Bonjour à toi jeune entrepreneur ! (Well if you have the reference, we'll get along fine, if you don't.... Stay we'll have fun together anyway 😬)

My name is Antoine and I'm getting ready to enter a new exciting adventure! That of an entrepreneur 😎 but beware, not one who rushes headfirst into a solution! An entrepreneur who understands what he is dealing with, who sits back, thinks things through and then makes wise decisions.

In this suite of articles (yes there will be several, so subscribe so you don't miss them 😉), I will introduce you to a whole bunch of tools that I will use to create a company that will successfully raise millions of dollars! Elon Musk, get ready to be second!

Let's go?

Well, forget everything you know about entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship or any other word that ends in -preneurship. Before you start your business you need to find a problem! Indeed, if you create a company that allows turtles to order anti-wrinkle creams, I'm not sure it will work! However…

You need to find a real problem that will make people buy recklessly without counting because they are tired of dealing with this problem! For example, as I write this, it's 7:36 pm, my stomach is starting to hum like a Formula 1 car, and a food delivery service is starting to become my best friend; that's a real problem solver!

I can imagine exactly what you're going to ask me: "but, how do we find a problem that is not yet treated?", it is a very good question! Well, I'm going to present you some tools that will help you with this process!

Yourself

And yes... yourself.

What bothers you in your everyday life?

What is the biggest problem you have encountered?

What would you like to improve in a particular situation?

Remember that if you have faced a problem, someone else has already had the same issue. This can be a good starting point for your entrepreneurial journey!

Try to dig your head or pay attention to whatever is annoying you in your own life 😉

Reddit, Quora, Facebook’s groups

And even social networks in general. Indeed, people like to write and show that they don't agree with a situation, or that they don't like it. We write much more often a negative criticism than a positive one 😉 so it's a good place to find a problem to tackle.

Wander around these networks and look for a problem or a community that talk about it! You will have to read their complaints carefully to find out what the source of their trouble is.

Federal Statistical Office

https://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/en/home.html

Thanks to a statistic or a trend that will allow us to create a business rather than a problem.

This can be quite complicated and time consuming, especially since the Federal Statistical Office website is full of data on many industries; from education to agriculture to science. Try to focus on sectors that you are familiar with because you will benefit from a sharper view, but don't exclude entire sectors for that matter! A better opportunity may be hidden there!

Fedlex

https://www.fedlex.admin.ch/fr/home

This is another type of research, which can also be long and tedious, but so effective if done properly!

The Fedlex site reports on upcoming laws which have been enacted and will be implemented in the coming months and years. The goal here is to explore these new laws and amendments to discover if a new playground has emerged.

A few years ago, I remember an amendment to the law on the right to lease was made, which allowed building owners to perform energy renovations on their building and be compensated for part of the work by maintaining the same rents (even if the effective expenses decreased).

This is the type of law or law change that we are looking for 😀

Crunchbase

https://www.crunchbase.com/

Here is a real efficient tool! A database of companies and startups.

How can this help you?

It's simple; people have probably already done the same job you are doing. Some of them have even started an entrepreneurial journey! Their business is most likely already listed on Crunchbase.

So how do you look? The best thing is that you already have a small idea and try to find out if this small idea has already been leveraged by a company. Please bear in mind that I am not talking about stealing a business idea and replicating it step by step! That won't work 😬 It's better to spot what exists / what does not exist and find a unique value proposition.

You can also check out the latest companies that have successfully raised money! A real indicator of how investors feel about a particular problem 😉

So.

I hope you feel a little more prepared now to accomplish your first task as a future entrepreneur and billionaire: finding a problem!

Of course the road is still long and full of pitfalls so you shouldn't slack off.

Now that you have found a problem, you need to find out if other people also have this same trouble! And more importantly if they are willing to pay for a service or product to solve this issue.

This is what we will see in the next article: #2 Is my problem, a real problem?

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See you soon!