In business, nothing is more dangerous than falling in love with an idea that exists only in your mind. Many entrepreneurs don’t fail because they lack passion, creativity, or funding. They fail because they try to solve a problem that nobody actually has. A great business is not built on imagination; it is built on reality, demand, and painful problems that people are already trying to solve.
WHAT MAKES A PROBLEM “REAL”?
A real problem has three qualities:
1. People experience it frequently.
If a problem only appears once a year or affects only a tiny group, it may not sustain a business. Look for frustrations people complain about often and loudly.
2. People are already spending money trying to fix it.
Every shilling or dollar someone spends is proof of demand. If customers are forcing clumsy solutions because nothing better exists, that’s an opportunity.
3. The problem is painful enough that people want a better alternative.
Comfortable problems don’t create urgency. Painful problems create markets.
Real problems exist in people’s lives, homes, workplaces, and pockets, not on PowerPoint slides.
THE ILLUSION OF HYPOTHETICAL PROBLEMS
Hypothetical problems are assumptions. They sound good but collapse in real life:
• “People might want this.”
• “Maybe the market needs this.”
• “I think this could work.”
Business is not built on maybes.
Hypothetical problems lead to products nobody buys, marketing nobody notices, and businesses that drain money, energy, and reputation. They create a false sense of progress. Entrepreneurs spend time perfecting what the market doesn’t even want.
HOW TO DISCOVER REAL PROBLEMS
1. Observe what people complain about.
Complaints are opportunities. Every frustration is a business waiting to happen.
2. Talk to customers before building anything.
Five conversations with real users will save you from five years of building the wrong thing.
3. Start with the simplest pain you can address today.
Big businesses often emerge from solving small problems extremely well.
4. Look at what people are “hacking together.”
If people are improvising or using your product in unexpected ways, they’re revealing what they actually want.
5. Validate with data, not emotion.
Measure interest, pre-orders, sign-ups, or willingness to pay. If people won’t commit, you’ve found a hypothetical problem.
EXAMPLES THAT PROVE THE RULE
• M-Pesa didn’t start by inventing financial theory. It solved a real problem: people needed to send money home safely.
• Uber didn’t start with innovation hype. It solved a real pain: unreliable taxis.
Real problems create real traction.
THE BOTTOM LINE
You don’t need a perfect idea to start a business. You need a real problem and the courage to solve it better than anyone else. When you solve something real, the market rewards you. When you solve something imaginary, the market ignores you.
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