Business Starting Grants

What is a good brainstorming activity designed to help generate potential business ideas?

NOTE: I am not asking for specific ideas or inventions.

Public Comments

1. meditation.
2. Think about what your local area needs in terms of business. If you're willing to enter any market then the options should be pretty well established since all towns and cities have their strenghts and weaknesses with business and what they could need more of.
3. Ask everyone what they would do if their jobs were on the line, I'm sure the ideas will come flooding out of them. Good luck.
4. Good Ol' Web cloud. Put Ideas in a lil circle or design when other ideas or thoughts come to mind connect the ones that have similarities. pretty soon it will look like a crazy web of ideas that you can refer back to and add too I love doing that.
5. Don't generalize. Pick an area you wish to explore. For example: What product do we offer that is needed most, how can we improve our market share. Then stay focused on the project and field all suggestions. When you have a few, pick the top 3 and field ideas that would make each one work. Then go on from there. The key is to stay focused.
6. There is a technique called "SWOT". You make a T graph and put Strengths on the first top grid; Weaknesses on the adjoining grid then Opportunities on the bottom first half; then threats on the bottom second half. Then you fill in the list going across then down. It helps you identify where you are at and where you can go.