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New Business Ideas
New Business Ideas
Emerging trends
Familiarising yourself with emerging trends and consumer behaviour can be a fertile breeding ground for new small business ideas.
From mobile phone usage amongst Australian teenagers to ageing population trends, trend forecasts relating to a particular demographic group, geographic population, market segment or social behaviour can inspire powerful and timely new business ideas.
What to do:
- Subscribe to business journals and magazines.
Stay in touch with market movements, forecasts and trends both locally and across the globe.
- Read government reports and academic publications.
Get insights into emerging social and economic trends amongst particular demographic groups or markets.
- Translate trends into new business opportunities.
Capitalise on emerging trends. Spend some time brainstorming new business ideas, products and services that might plug into the new market trends you’ve identified.
- Gauge the relevance of your new business idea.
If you have an existing business idea, look at emerging trends and forecasts to determine whether your idea, product or service is timely and relevant.
Consumer trends and insights from around the world. Trends from the world's largest Trend Spotting, Cool Hunting, and Innovation Community. Australian Social Trends, 2007 A publication from the Australian Bureau of Statistics covering emerging social trends on a range of socio-economic areas. |
Market research
Market research is an essential tool for small businesses. Effective market research can help you to identify a hot new business opportunity or to test or refine an existing business idea.
In a nutshell, market research is the process of gathering and analysing information about market segments, consumer behaviour, demographics and competitors to make more informed business decisions.
There are two types of market research that you can use to identify a business opportunity or test a new business idea:
Primary research
Market information collected via consumer surveys, interviews, focus groups or by talking directly to consumers or other businesses.
Market information collected via consumer surveys, interviews, focus groups or by talking directly to consumers or other businesses.
Secondary research
Reviewing and analysing statistics and information that has been gathered for other purposes.
Reviewing and analysing statistics and information that has been gathered for other purposes.
What to do:
- DIY market research
With some market research experience or an existing customer base that you can draw on, you can conduct your own research using consumer surveys and questionnaires, focus groups, statistics analysis (e.g. website traffic and behaviour) or anecdotal information such as customer feedback and complaints.
- Conduct professional market research
Harness the expertise of market research professionals who have the experience, industry networks and technology in place to deliver comprehensive market research reports that you can transform into winning business ideas.
Australia’s official statistical agency |
Ideas Online
Take out the middle man – get new business ideas from those in the know. There are a number of websites and online sources that offer new business ideas and inspiration based on their own expertise, trends forecasting and analysis.
An online resource for small business and entrepreneurs featuring a business idea centre with new business ideas listed by industry, interest and profession. Online trend spotting hub with an extensive ideas database inspired by emerging global trends. A BLOG profiling new products and services in the web and technology space. The most popular marketing BLOG in the world offering timely market insights, inspiration and new business idea-starters. |
Your expertise and innovation
The starting point for many new business ideas often lies within you – the entrepreneur, inventor or innovator.
Draw on your own unique strengths, professional experience and expertise to develop new business ideas, product innovations or services.
What to do:
- Define who you are and what you want to achieve
Are you an entrepreneur looking to start up a new business, an inventor or innovator with an idea for a new or improved product or technology, or are you a business manager looking to expand an existing business via new products or service offerings?
- Analyse your strengths and weaknesses
What unique skills, experience, qualifications or other attributes can you tap into to generate a new business idea, product or service? And what are your limitations?
- Brainstorm your new business ideas
Brainstorm new business ideas with other people (trusted friends, family or business associates) to tease out their potential, trigger new ideas or to identify any weaknesses or fundamental flaws with your business idea.
- Protect your idea
Protect the intellectual property in your new business idea, invention or innovation by seeking professional legal advice and/or by registering a patent or trademark for a new innovation or invention.
Government organisation providing legal information and registration material for trademarks, patents, designs and intellectual property. |
Important - Read This: This information is intended to provide general information only which may not be applicable to your particular circumstances. You agree to access this information at your own risk and that First Point Media Pty Ltd is not liable to you for the content of the information or any reliance by you on this information.
