If it has gone somewhere, then it must have arrived somewhere, a popular interpretation of the law of conservation of energy. Actually, it is hard to contradict such logic, but transferring it to money, we can say with confidence that if there is less money somewhere, then there is more money elsewhere. One may ask, what does a small business have to do with it?
It's simple, since the beginning of the year in Russia there has been a massive outflow of foreign, although it must be confessed, domestic capital. Money is slowly withdrawn, but the question remains where? And then I read an interesting article about the rapid growth of venture investments in startups in the United States, about that. Judge for yourself in 2014, venture investments in new projects reached 33 billion dollars, is it a lot or a little!
Depending on what to compare with, for example, the cost of South Stream, according to the latest data, should have been about $30 billion. Or Russia sells weapons per year for about 12-15 billion dollars, by the way, in total, military contracts (guaranteed) in the pocket of our military-industrial complex for about 32-34 billion dollars.
In fact, investors have invested in one year as much money in small businesses, and all startups can be classified as small businesses by American standards, as Russia can get from arms sales in 2 years. I think that the example is very significant.
In fairness, it should be noted that this year was a record year for venture investments in the United States, 4 years ago the amount of such investments in small businesses was 15 billion dollars. Today, with investments in new project on the territory of Russia, the situation is not very happy, but the issue of restoration is a matter of time. Although today you can try to look for investors, the main thing is to have the desire and good idea business.
It is worth remembering one thing, no matter how crazy, according to the environment, your business idea sounds, with a good approach, a business angel can believe in it and just give money. Here are 10 insanely original business ideas that American investors actually invested in.
No. 10 - startup called "Lawn Love". The principle of the service is damn simple, but everything ingenious is simple, said the founder of the project and was able to raise almost $ 2 million from business angels. The site acts as an intermediary and guarantor in the field of gardening services. The scope of operations carried out by the service includes lawn care, tree trimming, planting flowers, and so on, in general, everything related to gardening. The service works like this:
- The customer enters information about the site, type of work, address;
- The service selects a specialist in a given area;
- The customer pays for the work through the service
- The contractor contacts the customer and performs the work;
- The contractor receives money for the work;
The service acts as a guarantor of the quality and timeliness of the provision of services, if the work was done poorly, the money is returned or the work is redone.
Conclusion, this idea business looks very original, but quite realistic for implementation in large cities of Russia. Moreover, in our conditions, it is not necessary to attract millions of dollars for a startup, the entire organization may require ten times less.
No. 9 Online shopping it is impossible to surprise anyone, they have become commonplace, but some of them still managed to attract $ 7 million. This is a store with goods for children's creativity, ready-made sets for parties. Business angels not only believed in the idea, but also financed it well.
The idea, of course, is not very original or new, but I was personally interested in a number of its moments, I think that before the end of the week I will lay out my vision, I want to try to “push” the idea.
No. 8 Another e-commerce startup poppin. The main feature of this project was the use of color schemes, in fact, a typical online stationery store. The main "trick" was the sale of stationery of different colors, roughly speaking, from a wide range of different manufacturers they sell one type, but in all colors. Venture funds liked the idea, the trading platform stood out among its competitors, as a result, in 2014 alone, they received $17 million in investments.
Decisions to trade exactly in stationery of different colors, a rather innovative approach, and the most interesting thing is that with a probability of 70-80% one can expect that such a project may turn out to be profitable in Moscow or St. Petersburg. In other cities, it is unlikely, at least in the near future, but in large metropolitan areas, the "trick" can work.
#7 ranked another internet startup called Paintzen. Initially, the project was positioned as an intermediary service for repairs, according to the usual scheme, in which the customer and the contractor are connected. But life made its own adjustments and business angels agreed to provide the project with 2 million dollars only for a detailed painting service. The essence remained the same, to be an intermediary, but only in a narrow niche. Painting and painting works were chosen as a niche. What attracted investors? The presence of its own "zest", or rather an additional service that allows you to choose or select a color, type of paint, and so on. Actually using the service, the client receives everything from consultation to the painting itself. It was this format that turned out to be successful for investments.
I will not comment, I will say one thing, there are chances to implement something similar in Russia, but again, only in the area of large cities.
No. 6 place goes to a very non-standard business idea for using new methods of processing large mass data (big data). Astute entrepreneurs have used off-the-shelf tools and database techniques to help those who want to get pregnant. Hormonal cycles, physical activity, stress and a number of other parameters are taken as initial data and gives out periods when it is best for a woman to become more active. The Glow service idea hit the spot and raised over $2 million. Such a strong interest of investors is quite understandable, the volume of the market for assisted conception services is growing at a tremendous pace and there is enough money for everyone.
The service is in English, but most likely they will soon launch either an analogue or just a Russian version, with a 100% guarantee we can say that the idea will be popular in Russia as well.
No. 5 place, idea with surveillance in one form or another, has always been a success. There are many reasons from the banal human love for spy games, to the very real concern for children or property (for example, a car). The main problem of such services is the line between freedom and law. Indeed, de facto, the collection of data on movement can be used not only for good, but also vice versa, no matter how it was, the Tile startup managed to raise more than $ 16 million for the implementation of a project to develop key fobs with a tracking function via bluetooth and a corresponding application for smartphones .
