You're overcomplicating it. Just solve a real problem.(Got my SaaS to $3,6k MRR)
by felixheikka | 2025-04-09 06:08:08+00:00
I see so many people making this same mistake when trying to build the product that’s going to make them passive income.

You find what you think is the perfect idea for a product, then you do a little market research and find out someone else has built it already.

You conclude that it’s over. It’s already been done so you have to start all over again and find a new perfect idea. That’s the first wrong conclusion.

Then you try finding the idea that’s going to change the world, that will reinvent the whole industry. You spend hours searching for an idea like this and most of you never find it. You conclude that maybe entrepreneurship isn’t for you and you should go back to the 9-5. That’s the second wrong conclusion.

Now you’re all out of ideas. You have no clue where to look for new ones, nothing interesting comes to you, and everyone else takes all the good ideas that you should’ve thought of. You conclude that you’re simply not creative enough to come up with good ideas. That’s the third wrong conclusion.

That's three strikes. You’re out.

Now, let’s look at why all these three conclusions are wrong:

Someone has already built the idea

You mean that someone has already validated that demand exists and that people are willing to pay for a solution? Or do you mean that this business has taken every single customer that exists on the market, like every last one? Just because business X solves Y problem doesn’t mean that every person in the world who experiences Y problem knows about business X.

The truth is, you could build the exact same solution and still capture your share of the market. However, the better approach is to find your unique spin on the idea to better serve a specific group of people that business X might miss.

Your idea has to change the world to be worth building

Does it? When was the last time you paid for a tube of toothpaste? Did you buy it hoping it would change your life? Did you even think twice about buying it? You just need to start by solving a problem that people experience. If your solution is valuable to them, they will tell you by giving you their hard-earned value (money) in return. It’s time to stop thinking of yourself as Steve Jobs, it’s just holding you back.

Now, this simple idea will change over time as you receive customer feedback and start shaping it into something that people really want. Eventually, you might actually find yourself with a product that changes the world, but it all starts with just solving a real problem.

You’re not creative enough to come up with a good idea

You don’t have to be especially creative to find a good idea. Just look at problems you experience yourself. This could be in your day-to-day life, at work, in an industry you have experience in, or in something you’re passionate about. Start by simply looking for a problem, not a solution. Is your life problem-free? Congrats, Buddha. For the rest of you, it shouldn’t take long to find a problem with potential here.

What I want to achieve with this post is to get some of you over the barrier of endlessly searching for perfect ideas. The real work is in constantly improving the product to slowly shape it into something that’s really good. That’s where you should be spending your time.

Don’t look for a million-dollar idea, just solve a real problem.