Seriously. What is your problem?

Now don't think I am having a go at you. What I am trying to say is that before you can come up with a revolutionary product or service that you think will make you so rich you will be able to retire in 18 months time, you have to ask yourself the question:

'What Problem Am I Solving With My Product Or Service'

Because without a problem no matter how good your product or service is, how many people will actually purchase it?

But Where Do I find These Problems

I think that if you started looking for problems you will see that there are a lot right underneath your eyes. This is something that I have been doing with a recent venture of mine. I had been wanting to start a new project that wasn't a blog, and I just couldn't get any ideas - because I was trying to think of a product before I thought of a solution. But then I was doing my daily rounds of my favourite forums and there seemed to be a lot of questions about blogging and how to get started - and it triggered an idea about an almost 'Dummies Guide' to blogging. That is how my new ebook 'A Beginners Guide To Making Money..From A Beginner Who Did' came about.
Here are a few ways that you can find a problem of your own:

1. Make a list of every complaint that you have.

Are you disappointed with the service that you got from a store, or the limited hours that they are open? If you find others complaining about the same thin, then you may have found your problem!

2. Listen To Others

For every time people say something good about someone, they most likely criticize twice as much. Use this as an opportunity to see if there is a way that you can fix their problem.

3. Read And Then Read Some More

Newspapers and magazines are full of problems that need addressing. Why not start a swipe file of all the ones that you think you can address, and then start researching them a bit more?

4. Brainstorm

With some friend, take some time to think of problems that you see and then bounce your ideas off of each other. With Brainstorming, no idea is stupid and you will need to turn your brain off for a second and just spit out idea after idea. Once you have a big list of problems it is then time to start reviewing the list and finding the ones that may work.

This is probably where most entrepreneurs go wrong, they start a business selling a product or service that does not solve a problem. If you take the time to find a problem that has made a lot of people unhappy, then you can look into a way to to give these unhappy potential customers something to smile about.