can only buy from Ryder for two reason.

1. Only his products specifically designed to help them implement it
2. He is the originator of the Bullet Journal approach. He is the only expert on the subject. Even if others copy his product's features, believers in his belief system only buy from him because he's the leading authority.

Personal budgeting software company You Need A Budget (YNAB). The founders, a husband and wife team, created a BLUNT belief that they used to manage their personal finances at home.

They then built an excel spreadsheet (which today has become a full blown SaaS app) around that methodology. If followers of their methodology want a product to help them implement it, they can only buy from YNAB because only their product is specifically designed for their unique approach.

BONUS: already have a product that has something unique about it? You can build a BLUNT belief around that uniqueness. Why bother? Because it makes your sales messages more persuasive, creates more word of mouth growth and protects your business from copycat competitors.

Step 3 - Market Your Belief

Market your belief, not your product.

People don't want to hear product pitches. They love hearing and learning new ideas however.

This enables your marketing to reach a wider audience and create believers.

Believers become passionate evangelists and help spread the word about both your belief and your business - helping create more believers.

These believers will then seek out products to help them implement this belief in their lives and, because your product is the only one that can help them (being specifically designed to help them implement the belief) they can only buy from you.

Want To Learn More About How To Create This Kind Of Belief?

Check out www.thebluntmethod.com to read a full explanation of this strategy, free case studies of some of the companies and startups that have used it and how to use it yourself to create and build a successful business.