The problem that most people (including myself) have is that they jump at the first halfway decent idea they come across. Don't do that! Sit down with a piece

The problem that most people (including myself) have is that they jump at the first halfway decent idea they come across. Don't do that! Sit down with a piece of blank piece of paper (metaphorically - you'll want to use a text editor) and start writing down ideas. Make them crazy. Zero negative feedback. Get the creative juices flowing. What do people pay for? Services. Information. Money saving. Social opportunities. Access to money. So, let me get the list going for you with some bizzare / useless ideas, based off of one random concept - "sneakers". * software to manage collections of high end sneakers * software / service that lets you design and produce your own custom sneaker * social networking for fans of sneakers * sneakers that verbally encourage you to take the stairs * sneakers with GPS that issue you different reminders at different locations ("you're in the lobby of the office, on the way out - don't forget to pick up chicken on the way home") All idiot ideas. But maybe buried in there you come up with "software that lets small shoe stores manage their inventory", or something. The point is this: until you've generated 100 ideas, you'd be foolish to leap at the first one. ...and the second point is this: once you've generated 100 ideas, you'll be more practiced and fluid, and you'll find it easier to generate the next 100. Run the ideas past a few friends, and ask them each to pick 10 that are interesting. Chances are, there'll be a point of overlap. And maybe it's even something that was already tugging at you. It's an interesting exercise. Go do it.