Thriving Technologist

Thinking of quitting the tech industry grind to start a profitable software business yourself? Before you take the plunge, don't make the same mistakes I did!

The secret to finding a profitable software idea, is that it must come from your customers. Unless you know a real pain that people who would use your software are experiencing, you can easily fool yourself into thinking it's good enough to build a software product business on.

In this episode, I share what I've learned about finding real software product ideas. I use a combination of IBISWorld, ChatGPT, and a book by Dane Maxwell to help my software development coaching clients discover software startup ideas.

IBISWorld Businesses
https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/number-of-businesses/

Start from Zero by Dane Maxwell
https://www.amazon.com/Start-Zero-Business-Experience-Freedom/dp/1950367185

Join my Patreon:
https://thrivingtechnologist.com/patreon

Learn about one-on-one career coaching with me:
https://thrivingtechnologist.com/coaching

TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech:
https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles

The Thriving Technologist career guide:
https://thrivingtechnologist.com/guide

You can also watch this episode on YouTube.

Chapter markers / timelinks:

(0:00) Introduction
(1:42) Finding a Profitable Software Idea
(1:54) 1. Select a Customer Market
(2:50) 2. Determine How to Contact Customers
(4:37) 3. Ask Customers for Their Biggest Problem
(6:05) 4. Ask People Who Responded To Meet
(7:03) 5. Ask Them 5 Questions
(7:15) Make Sure You're On The Same Page
(7:29) How Are You Solving It Today?
(8:15) What Happens When You Don't Solve This Problem?
(8:50) If You Could Wave a Magic Wand, How Would You Solve It?
(9:36) Would You Pay for That Solution? How Much?
(10:48) Identify Consistent Profitable Problems

Visit me at thrivingtechnologist.com