Creating a business by fixing things that p*ss you off

Have you ever thought “I could do better than that?”. Many of the most successful tech companies today are based on addressing a single, often simple frustration.

Consumer frustration is universal, each and every day we purchase things that fail to deliver. However, what happens when, instead, of frustration, you change from being a problem-haver to a problem-solver?

Innovation

Take Uber, back in December 2008 Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick were at LeWeb, a yearly tech conference in Paris. Frustrated by the service and cost of Taxi cabs in the city they decided to create a way to lower the cost of a taxi service using a mobile app. By March the following year, UberCab was born and the rest is history.

Another example is how Jan Koum created WhatsApp after being frustrated by missing calls on his mobile phone. His idea was to give his friends the ability to see if he was available via an app. He was also determined to make it simple, and instead of using traditional user ID and password Koum opted to tie the app directly to a mobile number. Finally, with a little help from Apple’s introduction of push notification, the world’s most famous chat app was born, and Koum’s frustration with missing calls was solved.

Mindset

Reflecting on your frustration and then imagining what a solution would look like will only take you so far. To truly turn your annoyance into a business, you need to take action. A productivity mindset that allows you to be clear and focused on your goal. You don’t need to ditch the day job, many entrepreneurs have started their businesses in their spare time.

Skill shortage

Here at Bespin Labs we understand the drive it takes to go from frustration, to idea and eventually multi-million dollar business. But if you’re not a developer, or don’t have a friend who is, then you need an organisation that can take your idea and breath life into it with the same amount of passion as you. So if you’re frustrated, and feel that you’re the next Jan Koum then drop us a line, we’d love to help your realise your goals.