A lot of work goes into starting a business: you need to draw up a business plan, find investors, get loans, and look for employees. Before all that, however, you have to come up with your idea for business. This could be a new product, service, or method, but it has to be something that customers will pay money for. Finding that great idea takes thought, creativity, and research. If you’re looking to be an entrepreneur, keep the following in mind when trying to come up with your business idea.

Think about what goods or services would improve your life.

Keep a list of your personal strengths and weaknesses in mind. When you look at that list, does anything come to mind that would improve your life? Spend some time considering your own experiences. With some time and creativity, you can probably identify several products or services that would help you.

Decide whether you’d like to provide a product or a service.

A new business idea will likely either be based around a product or a service. Each requires some thought and creativity. They both have advantages and challenges that you should consider before focusing on one or the other.

Identify a problem with the existing industry.

Frequently, businesses or inventions began because someone was frustrated with the current way of doing things. A good way to come up with a business plan is to look for these problems. If you’re feeling frustrated about something, it is possible that others feel the same way, which gives you a potential market. Perhaps no one in your area provides repair work for lawnmowers. Now you’ve identified a problem that you could remedy by providing that service.

Weigh your strengths and weaknesses in relation to your plan.

You may have a great idea, but no realistic way to implement it. Before moving on with, think about if you could really follow through with this plan. For example, if you think you could open a great restaurant, but have never worked in one before and never attended culinary school, this idea is pretty far out of reach.

Investigate if someone has already come up with your idea.

If you’ve thought of an idea, it’s very possible that someone else has also thought of it. As soon as you think you have a business idea, investigate if someone has already done it. You definitely don’t want to put months of work and financial investment into an idea, only to find out at the last minute that some has already done it. To avoid this, make sure you do thorough research and find out if your idea is truly original.

Investigate your competition.

If you do find out someone has already come up with your idea, don’t panic. Plenty of new businesses have a lot of competition when they start, and they beat it by providing a better service or product. Now you have to investigate your potential competition.

Talk to potential customers.

Once you’ve formulated what you think is a good idea and told a few close friends, you need to go out and see if there is a market for you. You can do several things to determine if anyone would actually patronize your business.

Identify risks and obstacles.

All business plans include risks, whether financial or personal. You could face numerous obstacles, from lack of funds, to a falling out with your business partner, to the breakup of your personal relationships. Prepare yourself for these potential risks. Look down the road and see what obstacles you might encounter. By thinking about potential risks, you can improve your chances of successfully overcoming them with your business intact.

Choose your best idea.

After carefully evaluating an weighing the different ideas you have, you should come up with one that is your best. This should be the one that you focus your efforts on. After choosing your best idea, start implementing steps to make it a reality.

Decide your business structure.

There are several different structures your business can take on. Each one has unique characteristics that will affect how you write your business plan, as well as your legal status. Some different options are a sole proprietorship, a limited liability corporation, and a partnership, to name a few.

Find funding for your business.

Unless you’re independently wealthy, you won’t be able to implement your business idea without financing. After drawing up your business plan, you’ll have to present it to investors to acquire the capital to start your business. You usually have two choices for getting capital: banks and private investors. Both have strengths and weaknesses, and you’ll probably end up using a combination of both.