Have you ever heard of a “lightbulb moment”?
Lightbulb moments are the spark at heart of a new product, business, or innovation. Entrepreneurs use this term to describe the periods of clarity when they uncover an incredible idea, and everything seems to simply come together.
Just like the muses that inspire artists to create masterpieces, lightbulb moments show business owners what they need to do to change the world (or at least their industry).
Whether you’re waiting for your perfect spark to arrive, or you think you’ve already stumbled onto a ground-breaking concept, you’re in the right place. The following stories will help you better understand the unique path entrepreneurs follow to greatness.
5 Inspiring Lightbulb Moments
Like a lightning strike, it isn’t easy to manufacture a lightbulb moment. Instead, you need to wait for all the perfect elements to come together naturally. Knowing your target audience, the problem you want to solve, and having a vision for the future will help to place you in the right position.
But sometimes, inspiration comes when you least expect it!
Consider these lightbulb moments…
Michael Rosenbaum: Spacer
Creator of the digital sharing platform that allows people to make money by loaning out space, Michael Rosenbaum addressed a unique issue with his company.
After creating Deals Direct with co-founder Paul Greenberg, Michael wanted to do something new. He took some “tech pilgrimages” to Silicon Valley and explored some of the latest trends happening in the region.
According to Michael, Airbnb and Uber were already making waves in the market, and he wanted to be a part of the fast-moving growth sector. When he began looking for a new kind of peer-to-peer market opportunity, sharing space just made sense.
If people are comfortable sharing cars and homes, then why not share space that they’re not using for storage? The idea was a hit, and an excellent opportunity for Michael to join an industry he found extremely interesting.
Alyce Tran: The Daily Edited
The Daily Edited, or TDE, was a passion project to begin with, launched by Alyce Tran and co-founder Tania Liu. The two women were working as corporate attorneys, and they wanted to do something creative with their time on weekends.
At first, TDE was a simple blog where the co-founders posted examples of their daily sources of inspiration from food, fashion, and lifestyle categories.
In 2014, they realized that they could make a living by creating their own accessories and offering personalization. The website evolved from a simple blog into a fully-grown business idea in a matter of days.
After seeing how much customers loved personalized accessory experiences, the decision to start a business made perfect sense.
Alex Friedman and Jordana Kier – Lola
Lola is a unique reproductive care company, designed to sell sexual health products and subscription-based products for women. According to Alex, Lola was born after she and her business partner discussed the question “what’s in a tampon?” The two women were getting drinks together in 2014 when Jordana asked the question, and Alex admitted that she had never thought about it carefully.
The women decided it was time for girls to know more about the products they use every month. Quickly, they worked together to get the product idea out there and discuss their options with a large network of professional advisors.
Now, the company has managed to work alongside some massive stars, including Serena Williams and Lena Dunham.
Ju Rhyu – Hero Cosmetics
If you’ve noticed “mighty acne” patches floating around Amazon and in stores lately, then you’re probably familiar with Hero Cosmetics. The company, created by Ju Rhyu, began when Ju was living in Korea, a place she describes as a “beauty mecca.”
According to Rhyu, Koreans are ahead of the times when it comes to beauty knowledge and product usage, and while she was living there, she was suffering from acne. Eventually Ju came across acne patches which were available in every pharmacy – but not in the US.
Rhyu decided it was her responsibility to bring the power of acne patches into the US, and she began researching her product instantly.
Sarah Warmoll – The Footnotes
Sarah Warmoll, co-founder of the Footnotes, said that her inspiration came when she and co-founder Samantha Devlin started thinking more carefully about their own lives.
The two women admitted that they could list the last four holiday destinations of the Kardashians, but they couldn’t figure out where they wanted to be in the years to come.
In their early twenties, the two co-founders wondered whether they would have taken the same path after school if they had the knowledge they’d gained over the years. The idea for The Footnotes was born, disrupting the student industry by helping students and their parents to make better decisions about the future.
Find Your Lightbulb Moment
Unlike an actual lightbulb, finding your perfect moment of inspiration as an entrepreneur is rarely just a matter of flipping a switch. However, it’s beneficial to think about how you expose yourself to opportunities for inspiration.
Do you look at the world around you and think about the problems you face each day? More often than not, lightbulb moments happen when we’re more mindful of our world.
Maybe it’s time you looked at your landscape with a new set of eyes!
