To discover an opportunity for starting a new business, there are methods of approach suggested:

1. Start with what you are prepared or equipped to offer. What can you do with your preparation and equipment, who wants the products you could offer, where and when, and how?
2. Analyze expansion trends of a community. Find new uses for zippers, staples and other common products.
3. Analyze each market: home seekers, children, single women, businessmen, students. The presence of these and many similar groups in every community constitutes markets within the market.
4. Find out the dislikes, complaints, problems, jobs that are avoided, with reference to goods and services available to them in the community. If consumer buying the habit surveys are available, these may suggest consumer complaints to be investigated further.
5. Study the existing products, merchandise, stores, and other business offerings for possible improvements or combinations that would make for greater convenience, comfort, utility, or other desirable factors.
6. Capitalize on some trends by getting in on the ground floor. Demand is dynamic, always changing.
7. Observe people’s habits of living: hobbies, amusements, recreation, modes of transportation, methods for care of the home and business premises, group meeting.

To carry out some of the foregoing suggestions may necessitate keeping an idea file, considerable clipping of news items on new developments, visiting and talking with people, doing a little snooping and note taking, or other procedures such as these. It may take time and lead to several false starts before the big idea is discovered.