No. 4 place goes to ideas related to a healthy lifestyle. Popularity healthy lifestyle life is difficult to overestimate, and the trend is not only positive but also really growing. When parsing the most popular business of ideas of 2014 in Europe, several directions at once fell into the category of the best. The Americans went even further and created a delivery service for ingredients for such Plated food. The essence is simple, the customer is delivered all the components of a healthy lunch, dinner or breakfast from the existing menu. Provided with the components step by step recipe its preparation, the main feature is the fact that the average cooking time for such a healthy meal does not exceed 30 minutes.
No. 3 place next internet service has managed to raise as much as 16 million venture capital money. The founders were not cunning for a long time and created an application that allows you to trade stocks via a smartphone, the service is free, but buying the application itself will cost a symbolic $10. It remains a mystery why business angels are interested in a startup? The answer is in the presence of its own "zest", the fact is that the service is going to earn on two related services:
On the one hand, clients can lend money for trading. Of course with a commission. Such a financial scheme has justified itself in Forex and brings very large profits.
On the other hand, for an additional fee, VIP clients will be provided Additional services. The scheme is also working and has proven itself very well in online games.
As you can see, two well-proven earning tools at once forced investors to fork out a lot.
No. 2 record holder can be considered the BlaBlaCar project, we are talking about the companion search service. The project itself is not new, it successfully started in 2006, and in this venture funds invested another 110 million dollars in further development. By the way, the Russian version of the service is also working today, in which you can easily find a fellow traveler or arrange a trip on the cheap.
No. 1 is perhaps the most original way to legally invest money in the drug industry was invented in the United States. New startup Eaze is nothing more than a medical marijuana delivery service. Investors were not embarrassed by the thin line between good / bad, according to the law in some states, marijuana is legalized as a painkiller, and they invested $ 1.5 million in the project. Interestingly, the service guarantees delivery within 10 minutes within the city.
These are ten original ideas for business implemented in the USA with the help of business angels. One can only add that at least half of them can be implemented in Russia
Interesting on this topic
International publishing project " Russian newspaper» Russia Beyond The Headlines (RBTH) ranked the TOP-50 most ambitious Russian startups in 2015. This year the ranking includes young Russian companies with development potential abroad.
RBTH has been ranking new startups since 2012. the main objective project is to inform foreign investors and consumers about the potential and services of Russian technology companies. Traditionally, the rating includes companies that would like to enter or are already entering foreign markets, and startups with Russian participation abroad.
Startups included in the ranking were selected according to the following criteria: the interest of foreign investors, the uniqueness of the idea, the demand of foreign consumers for the products and services offered, the potential for commercialization, and social significance, that is, the desire to improve people's lives with the help of technology. TOP-50 was made up of more than 200 Russian startups that met the requirements of the project authors.
The rating includes the Russian-Ukrainian startup 2for1, aimed at the US market. The project was founded by businessman Alexei Romanenko, who lives in San Francisco. 2for1 is a service that brings together the best deals from the 15 most visited online stores in the US and Europe.
The application is designed for fashionistas and fashionistas from the middle class, who will be able to see the goods selected by the service with discounts of more than 50%. At the same time, 2for1 does not position itself as a retailer, calling itself a "filter" for buyers.
Another participant in the rating was the technological project "3D Bioprinting Solutions", which was founded by the Chairman of the Board, Director of INVITRO Group Alexander Ostrovsky and biologist Yusef Khesuani. The project is a biotechnology research laboratory that explores the topic of 3D organ bioprinting and creates its own products.
For example, 3D Bioprinting Solutions created the first Russian 3D bioprinter FABION, a software and hardware system designed to print living functional three-dimensional tissue and organ constructs.
The project in the field of ecology invites users around the world to monitor the air quality in their region of interest. A startup called AeroState uses simple technology Web API is an application programming interface.
The rating includes the AstroDigital project, a platform for accessing satellite data that provides fast and convenient search, as well as the integration of satellite photos on the Internet and mobile applications.
Another participant in the rating is a service for yachtsmen or those who wish to join this culture. In other words, with the help of the Anchor.Travel portal, anyone can rent a boat, boat or yacht, as well as offer someone their own water transport. The service works by analogy with Airbnb and provides for direct communication between users and yacht owners.
Russian scientists have made a breakthrough in medicine by launching the AntioncoRAN-M project, a gene therapy anticancer drug designed to treat head and neck cancer. According to the results of preclinical studies, the drug increases the effectiveness of radiation therapy by 63%.
Another drug that has taken a place in the Rossiyskaya Gazeta rating is Ivix, also known as women's Viagra. CA drugs - women with sexual dysfunction. While Ivix is at the testing stage, however, it has proven itself well in animals.
The TOP-50 includes the Сardberry project, which will help people save space in their wallets. Engineers are working on electronic card, which can replace a whole stack of discount cards, synchronizing with the application of the same name via Bluetooth. The project received 800 pre-orders for 2016 and is currently in the funding phase.
