How to Spot a $100 Million Idea

By Carol Tice

Every entrepreneur would like to discover the next big idea. New, great businesses are launched every day. But how do you know when you've hit on a winning idea?

In his recently released book How They Did It: Billion Dollar Insights from the Heart of America, serial entrepreneur Robert Jordan interviews the founders of 45 top companies that created $41 billion in value.

What do their successes have in common? Jordon identified these key traits:

Identify a big problem. Great products often solve a very real problem for customers. Think of the celphone. Businesspeople struggled to stay in touch with their customers when they were out of the office. Solving that one revolutionized the telecommunications industry and made innovators mega-billions.

Think needs, not passions. Many entrepreneurs try to turn their personal passion into a business and fail. But when you focus on meeting other people's needs, you can really see your business take off. For instance, Feedburner founder Dick Costolo realized people were creating blog content but had no easy way to distribute it to interested readers. The result: Google bought Feedburner for $100 million.

Be hands-on. Jordan found successful big-company founders were tinkerers and doers. The entrepreneurs were out experiencing and trying things, not sitting at a desk thinking.

Collaborate. Two or three heads really are better than one. Many companies gelled after several founders put together their strengths and ideas. Think Microsoft's Gates and Allen, or Steve Jobs and design genius Tim Cook. Apple would be nothing without their combined effort. He warns not to be self-involved or a loner -- get others onto your team.

Sell your idea. Every founder Jordan spoke with had gotten out on the front lines and tried to sell their product or service. That up-close contact with customers often inspired innovations that changed the offering and made it a big success.

To these strategies for finding the $100 million idea, I'd add -- look for the gap in the market.

So often, great companies are started by entrepreneurs because they tried to find something they needed in their own life -- but couldn't. Then they researched and found what they needed didn't exist anywhere. So they created it.

I recently got to talk with the actress Tiffani Thiessen, who created a new line of baby-room furniture and bedding after being unable to find anything she liked in the usual sea of baby-blue and pink. She collaborated with HGTV designer Lonni Paul to create her line, PetitNest, which was the hit of the Las Vegas Market furniture show last year.

What's your $100 million idea? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

Illustration via stock.xchng user raja4u