The other day, I was sitting with a group of college students at Starbucks, we were talking about startups. They were thinking about what kind of business to start. A guy in an ice cream truck pulled up and the driver ran over to Starbucks. I joked as he ran by, “don’t you sell coffee flavored ice cream?” They all laughed as did the driver when he flung open the door and ran inside. “Maybe he’s just using the bathroom?” We all laughed again, and then watched him pick up his pre-made coffee that he must have ordered using his Starbuck smartphone app.
As he was leaving he told us as we sat at the outdoor table selling coffee flavored ice cream. I asked if I could buy a round of ice cream for the group. She apologized and said; “Today, I’m delivering Amazon packages, as a delivery contractor, my brother is using all of his vans, so I’m helping out, we’re very busy: Prime Day delivery!” Everyone was intrigued, and he started walking saying; “Chow” when he left, and he turned on the music for us as he walked away. What a great small business owner. We all laughed again, he was so busy he just needed more caffeine to end his hectic day.
Our group then brainstormed again about what might be smart business for a startup. I laughed and said, “Hey, you gotta watch out, we just saw a guy in a fucking ice cream truck delivering packages online because they didn’t have enough vans or people to help, that means there’s demand in the market not to be met.” “. I started by asking them a series of questions:
– How could you deliver more efficiently?
– How could you optimize the delivery business model?
– How could you revolutionize the package delivery business?
– How could you find other underutilized vehicles and people to deliver?
And then I reminded them that Amazon now has a market value of $1 trillion. I asked them about other observations they had just had.
– Why can’t that ice cream man deliver Starbucks?
– Why not start a drone business to deliver Starbucks and Amazon?
– Why not find out how to solve those delivery challenges with software, apps, drones, combination?
I reiterated; “Let’s face it, you know there’s unmet demand in the market for delivery startups and better options when you see an ice cream truck delivering packages online as an Amazon contractor.”
I explained to him that you have to observe everything and think. I explained that we can’t be too busy brainstorming to stop looking, clues are everywhere, right under our noses. If you have no ideas, look around you, read the newspaper, listen to people complain, think of things that would make problems go away for people, then try to find solutions to these challenges, solutions that you can make a profit on. .