Contactless payment provider CardsMobile has teamed up with British startup Tedipay to develop an open platform for secure transactions. With the help of the technology, it will be possible to make any payments, including payment for transport, meals, etc. To do this, you only need a smartphone, which the authors of the idea call a “wallet”.
An online auction for selling cars called Caprice is an analogue of the foreign portals Webuyanycar, WirKaufenDeinAuto and Al wataneya. The creators of the domestic auction promise that with the help of the service you can sell a car in half an hour.
In 2015, a Siberian startup raised $1.4 million to create the first batch of 3D pens called CreoPop. The pens contain a new photopolymer ink that cures under UV light.
The rating includes the CrocoTime project, a program for HR professionals that tracks up to 10,000 users simultaneously. The service offers automated employee monitoring for fees ranging from $14 to $50.
Among the most ambitious startups is the Russian private space satellite manufacturer Dauria Aerospace. In 2015, the Chinese investment fund Cybernaut invested in the development of the project, which gave the company $70 million, pursuing ultimate goal track the life of one of the largest cities in the world.
Institute of Catalysis G.K. Boreskov SB RAS developed the EcoCat technology. Project helps reduce heating costs industrial premises 4 times.
A project called Ecwid can change the e-commerce industry: it is an AJAX-powered online store platform that allows you to develop a site for an online store for free in a few minutes.
Another member of Elbi is an application created by supermodel Natalia Vodianova. The mobile service allows you to send £1 or $1 donations to charities around the world.
The rating also includes the Russian analogue of numerous instant messengers and social networks FireChat; in 2015, the number of registered users exceeded 5 million. A new version allows users to exchange private messages and in group chats.
Attracted the attention of the authors of the rating and the Russian version virtual reality from FIBRUM. Engineers have created a headset in which the main element is not expensive materials, but an ordinary smartphone.
The list of the best startups included the IBOX project, an innovative solution that allows customers to accept cash and non-cash payments without cash equipment and terminals.
iBuildApp
intersoft Eurasia,
iBuildApp is a platform that allows businesses to build mobile applications for iOS and Android in minutes. This service already has 1.3 million users, including the US Department of State.
One of the participants in the rating was the startup Intersoft Eurasia, which develops cross-platform devices for monitoring human radiation exposure. The company offers several options for devices and their integration: a compact device-addition to a mobile device, a processor built into the mobile phone circuit, and watch-dosimeters.
Intui.Travel travel service helps travelers book a hotel and find an airport transfer. With the application, users can create a route to any place.
Cloud video surveillance service Ivideon designed to work with already installed cameras, including personal computers and laptops.
Kribrum has developed a social media monitoring system. The project is a tool for analyzing various references in the media. In 2015, the startup raised generous investments — more than $600,000. The system is aimed primarily at PR and marketing services.
Another participant in the rating is the Kuznech visual image search system, which allows you to track brands in the media stream, filter "adult" content, control offline merchandising, etc. The project supports video recognition and is adapted for smartphones.
The list of the best includes the well-known project LinguaLeo, an online service for learning languages. Now the portal has about 12 million registered users who study English language. The service is available to Russians, Brazil and residents of Turkey.
The Forest Watch project is a security system that allows you to prevent and track forest fires. The startup covers 33 regions of Russia and Bulgaria.
The Luka app provides recommendations for over 2,000 restaurants in San Francisco. With the help of an SMS conversation, the service finds out whether you are a vegetarian or a fan of cheese, after which it issues a list of establishments that suit your tastes.
Startup Mailburn proposes to flip the standards business correspondence using ambiguous patterns. Almost 80% of the app users work outside of Russia, and the majority of the audience comes from the United States.
One of the TOP-50 participants was the MarketMixe project - a platform for trading from suppliers' warehouses with individual data processing for online stores and trading floors online. MarketMixer automatically processes the price lists of suppliers and prepares a selection of goods for sending to the online store showcase
Startup Nanosemantics is a developer of a natural programming language that should be used on websites in chats with its representatives. The main key of the project is the laid-back human language in which bots communicate with site visitors.
Optograd Nanotech company, which is working on strengthening products. The technology of nanostructural modification of the surface of materials and alloys using a laser was recognized as one of the best startups.
The N-tech.lab project, created at the University of Washington, allows face recognition, surpassing other systems in terms of quality and speed of work.
Another one payment system, which will make life easier for users - PayQR. With this online banking and QR codes, you can make purchases in seconds.
A product that may replace architects and designers in the future is the Planner 5 D app. It allows you to design a house and interior even before construction begins, from walls to furniture.
Startup Prixel will give anyone the opportunity to become a collector of the most famous paintings for symbolic money. To create paintings, the company uses a 3D scanning technique that allows you to create exact copies. Prixel already has customers in the US, Mexico, Europe, Canada, South Korea and other countries.
One of the most positive startups in the rating is the Panda Money service, which is essentially online banking. However, it differs from other projects in the presence of a small character - a panda, which "feeds" at the expense of user payments.
Promobot is a robot designed for retail, which has to identify people's speech and recognize them appearance. Thus, the robot can help existing customers and find new ones.
