How to Find the Right Business Idea—The Ikigai Approach

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Discovering Business Ideas With the Ikigai Approach

In this chapter, we introduce the Ikigai approach – a Japanese concept that means "reason for being" – to help you find the right business idea. We'll discuss how to use this approach to identify a business idea that combines what you love, what the world needs, what you're good at, and what you can be paid for.

How to Find the Right Business Idea—The Ikigai Approach – Transcript

If you know that the 9 to 5 grind isn't for you and that you're going the way of the entrepreneur, then at some point, you're going to need to figure out what business you're going to get into. But with so many options to choose from, this can be one of the most daunting tasks an entrepreneur faces. So let us help you out with it. 

Hey everybody, Will Scheren here from Small Business Startup Guide by TRUiC. This video is part of a larger course dedicated to helping small business owners cut through the noise and get to the essentials of starting and operating their business. If that sounds like it would be really useful for you, be sure to like and subscribe. 

So far in the course, we've talked about how an operational mission statement takes the form of “I want to accomplish X by Y by doing Z,” where X is the quantitative goal that you've set, and Y is the date in the future that you'd like to accomplish your goal by, and Z is a description of how you plan to go about accomplishing that goal. In this video, we're focusing on this Z variable.

After gaining an understanding of how much value your business needs to generate, choosing the vehicle by which you'll create that value requires a decent amount of self-reflection, research, and thought. But luckily, there's a framework to help guide you through that process. 

“Ikigai” is a Japanese concept about finding your individual purpose — or, in other words, what is worth living for. It's your reason to get up every morning. It covers four aspects that will help you find the work that you do to be fulfilling. The combination of words means “iki” — life living — plus “gai” — value and result. 

The best way to illustrate this concept of Ikigai is with four circles in a Venn diagram. This will help you find the point of intersection between your mission, passion, profession, and vocation. Ultimately, your ikigai would be any meaningful work that you can find that intersects all four of these. 

To find your ikigai, there are four questions you'll need to ask yourself:

“What do I love?” Think about what you really like to do. What makes you tick? What touches you? What do you enjoy doing? 

“What am I really good at?” Think about all of the unique talents that you have. What do people give you compliments about? What comes easily or naturally to you? What expertise have you gained? 

“What can I get paid for?” Think about what the people that you have access to value. What do they spend their money on, and where do they focus their time? 

“What does the world need?” Think about the problems that the people that you have access to face. Is there something helpful that you can do for others? What can you do to make a positive impact? What would your children be proud of? 

Connections between what you love and what you're good at are things that you can be passionate about. Things that you're good at, that you can be paid for, or things of which that you could be considered a professional. Things that you can get paid for that the world needs are worthy vocations. And things that you love that the world needs are easy to make your mission. But it's the point of intersection between your passions, missions, professional abilities, and vocations that you'll find most fulfilling.

Take as much time as you need to research yourself and the world around you to find your ikigai before starting a business. And once you've found your ikigai, you're probably ready to fill in your Z variable on your mission statement. 

But what about the Y variable concerning how long it takes you to complete your goal? Well, the simple answer to that, once you know what you want to do and how you plan to do it, is “as quickly as possible.” If you're following along with us in the course as you plan your own business, for now, just take your best guess on how long it will take you to complete your goal. 

But before we finish this section, you'll be able to feel much more confident about your timeline. After we look at market information and financial projections concerning your business plan, you can obviously revise your mission statement after gaining more information about your business. 

This video is part of a step-by-step course that gives business owners all of the essential information to start and operate their business. We've provided a link for you to get access to all of the free and discounted business tools we mentioned in this course below this video. 

Be sure to like and subscribe to get more of this content. We'll see you in the next video, and if you have any questions, let us know.