Idea Generation Machine

Idea generation today was very dificult. I thought and thought but couldn’t think of anything worthwhile.

Then it came to me. I had a problem finding solutions to problems. That was until I realised that “I had a problem”. My problem was idea generation. Which means that all I had to do was think of a solution to this problem.

Who needs it, all the entrepreneurs looking for quality ideas. If you are joining me on this “An Idea a Day” challenge, then you are bound to run into this problem sooner or later.

The Problem

But what exactly was my problem? What was blocking me from getting fresh quality ideas?

I pondered on this, and I am convinced that it is a lack of perspective. We can only have ideas on how to solve problems we can perceive.

More often than we admit, we are hopelessly clueless. We don’t know enough about a situation to accurately determine what the true problem is.

Even when we know, we also do not know enough to prescribe a solution.

The Solution

What we need is a way to quickly remind us of problems around us. You’d think it’ll be easy until you try to find a solution.

A kind of online problem discussion/idea generation board. What I visualize is a merge between Nairaland and Stack Overflow.

People will post the things they feel are the most chronic problems in the society and other users will vote on it if they agree. The ones with the highest votes rise to the top, and users can have detailed discussions on each cited problem.

The  idea discussions will not all be in one place. Any new idea can form a different thread under the same problem (kind of like forking a git repository).

So each problem can have multiple proposed solutions.

Over time, a problem can be archived if solutions have been implemented.

If you’re looking for fresh inspiration for your idea, take a look at the most recent posts.

Find new people to collaborate with, launch partnerships, make the country better.

Monetization of the Idea Hub

The next problem will be, how does the owner of the site gain?

As a web developer, I can tell you that maintaining a website is not easy. Especially when it has a lot of traffic. So there should be a way to make money from this.

The most direct way will be advertisements. However, I don’t like them and they are really not that lucrative.

These will be my methods;

• Big companies can use this forum to test the reaction to a proposed move. These sponsored posts will be paid for… obviously
• Crowd funding can be incorporated where worthy ideas can raise funds to be implemented(percentage goes to the site)
• With proper financial backing, certain ideas can be invested in.

So what do you think?

Cool or Crap?