Zero in on your most pressing problems

“Start out by solving your own problems. The key here is understanding that you’re not alone. If you’re having this problem, it’s likely hundreds of others are in the same boat. There’s your market.” – Basecamp’s Getting Real

Sometimes it feels like there are problems everywhere you look. To the right? There’s a problem. To the left? There’s a problem too. Up? You guessed it—problem.

Take a look at which problems bug you the most in your day-to-day.

• Maybe you’re a dev who’s also a foodie. You hate running into half-baked, inoperable websites for local restaurants

• Say you picked up scriptwriting in college. Commercials with high effort and poor storytelling make you cringe sadly

• Or maybe (like us) you’re in marketing and the lazy, sloppy work in “helpful” industry ebooks makes every download feel like a game of Russian roulette

Get the problem discovery worksheet to take a closer look at the problems you hold closest

Some problems pass you by and you forget them before you can even acknowledge their existence. Sometimes a problem keeps popping up and poking you in the ribs. That means you care about it.

But do you care enough?

Can you, day in and day out, handle sorting through its quirks, slowly learning what makes it tick, working with the frustrated people it directly affects? That’s the level of drive and concern it will take to turn your problem passion project into a sustainable, full-time service business.