A FIELD GUIDE TO QUESTIONABLE ENTREPRENEURSHIP

7 business idea exercises that start with a laugh and end with a test.

A wild idea is useful if it forces you to notice a real customer, a real problem, or a real alternative. Here are seven quick exercises. You do not need a pitch deck, a spreadsheet, or a billion-dollar forecast.

1. Swap the audience.

   Take something familiar and give it an unlikely customer: Levi’s for birds, for example. Then ask a serious question: who already wants a version of this, and what do they use instead?

2. Swap the service.

   Start with an overlooked group and a service they would never normally buy, such as training for coyotes. The joke exposes the core promise: what behavior or outcome would someone pay to improve?

3. Make the customer narrower.

   “Everyone” is not a useful first market. Pick one job, situation, or constraint. “Remote teams” becomes “new managers running their first remote meeting.” Specificity makes interviews and offers easier.

4. Remove one annoying step.

   Write down a chore your customer repeats every week. Remove one handoff, one form, or one wait. You may discover a small, valuable service rather than a giant platform.

5. Invert the usual business model.

   If people buy a product once, imagine a service around its upkeep. If they book a service, imagine a simple tool that helps them do part of it themselves. The point is to reveal alternatives, not to force a subscription.

6. Ask five people about the last time.

   Do not ask, “Would you use my idea?” Ask, “When did this last happen, what did you do, and what did it cost you?” Real examples beat polite hypotheticals.

7. Test the smallest honest offer.

   Describe the promised outcome in one sentence. Offer a manual version to a small group and measure whether anyone takes the next step. A signup, booked call, or payment is stronger evidence than a compliment.