Intro and Examples: Find a Million Person Problem
Maybe this number is too big or too small.
Forget about the money for the time being. Focus on finding the problem.
Find a small problem that a lot of people have. Uber is an example. Maybe $1 per call, but lots of people need a taxi.
WalMart – big company made from many small purchases.
Microchips – same thing. A lot of small sales.
Service market –
Angie’s List – small fees, but lots of people
TV – the price of programming is spread over a lot of viewers
Credit card companies – small transaction fees
Make your own list of companies that are making a small amount on each transaction, but have a lot of customers.
Every solution is a small slice of the market. You don’t have to solve all the problems in the marketplace. Just one. And you don’t have to be the only one either. May even be difficult to differentiate among you. It’s better if you’re the first mover, however.
After you find the problem, then figure out how to monetize it. (That training is for another time.)
To find that million-person problem, make a list of markets where there could be problems. Do not try out all of the markets. Pick one and stick with it. If it doesn’t work, then change. The problem may not be obvious. It could be that no one else knows about it.
Uber. Was that an obvious problem in the taxi market? We just assumed that you either looked for a taxi or rented a car. Never dreamed that there was a third solution.
AirB’n’B. Founder was looking for a room and wondered why there wasn’t a matching service.
You have to get into the market to find the problem.
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