Everybody wants the next big business idea.

We hear about artificial intelligence, property, cryptocurrency, online stores and the latest side hustle. People spend hours searching:

“What business can make me rich?”

But perhaps we’re asking the wrong question.

Instead, try asking:

“What annoying problem are people already paying someone to solve?”

That question can completely change the way you see money.

Because some of the best businesses in the world didn’t begin with an extraordinary invention.

They began with somebody saying:

“There has to be an easier way to do this.”

Money Often Hides Inside Inconvenience

Think about your normal week.

You could wash your own car.

You could cut your own grass.

You could clean your own house.

You could collect your own takeaway.

You could repair certain things yourself.

Yet millions of people pay someone else to do these things every day.

Why?

Because people aren’t only paying for the work.

They’re paying for convenience.

They’re buying back their time.

They’re avoiding frustration.

They’re paying someone to make a problem disappear.

And that’s where opportunities begin.

The Garage Full of Money

Imagine walking into someone’s garage.

There’s an old television in one corner.

Unused power tools on a shelf.

A bicycle nobody rides.

Some car parts.

Furniture collecting dust.

Maybe an old lawn mower.

Altogether, those things could be worth thousands.

There’s only one problem.

The owner doesn’t want to deal with them.

They don’t want to photograph everything.

They don’t know what prices to ask.

They don’t want strangers sending:

“Is this still available?”

They don’t want people offering half the asking price.

And they certainly don’t want to spend their Saturday waiting for someone who promised to arrive at 10am and never showed up.

That’s an annoying problem.

And annoying problems can become businesses.

What if someone simply said:

“I’ll sell everything for you and take a percentage when it sells.”

Suddenly, the owner gets money from things that were gathering dust.

You get paid for doing the work they didn’t want to do.

Everybody wins.

Boring Businesses Can Make Serious Money

One mistake aspiring entrepreneurs make is believing their business needs to look exciting.

It doesn’t.

Think about rubbish removal.

Commercial cleaning.

Vehicle detailing.

Equipment hire.

Pest control.

Lawn maintenance.

Mobile mechanics.

Scrap collection.

Bookkeeping.

Delivery services.

These aren’t businesses people normally brag about at dinner.

But ask yourself something more important:

Do customers need them?

A glamorous business with no customers is just an expensive hobby.

A boring business solving a recurring problem can become extremely valuable.

Look at Businesses, Not Just Individuals

Some of the biggest opportunities aren’t sitting inside people’s homes.

They’re inside other businesses.

Imagine a small mechanic.

He’s excellent at repairing cars.

But he’s terrible at administration.

Customers call while he’s underneath a vehicle.

Invoices aren’t sent on time.

Service reminders are forgotten.

Messages pile up.

Customers forget appointments.

Payments have to be chased.

The mechanic doesn’t necessarily need another mechanic.

He needs someone—or some technology—to make those annoying administrative problems disappear.

That’s a business opportunity.

You could help small businesses automate bookings, quotations, invoices, customer reminders and follow-ups.

You aren’t selling software.

You’re selling something much more attractive:

Less stress and more time.

Dirty Problems Can Pay Well

Here’s another interesting rule:

The dirtier, heavier, more inconvenient or more specialised a job becomes, the fewer people want to do it.

And sometimes that means customers are willing to pay more.

Think about:

Industrial cleaning.

Workshop cleaning.

Rubbish removal.

Pressure washing.

Equipment cleaning.

Scrap collection.

Deceased-estate clean-outs.

Commercial vehicle cleaning.

The opportunity isn’t hidden because nobody knows these jobs exist.

It’s hidden because most people look at them and think:

“I don’t want to do that.”

An entrepreneur might look at exactly the same problem and ask:

“How much are people paying?”

That’s a completely different way of thinking.

Cars Create Thousands of Problems

Vehicles are another interesting area because they constantly need attention.

They need cleaning.

Servicing.

Batteries.

Tyres.

Inspections.

Transport.

Parts.

Repairs.

Registration.

Insurance.

Businesses operating fleets have even bigger problems.

If ten company vehicles aren’t properly maintained, that isn’t merely inconvenient.

It can cost the company money.

A business that helps keep vehicles operating, tracks servicing or coordinates maintenance isn’t simply dealing with cars.

It’s helping another business avoid downtime.

And businesses will often pay to prevent expensive problems.

People Will Pay to Avoid Wasting Time

This may be one of the biggest business lessons you’ll ever learn:

People don’t always buy because they can’t do something themselves.

Sometimes they buy because they don’t want to.

A successful person might be perfectly capable of mowing their lawn.

But if their free Saturday is worth more to them than the cost of paying someone $70, they’ll happily pay.

That’s why convenience businesses continue to exist.

You’re not necessarily selling labour.

You’re selling time.

Before Starting a Business, Ask These Five Questions

When you notice a problem, don’t immediately spend thousands starting a company.

First ask:

1. Does this problem happen regularly?

Recurring problems are powerful because customers may need you repeatedly.

2. Are people already paying to solve it?

You don’t always need to invent a new market. Existing spending is evidence that demand exists.

3. Do people hate doing it themselves?

The more inconvenient the problem, the more interesting it becomes.

4. Can I start small?

Ideally, test the idea with hundreds of dollars rather than risking tens of thousands.

5. Can it eventually operate without me doing everything?

This is important.

Doing every job yourself can create income.

Building a system where employees, contractors, equipment or technology help deliver the service can create a business.

Don’t Ask, “What Can I Sell?”

Walk through your neighbourhood differently tomorrow.

Look at businesses.

Look at cars.

Look at houses.

Look at warehouses.

Listen to people complaining.

Whenever someone says:

“I hate doing this.”

“I don’t have time for this.”

“Nobody ever turns up.”

“This is too complicated.”

“I wish somebody would just handle it.”

Pay attention.

You may be hearing a business opportunity.

Instead of constantly asking:

“What can I sell?”

Start asking:

“What problem can I remove?”

Because people don’t wake up wanting to give businesses their money.

They wake up with problems.

Make one of those problems disappear reliably, professionally and at a fair price, and something interesting happens:

People become happy to pay you.

Sometimes the opportunity you’ve been searching for isn’t hidden at all.

It’s the annoying problem everybody else keeps walking past.