Looking for a business idea? Have 544 of them.

As someone whose brain generates several ideas per week (scroll down for the sprawling spreadsheets). I had to come up with a way to choose which ideas truly deserve my time. I've learned a lot by picking the wrong ones and more recently, by getting smarter about how I pick one.  Here's what I've found:

Let your ideas sit for a while

One of the best methods I've discovered for testing the real value of my ideas is simply waiting. In my spreadsheet, I let ideas stew for days or weeks, even months. This isn't laziness; it’s intentional. It gives me enough distance to separate initial excitement from actual potential. More importantly, it lets me see patterns. If something keeps bugging me over and over, that's usually a sign that it's not just a shiny object it might be a real problem I'm facing that needs solving.

Solve your own problems

Great ideas often start as personal frustrations. My previous project, OwnNav, grew directly from my experience as a pilot using aviation apps. I wasn't happy with how weather conditions were displayed in ForeFlight, so I jumped straight into creating something better. On paper, it seemed like a great choice I knew the market, I had the skills, and the problem felt real. However, my miscalculation was underestimating the sheer complexity and strength of what's already out there. ForeFlight, honestly, is fantastic. Competing head-to-head with feature-rich applications backed by giants like Boeing and Garmin is tough. I may be a pilot, but I wasn't flying or interacting enough with other pilots regularly. I didn't have the experience to make good product decisions, and I didn't talk to enough potential customers to find the gaps in my knowledge.

Real Validation Means Talking to Real People

without ever checking if your problem

With my latest project, Wordara, I'm doing things differently. Before I built a single thing, I spent time talking to potential users. I made sure these folks weren't friends or family who might be too kind to tell me the truth. I asked questions about their frustrations, their workflows, and what they already tried. This allowed me to see clearly that the problem I wanted to solve was real, significant, and worth fixing. The idea came from my observation that some of the smartest people make no content, and most small businesses and independent software developers make no content. These people have important things to say, and they stand to gain a lot by saying them, yet they are silent.

Why I'm Building Wordara

Writing is something I've always wanted to do, yet until recently I've never consistently documented my work or shared my ideas publicly. My old approach made my creations invisible. Wordara isn't a tool to magically generate blogs or fake content. I don't buy into the narrative that AI generative tools should replace a person's thoughts or experience. AI is compelling, but only as a collaborator not an automated content creator. Wordara acts as my personal interviewer, extracting stories and insights directly from me. It helps me organize scattered thoughts, cleans up fuzzy logic, and stitches together my words in an approachable way. Rather than fabricating an elaborate marketing persona, it's simply making my actual experiences clearer and easier to share. Other people say GPT 4.5 is a let down but in terms of writing, it's a leap forward.

Initially, I assumed something like this must exist already. Yet, after searching, I couldn't find it. I'm realistic enough to know it probably won't stay this way long. Competition is fierce, and it's quite possible someone else already identified this gap and is now working to fill it. But that's okay, because I've identified the specific issues that all currently available solutions overlook. Knowing exactly what you're improving on matters more than being perfectly original. Aim for Fun, Meaning, and Impact

Finally, I learned to ask deeper questions before committing countless hours to any idea:

• Will I still enjoy working on this once the initial excitement fades and the work gets tough?
• Is it meaningful enough that I'll feel proud of it in the long run?
• Does it solve a genuine problem not just for myself, but for many others in a meaningful way?

With OwnNav, those questions were too lightly answered. With Wordara, however, the answers feel clearer. It actively solves my personal frustration it empowers me to finally document and reflect on my thoughts over time. I believe it can truly help others struggling with the same writing hurdles.

If You're Sitting on Ideas Right Now…

list of 339* ideas

list of 206* "real problems"

I'm now sharing this because Wordara pushed me to establish a habit of publicly talking about ideas, successes, and mistakes. What idea are you most excited to take out of your spreadsheet and finally examine closely, validate properly, or start building intentionally?