1) Think about some of your biggest pet peeves or frustrations. Now think of ways to fix them. 2) Focus on things that you can improve instead of starting from scratch. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. 3) Find out what people are searching for online using tools like Google Trends. 4) Discover popular content online. It might show a potential window for your business idea to thrive. 5) Leverage social media (e.g., Facebook and Instagram polls) to find out what people want. You can use questionnaires, surveys, focus groups, etc. 6) Use digital insight tools like Followerwonk and Topsy. They can help you find, analyze, and optimize social content based on your big idea. 7) Follow thought-leaders and influencers in the industries you care about. Study what they post and how much traction (retweets, comments, likes, etc.) their posts get; 8) Look around your community and zero in on local problems that need a solution; 9) Plan for the future by thinking about solving for a problem that doesn’t exist yet, but that is likely to occur