Show Me a Market Problem and I'll Show You a Business Opportunity!

Successful entrepreneurs are primarily problem solvers.  They identify a problem in the market and develop a business strategy to meet that void. 

So when would-be-business owners approach me with a business idea that is the same old same old, I have a difficult time showing enthusiasm.  Me too businesses don’t become success stories.  

To be successful, you need to give people a reason to change their habits and buy from you instead of someone else.  That means you have to ask questions, listen and learn what the market wants but isn’t getting from any other provider.  It doesn’t mean you need to invent a new product or service, but you should add something of value to your market offering that allows you to stand out from the crowd.  You become a problem-solver.

After two successful careers, one as a CPA with KPMG and later on the fast-track in management at Toys ‘R’ Us, Allison O’Kelly found her executive level career unaccommodating when she became a new mom.  So she founded O’Kelly and Company providing tax and consulting services to small businesses.  As her work load increased, she began outsourcing to her talented and highly-qualified friends who were also at-home moms.  

That’s when she saw a problem and a business opportunity.  The problem was bifurcated.  Corporations needed professional level, turn-key talent and at home-moms had a desire to remain engaged and challenged in the professional world while maintaining work/life flexibility.  The market solution?  Mom Corps.  A staffing company which provides companies with a previously untapped pool of exceptional talent while at the same time allowing these professionals to pursue their professional careers without going back into the traditional career mode.  Today, the company has over 35,000 candidates, hundreds of Fortune 500 clients and six franchise locations.  

Will Hicklen’s wife, Sandy, passed away in July, 2008 from cancer. Their frustrations with the healthcare management process outside the hospital environment made Hicklen determined to dramatically change the system for others. 

 “When you need healthcare outside the hospital, all of the burden of scheduling and coordination falls upon the patient or loved ones,” Hicklen explains, “and although the health workers are adept at their skill, nobody seems to understand the big picture.  It’s a helpless and lonely feeling that I don’t want others to experience.”

A software engineer, Hicklen used his skills to develop a Healthcare Delivery Management software suite which includes home care scheduling and paperless work reporting.  In addition, his company, Ankota, is implementing a multi-tiered strategy to improve the management of care which includes advanced scheduling, GPS routing, mobile handheld and telephone work tracking, plus management of best practice care protocols.  

There are many unsolved market problems, and successful entrepreneurs will be there with the solutions.  Do you see your next opportunity?