Online cleaning service Qlean has raised over $327,000 in investments and plans to expand into the Asian market.
Relap is a B2B service aimed at increasing the time visitors spend on the site. The system recommends them using built-in widgets. The creators of the project promise that they will be able to increase the number of clicks up to 30-50%.
Apple, Facebook, Google, SpaceX - all these projects started as simple experiments - these ideas seemed just crazy, but they tried to bring them to life anyway. Here are 20 more successful projects in which their founders were engaged in addition to their main activities.
For many people, changing course is also a sign of weakness. This is tantamount to admitting that you don't know what you are doing. This seems especially strange to me. I believe that a person who cannot change his point of view is dangerous. Steve Jobs often changed his views depending on the situation, and I do not know anyone who considered him weak, ”writes Ed Catmull in his book Genius Inc. How to manage a team of creative people.
The founder of Apple (and 20 other people, whom we will discuss below) were not afraid to go after their ideas. Even Y Combinator - the most successful business incubator in the world - asks candidates to submit their side project idea when applying (and many are chosen to implement their idea, instead of the company's idea).
Product Hunt
Is it necessary to have technical knowledge to open a business in this area? How about a business that is in the business of discovering new tech products? For Ryan Hoover, founder and CEO of ProductHunt, this has never been a problem. ProductHunt is a platform and community that helps people discover new tech products and interact with their team. Instead of agonizing over the technical aspects of his side project, he simply decided to do what he knew how to do:
“I wasn't an engineer so I wasn't going to invest time or money into building an entire website from scratch, but I could easily make a list of email addresses. So I did. Through the mailing list, I invited several hundred investors, founders and my friends who, in my opinion, would like my project and who had a nose for technical products.
Within a few years of launching the startup, ProductHunt had grown into a community of hundreds of thousands of users. AngelList recently acquired ProductHunt for $20 million.
groupon
How did a social network for activists evolve into a $1 billion collective discount service for 45 countries? And all this happened in just two years after the launch. Groupon's path to success is a bit strange and winding. However, it defines the spirit of this startup.
Initially, the project was called The Point. The platform was aimed at bringing people together around a certain action. One day, the founder of the platform, Eric Lefkofsky, saw how users came together in a large group to buy a product and get a discount. After that, the company began to develop as Groupon. The economic crisis of 2008 prompted Lefkofsky to launch Groupon in Chicago, and we already know the rest.
Now almost everyone has it. Previously, Twitter was a small side project of Odeo. Initially, it was used as an SMS service for a small group of employees. The project did not seem interesting to the press and investors then, despite the support of CEO Evan Williams. Here's what TechCrunch wrote about him ten years ago:
“What is this company doing to make their offer attractive? How do their shareholders feel about side projects like Twttr when their main product is a total bore? Only the design is good."
Then they could not even imagine what the founders of Odeo built new business that has changed the way we communicate online.
Craigslist
Craigslist (America's counterpart to Avito) is immortal. Let it not be attributed to the list of top tech companies However, it is worth saying a few words about the platform, which has been a great success in the American market for 20 years. But where and when did it all start? In the early 1990s, Craig Newmark, an IBM employee who had just moved to San Francisco, compiled an email list for local events (Craig's list, you know?). Craig thought the list would help him meet new people. The idea was picked up, the list became popular. People began to use it not only for meetings. In the future, this inspired Craig, and he left his job and took up the development of Craigslist. Today this company is worth $1 billion.
Unsplash
What do you do with the leftover photos from the landing page photo shoot? Create storage for royalty-free photos, of course. When Canadian startup Crew hired professional photographer for shooting, the photos turned out to be more than necessary. But instead of letting the photos get lost somewhere on the hard drive, the employees posted them on the site and gave them away for free. Then one HackerNews post went viral all over the internet and the photo was downloaded more than 50,000 times. Today, Unsplash has tens of thousands of amazing photos available for free download. Unsplash has become the place to go for free images.
AppSumo
You don't need a lot of money to create your own side project. Check out AppSumo, a site for daily deals in digital goods and services. The site was launched for a small amount - $50. Noah Kagan, the founder of AppSumo, in an interview shared a story about how he learned about the need to create a discount site for online companies. Then he was doing marketing for mint.com. He invested his own money (plus $20 in cash from his mom) to create a landing page and collect email addresses. In the first year, the company's value reached $1 million.
Oculus
There are many stories about how famous companies started their journey in garages: Apple, Google, Amazon, HP. And Oculus. After a long day at the California State University Mixed Reality (MXR) Lab, founder Palmer Lucky was heading to the garage to try and build the future of virtual reality. After one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns, Luckey quit his job, dropped out of school, and sold Oculus to Facebook for $2.4 billion, $400 million in real money, $2 billion in Facebook stock (before they even had a product).
Houzz
If you're looking for something related to home renovation or decorating, you'll most likely come across a listing on Houzz. The community serves over 40 million monthly users and employs approximately 1,000 employees worldwide. However, they started very modestly. One day, the founders of the company, the family of Adi Tatarko and Alon Cohen, while doing repairs, faced a lack of resources for home improvement. This prompted them to create their own. Their first users were twenty parents from the school where the children of Adi and Alon went, several architects and designers. Today the company is worth $4 billion.
