How to find a good microstartup idea?
One of the most common questions I get from developers is about how to find a good microstartup idea. This is what I usually recommend.
What makes a good microstartup idea?
There are a lot of good ideas for microstartups. But most of them are not good ideas for you.
And as you (not anyone else) will be spending days, months, and hopefully years with the chosen idea, it's important that the idea fits you personally.
Why is it important that I choose the right idea for me?
If you choose an idea that is not the right one for you, there's a good chance you'll not find the necessary motivation and energy to continue working on it until you make enough money to go full-time.
It's much more likely to abandon a project that you started just for the reason to make money, not because you enjoy working with it.
But how do I know which idea is good for me?
This is something that you need to find out for yourself. And maybe you'll find it out by trying different things. Starting and abandoning side projects.
But when you work on things that you enjoy spending time on, wouldn't you inevitably end up with a product that you enjoy working on and thus will have to succeed?
And when it does succeed, you still enjoy working on it, because this was the reason you started it.
But when I don't have any ideas at all? Should I just wait?
There's nothing wrong with exploring different ideas and trying out things. In fact, this seems to be how microstartups work out. Their microfounders have been working on several different projects before they finally "succeed."
These are some of the ways I've found to be useful for exploring and trying out different ideas:
Be your own customer
Let's say you want to start building a Twitter following. Then, for example, you can build a Micro-SaaS that helps to grow your Twitter presence. And you not only build this for yourself, but you start offering this to other people for a monthly fee, so they could also grow their Twitter following.
A niche version of existing SaaS
One of the other ways to find Micro-SaaS ideas is to just look at big successful SaaS products. They've already proven that customers pay for the product.
And then you can build a small niche version of an idea you like. You can build out just a portion of this Big-SaaS product, and maybe offer it at a better price.
See what other microfounders are building
It can also be useful to browse startups built by other microfounders who share their revenue.
They've already proven that it is possible to build this particular SaaS as a solo developer. But keep in mind that while their idea can be a great fit for them, it may not be the right one for you.
HostiFi
Work With Indies
getBenson
Joyline.io
Queue
But I think it's important to not get caught up in finding The Right Idea. It's much more important to rather build something (anything!) than to just constantly think about different ideas without really trying them out.