Struggling with idea limitations
When looking to come up with an idea I can get behind, I often find myself pointing out certain reasons why I don't think the idea will work out. After doing this for various ideas, I've come to realize that I have all of these limitations that I place on myself and any idea I come up. Here are a few:
-
Skill limitation: I'm a web developer for a living, with the limited amount of time that I do have to work on a project, I feel like it makes the most sense to build a web based app/product, which rules out iOS/Android. I'm not saying I can't learn to create an iOS/Android app, just that it's more time consuming and would be less likely for me to complete.
-
Liability limitation: I'm always hesitant to get into a space in which your product/idea creates a huge liability. Things like healthcare, medical, hospitality, etc scare me.
-
First/Own customer limitation: I'm a pretty firm believer if you create something that solves a problem for yourself, you'll make a better product because you're a true user of the product and understand the need. Not to say this is necessary, just that it's helpful in iterating and making sure it's a solid product/solution.
-
Complexity/Knowledge limitation: This kind of falls in line with the previous one, if the space you're trying to solve a problem for is relatively complex, I'm often inclined to pass on the idea, especially if I'm not going to be a user of my own product. I want to make sure I have the knowledge/passion/interest around the problem space to stay motivated and involved to keep the idea going.
-
Sales/Monetization limitation: When it comes to one time sale model vs SaaS, I think one time sales are an easier sell than the SaaS model, so some kind of model to monetize a product is challenging. I could just create something as a hobby, but I think that would only take me so far.
There are probably more, but this is what comes to mind every time an idea comes up. I find some reason within the limitations above that make me turn away.
Does anyone else struggle with this issue? How do you approach it and look past certain barriers to allow your to pursue your ideas.
Your limitations all sound very sensible, I agree with all of them except avoiding SaaS. Monthly recurring revenue is much more valuable and stable than one-time purchases in the long term.
Even with the other limitations still in place, you're very lucky as a web developer. There are thousands of possible things to do with your skill-set which would also have you as a potential customer. The market of dev tools is huge and you don't need to invent anything new.
Just take something that exists and put your own spin on it, build it for a specific niche you can identify with or with specific values in mind. For example, I've seen multiple fellow IHs build privacy-first analytics products as an alternative to Google Analytics and other data-hungry services. The market is big for those tools so you won't have to worry too much about competitors.
That's just one example of products have have existed for centuries but can be re-imagined by you.
I recommend you take a look at @pjrvs Company of One, if you haven't already. He goes into more detail about building a business according to your own values.
You are one of the thousand devs who are amazed by the abundance of tools out there to create something anew, then realizing it's not that easy or fast (although it really is, compared to prior times, but so has competition also grown).
As for your skillset, I compliment you in the sense that I turned toward mobile development first (back before 6 years I thought it was easy to succeed with one shot success if you go mobile). I could not sell my apps to enterprise players quite successfully, though I ended up doing some pretty successful gigs on cheap freelance sites. Unsatisfied, I tried my hand at apps and games, then at marketing them (without spending a dime but just time).
At the end, I come to realize it takes time, and I cannot succeed without web: it has widest reach, it's there forever. And since mobile is partly dying with unification of platforms via open source (react etc), I kinda feel I lost my edge.
But even with all success in the web / SAAS space, you still need skill to reach out people (viz suppliers + customers), make them both satisfied, and grow gradually instead of waiting for that one magical shot to happen overnight.
That said, pinnacle in skills can land you a job in your dream company if you fail to go your own brave ways. Having learnt something never hurts.