Khan Academy
While teaching his relatives, Salman Khan, the founder of the educational platform Khan Academy, received a slightly ambiguous compliment: his students suggested that he meet online rather than in person. Khan did not ignore this remark, it only stuck in his head. So he started making ten-minute Youtube videos on subjects ranging from biology to art. At the same time, he worked as a hedge fund analyst. As the Youtube activity began to take off, Khan left his job and now has over 100 employees under his leadership.
gumroad
How do you know you've got a killer side project idea? If you dropped out of college, somehow became the fourth employee at Pinterest, then quit your job to make this idea a reality, this is definitely it. The same thing happened to Sahil Lavigna. While working as a designer at Pinterest, he realized that selling digital products online was unnecessarily difficult. He tweeted his idea for approval and then created his side project Gumroad over the weekend. Now a platform for the sale of digital products (from mailings to generating discount coupons) in the West everyone uses it - from Eminem to Tim Ferris.
GitHub
"It all started with a domain, a cheap server from Slicehost, and some stock art." Before GitHub became a $1 billion company, founders Chris Vanstrass and PJ Hiett built websites for a portal dedicated to computer technology, CNET. They didn't like the fact that it was so difficult to make changes to open source codes. So they created their own repository while working nights and weekends. To date, their side project has hundreds of millions in venture capital and approximately 20 million users.
We Work
One of the most important startups in the world may not have come into being at all. Before founding WeWork, Adam Newman sold children's clothing with knee patches in a small building in Brooklyn. According to Newman himself, at that time he "was mistaken and directed his energy in the wrong direction."
As an additional income, Newman and his partner rented space in the same building for little money and opened a “green” coworking space there. With the proceeds from the sale of their stake in Green Desk (the original co-working company), they founded a new co-working space. Today it is worth $20 billion and is coming to Russia this year.
Udemy
How many happy IT consultants do you know? Most likely, in your circle, they either do not exist at all, or they are all unhappy. When Gagan Biani wanted to leave the consulting company Accenture, he took up a part-time job - Udemy, where he was one of the founders. This is a platform where anyone can create and sell their online course. Today, he's probably happy, because Udemy offers 42,000 courses and is worth over $170 million.
Remember Slack, which created its own messenger within the company, because nothing that existed on the market suited them. Or the Houzz founding family, who built their network because they couldn't find the resources to fix it. Whatever you choose, in any case, there will be a few people who will think the same way as you. Don't dismiss the idea of a side project just because you feel like you're the only one who needs it.
2. Listen to the market
When Twitch first started, it never prioritized the gaming community. But when the founders saw more and more people streaming their games every day, they realized that this is what people want. At the very beginning, Groupon, then The Point, never set itself the goal of making money. He only wanted to unite for the sake of some social action. But once users banded together to get a discount on a product, the creators of Groupon saw the full potential.
3. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty
WeWork, Buffer, HubSpot, Imgur and Oculus - their founders weren't 100% sure what they were doing, but they took the risk anyway.
The truth is that you should just try - then any startup mistake can be prevented. Start small and see if your idea works. Create, for example, a landing page or a blog, send out cold letters to 100 potential buyers and see if they like your idea. Side projects are a great way to test the waters before getting serious about your next idea.
4. Colleagues and partners can validate ideas in the same way as users
Startup founders are often advised to get their ideas approved by real users. This, of course, is important. But when you're looking for ideas for side projects or just want to figure out if you're on the right track, it's important to listen to the inside as well. Talk to the team, employees or partners about the problems they are facing, even if those problems are not related to your company.
Planio as a company that creates a project management tool, it is very important to be even more productive and efficient. Therefore, they made it a rule to seek confirmation within the company before developing and releasing new features.
5. Moment matters
What's great about side projects is that there's usually no outside pressure. They can be launched at any convenient time. But this does not mean that you can just sit and wait for the “right moment”.
Side projects are a chance to explore the future. This is a chance to take advantage modern instruments to create such applications and products, the need for which, perhaps, no one has yet guessed. Think of Instagram, which was created solely because of the hype around location-based services like Foursquare. Subsequently, Instagram became the most popular social network to share photos.
Or even Oculus. Taking advantage of advances in technology and the imagination of people, they restarted an entire industry. All this happened because the founders looked to the future. At the same time, they did not forget to follow the course of events. It was important for them to know that they were directing their energy to the right side project, that it would not be wasted.
So what does it all mean?
Side projects are an incredible source of inspiration, a way to experiment. Often the business ideas at the heart of side projects are better and more interesting than your current activity. Why not try?
When youth, creative thinking and the desire to make money combine, it's time to think about creating a new idea that would be useful. modern society. The main criteria for this are novelty, social significance, usefulness. The chosen idea should be of interest, only then it will find a place under the "sun of the modern business world."
What is a startup?
The term "start up" itself is of English origin and is translated as the beginning of the process. Today, this concept defines projects at an early stage of development.
