The Business Idea Game

25 prompts to get your creative juices flowing

Photo by AbsolutVision on Unsplash

Idea generation and brainstorming is something that every entrepreneur goes through. There are many exercises, techniques, and methods for optimizing the brainstorming phase of building a business. If you have not had an opportunity to do so, check out my other article on how to leverage Twitter in the idea generation process.

Finding Business Ideas with Twitter

In this article, we will enhance the idea generation process by using a brainstorming game. The game involves randomly picking a prompt which will ask for a solution to a problem or a way to enhance something. Once the prompt is selected, a challenge modifier will be randomly selected using the roll of a die. The goal of the game is to provide a solution, no matter how zany or unrealistic it might be, to fulfill the requirement, all while remaining in the constraints of the challenge modifier. Are you up for it?

The Exercise

Below you will find 25 prompts in a “user story” format that are designed to be the kindling to a massive brainstorming fire. User stories are essentially feature requests for a system that are presented in natural language. They usually start with the perspective, or what individual or group is presenting the request, and will be followed by a request or problem.

User stories are great ways to frame problem statements and requests as they frame the perspective and request in a concise and predictable manner. They can be extremely broad-scoped or very focused. For example:

As a human, I want to improve my daily work routine.

This user story is very broad, but can be used as the basis for further refinement. Let’s look at a more focused user story:

As a restaurateur, I want a way to provide feedback and promote growth of the chefs in my restaurants.

Which can be further refined to:

As a restaurateur, I want a way for patrons to provide feedback to the chefs who cooked their meals.

The user stories you will find below vary in scope and focus, and run the gamut of different perspectives from multiple industries. Simply pick a number between 1 and 25, scroll to that number and that will be your starting prompt.

The Challenge

But we don’t stop with just prompts. What’s the fun in just selecting a prompt and finding an answer? We need a challenge involved as well. In addition to the prompt, there are 6 modifiers that are designed to further challenge your mind when brainstorming a solution. The reason for providing 6 modifiers is so that you roll a single die to determine the challenge. The challenges are as follows:

1. Cannot use software technology as the main focus: When brainstorming a solution to the user story, you cannot use software of any kind as the main focus (web applications, websites, desktop software, mobile apps, etc) to fulfill the request. Software applications can only act in a supporting nature.
2. Must be a service: The solution cannot be a product and must instead be a service. This means an intangible offering that involves an individual or group performing work or putting in hours to accomplish the goal. For the purposes of these prompts, we will consider solutions that involve “-as-a-service” offerings as products.
   Examples of services:
   - Consulting companies
   - Construction companies
   - Plumbers, electricians, mechanics, etc
   - Design companies (graphics, web design, architecture, etc)
3. Must be a product: The solution must be a product offering. This means that the solution must be a tangible or intangible product that involves upfront development, but the cost is not proportional to the amount of man hours involved. For the purposes of these prompts, we will consider solutions that involve “-as-a-service” offerings as products.
   Examples of products:
   - Software applications
   - Gadgets
   - Appliances
   - Physical devices
   - Household products
4. Must be disruptive: The solution must completely upend the way an industry, group, or society in general behaves. These solutions often require a large amount of capital and the ideas can often face lots of challenges such as regulatory burden, resistance to change, and/or development overhead. Hint: Don’t be afraid to get “crazy” with these solutions. The goal is to not provide practical solutions to the user stories, but to get the “creative juices” flowing.
   Examples of disruptive solutions/companies:
   - Netflix: Completely changed the movie industry
   - Uber: Completely changed transportation
   - Facebook: Connected people and communities
   - Blockchain: Decentralized finance and smart contracts
   - Robinhood: Allowed everyday individuals to trade on the stock market
5. Must be non-disruptive: The complete opposite of disruptive. These solutions should not require people or groups to change their habits and should be relatively straightforward to implement.
6. Must be focused on a local or regional market: Solutions with this challenge modifier should be focused intently on satisfying the needs of those in YOUR immediate vicinity. Consider the user story from the perspective of someone in your local community.

Let’s Begin

Pick a number between 1 and 25. Once you have your number, roll a die (or use this virtual die). Scroll to the number below that you picked and then based on the number the die landed on, apply the challenge modifier from the list above. Always remember, these are designed to get the fire started, so don’t get boxed into solutions that are easy to implement. Try the exercise multiple times and get out of your comfort zone and try ideas that are completely out of left field. If you would like an example, scroll to the very end of this article to see some helpful examples.

1. As a consumer, I want to be able to reduce my carbon footprint.
2. As a business, I want a better way to optimize resources so that I can switch to a four day work week.
3. As an artist, I want a better way to sell my art to interested individuals.
4. As a local chef, I want a way to experiment with multiple cuisines and share those experiences with customers.
5. As an individual with a nine-to-five job, I want a way to prevent burnout in my career.
6. As a college student, I want a way to get my financial life under control and have a solid understanding of where my money is going and how I can save money.
7. As a local business, I want to be able to reach local and regional consumers to improve foot traffic in my business.
8. As a commuter, I want a more efficient way to commute when I live and work in a gridlocked downtown area.
9. As a restaurant, I want a way to know which foods my customers like and don’t like.
10. As part of a wedding party, I want a way to write captivating toasts and speeches.
11. As an entrepreneur, I want a way to share ideas and thoughts with similar individuals.
12. As a business, I want to receive quicker feedback on new products and market experiments.
13. As a consumer, I want a better way to communicate with small online businesses that I purchase goods from.
14. As a parent, I want to ensure my teenager learns important life skills such as how to manage your money, how to file taxes, how to maintain a household, and how to apply for jobs.
15. As a caring consumer, I want a better way to easily donate to the charities I care about.
16. As a business owner, I want to be able to show my employees that I value them with small gifts of appreciation.
17. As a digital nomad (see definition if needed), I want to optimize the way I do remote work.
18. As a local business, I want a way to connect with other local businesses and to give each other a helping hand to mutually boost sales.
19. As a parent, I want a safe, fun, and engaging way for my kindergartner to learn structural engineering and building concepts.
20. As a working parent, I want an easy way to get healthy meals for my family that fits into my busy schedule.
21. As an entrepreneur, I want a better way to quickly memorialize ideas wherever I am so that I can come back to them later.
22. As a fitness enthusiast with a job that requires frequent, I want a portable way to maintain my healthy lifestyle.
23. As a household, we would like a way to easily track when certain repetitive chores or tasks are done.
24. As a family member with older relatives, I would like a way to stay connected with them through the pandemic.
25. As a consumer, I would like an easier way to garden and maintain seasonal plants that will stay alive.

Examples

• I picked #7 and rolled a 3.
  Prompt: As a local business, I want to be able to reach local and regional consumers to improve foot traffic in my business.
• Challenge: Must be a product
• Solution: The product will be a essentially a “pyramid scheme” for local referrals. Individuals can receive a limited run of QR code business cards from the business. They can share those QR codes with other individuals, upon which their overall awards will increase. As the people share their QR codes, the people who they originally scanned will receive additional rewards, all the way up the chain. This essentially creates a “contagion-like” effect that will (hopefully) spread like wildfire. The product will essentially track and manage this capability.
• I picked #19 and rolled a 5.
• Prompt: As a parent, I want a safe, fun, and engaging way for my kindergartner to learn structural engineering and building concepts.
• Challenge: Must be non-disruptive
• Solution: Create a kit that promotes recycling and engineering at the same time. The kit provides a set of tools and connectors that will allow children to connect pieces of cardboard, bottles, cans, etc to build structures like bridges, forts, towers, and tunnels.