For the first time this term was used in the USA in 1939 during the development and discovery innovative technologies. After that, this word migrated to other areas, the main thing is that the idea is new (regardless of direction). For example, in Russia you cannot call it a startup. But Facebook, Google, Amazon - bright examples because they contain innovation and creativity. By the way, many well-known corporations that were presented as startups began their existence as small businesses.
The main differences and characteristics of startups
Startup is:
- A new project that has just started its development. There are no specific time parameters during which a business is no longer considered a startup. But each of them has its own fate - one grows into a powerful business, the other simply closes due to irrelevance.
- Idea innovation;
- Work in a new market segment, an unusual algorithm for doing business and business processes;
- Constant search for capital. No profitable venture will exist without monetary influences, so the essence of a startup is to find an idea that would attract investors in 2016. Large capital is needed to introduce and develop new ideas, therefore financial questions are always in the first place in the development period;
- The rapid implementation of the chosen idea is one of the main conditions for a modern startup. Investors who have invested in an innovative project will not wait forever, so they need the result in a short time. Either the chosen startup will start to progress, receiving new sources of funding, or it will close just as quickly.
Is it possible to create a successful startup?
Examples of successful startups
A successful startup is not just a business plan with a specific algorithm of actions. The creators of such projects claim that this is a whole philosophy in which the soul of its creators is invested. Consider examples of the brightest startups.
The inscription on the sand - kind, reasonable, romantic
“A business devoid of human feelings and emotions is a dead business,” say the creators of the Sand Sign project. The essence of the idea is to create an Internet service that allows anyone to order an inscription on the sand on the beaches of Costa Rica or the Hawaiian Islands.
In order to use the service, you need to go to the site and indicate the text that will be written on the coast (up to 30 characters), or make a sketch yourself, indicating all the design features. Within 10 days you will receive the desired inscription on the sand and its photo (or video). The cost of this service is 590 rubles for a photo and 990 for a video.
Those who are not interested in developing new ideas can do.
"Social alarm clock" - business in real time
Hrachik Adzhamyan (the developer of this startup) once overslept due to workload and did not receive a visa to Germany. A few months later, he overslept again and missed his dream job interview with Yandex. This situation prompted the creation of his new useful service- social alarm. The bottom line is that instead of an annoying call, to which most of us may not respond at all, an unknown person will call you and ask you to wake up. According to the creators, this is the only way to wake up the most inveterate dormouse. You can use this service today for free. But those who wish to use the social alarm clock daily can purchase a paid package in 2016, in which they can wake up with the voices of the stars or read horoscopes, news, etc.
Startup "To each other"
The developers of this idea were graduates of the St. state university. Initially, the idea was that people leave their desires, and they choose the ones they like and bring them to life, giving joy to others. But it was not possible to cope with such a flow of desires, so the project was transformed, and the registered users of the project themselves embody each other's desires.
The project "To each other" is innovative and meets the modern realities of Russia. The essence of the idea is aimed at the fact that it is possible not only to fulfill dreams, but also to help in the search for someone who will fulfill them. The initial capital required to implement such a business is $50,000.
"Button of life" - help to relatives
According to statistics, 30% of older people over the age of 65 fall at least once a year, some of them are not able to stand up on their own. The theme of supporting loved ones became the basis for the creation of the Life Button startup. This project combines a call center, website and software, which helps to monitor the elderly and help in difficult times.
How it works:
- instant signal reception in the call center if the company's client is in trouble;
- calling an ambulance to the place where the signal was received;
- informing relatives about the incident;
- storage of information about diseases, allergies, medical assistance call histories.
"Life Button" is also a powerful monitoring system that helps to determine the location of a person. Elderly people are the most vulnerable, they are often lost, they can forget the address or be robbed.
Now everyone can help their elderly relative, if it is not possible to constantly be with him. The cost of such a service depends on the chosen package and is 200-1100 rubles per month.
"Super bowler" - we ask everyone to the table
The idea of the "Super Pot" is simple and straightforward. Any person who has the potential and passion for cooking can cook their favorite dish, take a picture of it and post it on the company's website super-marmite.com, describe a "culinary masterpiece". After that, the cost and the address where you can buy it are indicated. All that remains is to wait for bold and hungry customers who are not against culinary experiments.
Stages of startup development
Each business project in Russia has its own development path. If you don't know, you'll probably go with the standard methods.
Since a startup involves an innovative idea, the algorithm for implementing and developing a small business can be different, not always logical. However, it is worth highlighting overall strategy development, which consists of the following stages:
- Idea creation. At the first stage, the idea of the provided product or service is formed, hypotheses are built about the significance for people, ways of promotion.
- Testing. The chosen direction is checked, the potential is analyzed client base, a presentation is created and a business plan is drawn up.
- Search for an investor. An individual who seeks profitable start-ups and directly provides capital to such early-stage start-ups is called an angel investor. Your task is to present the project in such a way as to find interested people who will agree to finance a startup, for example, by providing a radically new look.
After the launch of the project, the main task is to interest a potential buyer, to promote your services or goods. The main problem at the start is the lack of demand for products. Therefore, at the very beginning it is recommended to analyze beneficial features selected material, evaluate its availability and relevance.
Who can support a startup in Russia?
All the developed countries in 2016, they allocate funds to support and develop start-ups, since each of them can create economic growth in the future. The most advanced country in this direction is the United States. It has a large number of business schools, technoparks, universities, venture funds that are constantly “hunting” for new ideas and developing small businesses. Russia is a little behind in this direction. But in 2016, there are a number of companies, associations that are interested in financing profitable projects:
- National Association of Business Angels. On their official website, you can find a list of business angels (private investors) who are developing startups.
- National Commonwealth of Business Angels. Visit their website and read expert recommendations, apply for funding, and become a member of a business incubator (specialized programs for small business development).
- Skolkovo Investors Club;
- SOBA (National Commonwealth of Business Angels of St. Petersburg).
There are well-known private investors who are considering cooperation proposals with creative young people. These include Alexander Aivazov, Alexander Vashchenko, Andrey Golovin, Dmitry Maslenikov, Vadim Kulikov, Leonid Volkov, Mikhail Paulkin, Sergey Gribov and Sergey Zhukov.
Having contacted one of the investors, get ready that you will have from 1 to 5 minutes to present the idea. As a rule, business angels are not interested in diagrams and graphs at the first meeting. Their task is to find out the essence of the project, to evaluate its profitability. Therefore, they prepare a small presentation for 10 slides, a teaser (description on 1 page) and a financial plan with them.
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Startup is innovative idea, which is becoming a great prospect for enterprising and resourceful people who do not have financial opportunities. The dynamic sphere of business in Russia, like in other countries, is oversaturated, it is dominated by the laws of fierce competition and constantly changing demand. That is why innovation and creativity are valued in 2016. A startup gives rise to new directions, becomes socially significant for society, and, most importantly, opens horizons for ambitious businessmen. The key advantage is accessibility. You can find investors both in Russia and abroad. The main thing is to find a really profitable idea and build a competent plan for its promotion.
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Ideas for startups: the "freshest" ideas from all over the world - 3 keys to success + TOP-5 ideas from around the world + 3 startup ideas from Russian developers.
Why startup ideas are gaining more and more popularity in the business sphere and bring the owners whole capital?
First of all, because they offer absolutely new, innovative solutions to people's pressing problems.
Therefore, it is quite logical that in search of inspiration for creating your own startup, you should not rush “deep into history”.
Follow the trends, fashion trends, what is really in demand now.
This article can help you with this, which has brought together the main business trends and forecasts regarding future discoveries in the entrepreneurial “art” market.
What is a startup?
Before talking about startup ideas, it is worth defining what is generally meant.
Most have only a general idea of startups. Therefore, someone believes that this is how they call new resources on the Internet, others - that this is a business created by young people with no experience.
There is some truth in this. However, the concept itself is broader.
Startup- This is a business idea that is based solely on the use of innovative technologies or the introduction of completely new products.
That is, the composition of the team and the format of the company does not matter (often startups begin to develop without being officially registered).
The main thing is for the team to help solve some problem of humanity by offering something unique.
Also, the distinctive features of a startup are:
- limited money to start;
- starting work from scratch;
- most often, partners in a startup were previously connected by some kind of relationship (worked together, studied).
And although the world learns about such companies even at its first steps, when the market position is not yet strong, only those companies that have already manufactured a product can be called startups.
An operating time or a “raw” project is only the basis for creation, but not the startup itself.
What is the key to the success of a startup idea?
If we analyze the ideas behind the startup that have been especially successful, we can identify several common features.
Conventionally, they can be called "secrets of success."
Factors that determine the success of a startup idea:
What exactly do you think about the idea that became a startup?
Do you think that it can bring a lot of money?
Or do you really “burn” and are sure that this business will be useful to people and become innovative?
Only in the second case, the startup really has a chance of success.
If you do not have a sincere interest, you can quickly "burn out."
Moreover, startups rarely bring instant profit.
A lot depends on the team.
Obviously, a team of like-minded people working on the same wavelength can do more than one person.
Don't try to put everything on your own shoulders.
You should not calculate how many people will have to share the profit, but take care of the perfect quality of every detail.
Youth is a plus.
Let this statement sound like a discredit.
But the fact remains that investors are more focused on investing in the young and ambitious.
Let people with experience go about their business - run large organizations and share knowledge with others.
For those who no longer consider themselves a "young man", but are on fire, let's clarify: success in business has no age restrictions.
Doubt? Look at this picture:
TOP-5: global startup ideas
As a rule, startups are concentrated in the field of IT technologies. We decided to create a selection of ideas that ordinary people created and brought to life.This step is meant to inspire you to embody own ideas, even if there is no special education or many years of work experience.
1. Green idea: special shampoo
"Nephentes" looks like an enema or something.
In fact, this startup idea can significantly affect the preservation of the environment.
Few people think, but ordinary plastic bottles from under the "" are harmful to environment product. The period of decomposition of one bottle can be hundreds of years!
And remember how much you use them during your life?
According to the idea of this startup, manufacturers make products in huge containers, pouring the right portions into buyers' Nephentes bottles.
It is curious that the design does not even involve the use of a cover! The neck is simply bent and inserted into the compartment.
Another plus: you can finally use the product at 100%, including what usually remains at the bottom.
2. Indian startup idea
If you think that in India they can only dance and make films, then you will be surprised - not so few ideas for startups have been created in this country.
Interestingly, there is even a kind of analogue of the American Silicon Valley.
In addition, India is really interested in the issue huge amount garbage on the streets. Innovative ideas appear regularly.
For example, an edible spoon is a great alternative to plastic utensils. After a meal, it can be used as a dessert or, of course, just thrown away.
Obviously, such a “material” as flour decomposes as quickly as possible and is absolutely harmless to nature.
The creators also assure that the product can be safely eaten by vegetarians. And in the future, even the development of a gluten-free version is planned.
3. An idea for junk food lovers
Which of us is not familiar with such a misfortune: you carefully take chips or something else greasy, and your fingers get dirty so that you have to go wash them.
And you need to be extremely careful not to hook or stain anything!
A startup has appeared in Italy, the idea of which is to create fingertips. They are very thin, but at the same time the latex tightly fits the fingers.
Thanks to this, consumers can safely feast on goodies, and then simply throw away the “nozzles”.
It is assumed that these devices will not be sold on their own, but complete with chips, nuts or similar food, for which they were invented.
4. Startup: "folding" napkins
But the idea of this startup is already designed for higher cuisine - that is, for restaurants. It appeared as a reaction to the fact that ordinary napkin holders are already becoming obsolete.
But napkins pressed into a small round “washer” are another matter. To use such a thing, visitors must dip the "pill" into an antiseptic solution.
And then the fabric unfolds, acquires a pleasant smell, and even becomes a “killing tool” for harmful microbes on your hands.
You should not immediately estimate the increased costs for the owners: these towels are not disposable. So the idea of a startup will not harm either the wallet or the environment.
5. Startup idea with social value
Often, startups are still designed to solve global problems, and not just improve the already comfortable life of consumers.
For example, in Denmark, a special supermarket was created - "WeFood". Its concept is that they sell goods here that cannot be put on the shelves of "decent" ones.
Mislabeling, torn packaging, an approaching expiration date or even a delay in general - all this is usually a reason to write off, return or even dispose of goods.
Meanwhile, even in Denmark there are many people who have to save on everything.
The idea of the supermarket has not only helped low-income people to eat more nutritious food. There was also a 25% reduction in wasted food across the country!
Here is such a useful and, oddly enough, profitable startup.
And what about Russia: 3 domestic ideas for startups
Although the words "conditions of economic decline" have already become classics for texts for reality Russian entrepreneurship, in the field of startups, everything is not so bad.
The “buy-sell” orientation is gradually giving way to an innovative approach.
The original solutions still do not have such a powerful state support like in other countries.
However, their number is increasing, and investors are ready to invest their money. This is especially evident in the variety of ideas for a startup in 2016.
1) A startup you've definitely heard of
Have you seen the original photo processing on Instagram, which turns an ordinary frame into an artistic canvas? Most likely, you already know what we are talking about.
For the rest, let's clarify - the Prisma application is a service that allows you to process users' photos in an original way.
For many, it will come as a surprise that it was Russian programmers who developed Prism. Moreover, its creator former employee well-known mail.ru.
The peculiarity of the program is that it does not just impose some filters on top of the card.
Through the use of neural network algorithms (of which you may have heard a lot too), Prism analyzes the frame and then creates it from scratch. But already in the form of a picture.
The fact that almost everyone knows about this application now is already an indicator of success. It remains to be added that the Facebook administration banned the use of the program on its network only because it considered it competitive.
2) Idea for a startup on cards
It is believed that various cumulative and discount cards are gradually fading away. At least because no one wants to carry around dozens of options without knowing which one they need.
The developers of the startup "Cardberry" came up with the idea to create a device that can accommodate all kinds of cards.
We will not go into technical details. The bottom line is that any user cards are, as it were, entered into the memory of this electronic device.
Every time a person needs a certain card, he enters a special application and selects it.
"Cardberry" adapts to the choice and becomes a full-fledged replacement for the desired card.
For your attention, we offer a cool video
about the 10 most successful startups in the world:
3) Startup idea for a comfortable life
Perhaps you are not familiar with the SVET company yet, but you have every chance to hear about them.
As the name implies, the team offers lighting equipment. What is the innovativeness of this idea for a startup?
The fact is that the bulbs of this company are designed to simulate ordinary natural lighting.
Moreover, the device settings can be adjusted (for example, in accordance with the time of day or night).
This startup idea is not only original and adds more comfort to everyday life. But it also has a beneficial effect on human health.
Minus the idea, perhaps, only one: on this moment one device is estimated at $70. The amount is too significant for the Russians. However, the startup is in demand abroad.
collected above startup ideas only emphasize: anyone can create a business based on an innovative idea. The field of startups is not limited to the field of IT technologies.
The main thing is that you bring something new and useful to the world.
And if the idea is worthwhile, and the implementation is diligent, it can make you rich, no matter how trite it may sound.
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