Secret #1 come up with a strong app idea AWC (LMS)

Summary

Tara Reed shares her 'Smart Idea Formula' for generating app ideas, emphasizing the importance of leveraging one's existing knowledge and experience. By using this method, individuals can identify problems in their work or hobbies and create solutions through apps. Reed presents real-life examples of entrepreneurs who successfully applied the formula to develop functional apps, demonstrating the potential for both revenue generation and personal fulfillment.

Takeaways

• 💡 The Smart Idea Formula is a method to brainstorm app ideas by asking yourself a series of questions.
• 🚀 Leverage your 'unfair advantage' by creating an app around something you already know about.
• 🤔 Start by identifying what you do for work or a hobby and consider the challenges or time-consuming aspects of it.
• 🛠️ Transform a problem or inefficiency in your daily life into a solution that an app could provide.
• 📝 Answer three main questions: what you do, the difficulties in it, and how an app could alleviate those difficulties.
• 🎯 Focus on your existing knowledge and experience as a foundation for a potentially successful app idea.
• 🌟 Examples of app functionalities include recommending, directory listings, buying/selling, social connections, tracking, booking, and teaching.
• 📈 Real-life success stories demonstrate the effectiveness of the Smart Idea Formula in generating viable app ideas.
• 🕒 Time efficiency is emphasized, with the goal of coming up with a strong app idea in just 15 minutes.
• 💼 The process can lead to tangible outcomes, such as revenue generation and investment opportunities.

Q & A

What is the main topic Tara Reed wants to discuss in the transcript?

Tara Reed wants to discuss how to come up with a strong app idea that can generate residual or passive income, or simply create something cool that exists in the world.

What is the Smart Idea Formula?

The Smart Idea Formula is a series of questions one can ask themselves to brainstorm an app idea that they are already knowledgeable about, leveraging what Tara Reed calls an 'unfair advantage'.

What is an 'unfair advantage' according to Tara Reed?

An 'unfair advantage' is having a bit more knowledge about a subject than the average person, which can be used to build a business idea or an app around that knowledge.

How did Tara Reed help Josh come up with his app idea?

Tara Reed asked Josh a series of questions based on the Smart Idea Formula, focusing on his work as a music teacher and the challenges he faced, such as traveling between schools. This led to the idea of creating an app for online music classes.

What is the outcome of Josh's app idea?

Josh built an app for teaching music classes online, which is now used by 23 schools in Virginia. He has generated revenue and received investment, achieving success within six months of coming up with the idea.

What are the seven main things an app can do according to the transcript?

An app can recommend things, provide directories of resources, facilitate buying and selling, enable social connection, help people track information, allow booking of services, and teach people lessons or skills.

How did Carlos use the Smart Idea Formula for his hobby?

Carlos applied the Smart Idea Formula to his hobby of playing basketball, identifying the challenge of finding available courts and the right number of players. This led to the idea of creating an app for booking basketball courts at gyms.

What was the result of Carlos's app idea?

Carlos built an app that allowed gym members to book basketball courts, and his first customer was the YMCA, who agreed to use and pay for the app in one of their locations.

How long did it take Josh to come up with his app idea, build it, and get paying customers?

Josh managed to come up with his app idea, build it, and get paying customers within six months.

How long did it take Carlos to develop his app and secure his first customer?

Carlos was able to develop his app and secure his first customer, the YMCA, within four weeks.

What is the key takeaway from the transcript for someone looking to create an app?

The key takeaway is to use one's existing knowledge and 'unfair advantage' to identify a problem or challenge in one's work or hobby and create an app that offers a solution to that problem.

Outlines

00:00

🚀 Introduction to the Smart Idea Formula

In this paragraph, Tara Reed introduces the concept of the Smart Idea Formula, a method for brainstorming strong app ideas. The formula revolves around asking oneself questions to uncover app ideas based on one's existing knowledge and experience. Tara emphasizes the importance of leveraging one's 'unfair advantage,' or knowledge in a particular area, to create a unique and valuable app. The example of Josh, a music teacher, is provided to illustrate how the formula can lead to a successful app idea that generates revenue and attracts investment.

05:01

🏀 Hobby-Centric App Idea Development

This paragraph focuses on applying the Smart Idea Formula to hobbies, using the story of Carlos, who enjoys playing basketball. The discussion explores how identifying challenges or time-consuming aspects of a hobby can lead to the creation of an app that solves those issues. Carlos' idea for an app that allows gym members to book basketball courts exemplifies how personal experiences and difficulties can be transformed into viable and marketable app solutions. The paragraph highlights the potential for quick development and adoption of such an app, as demonstrated by Carlos securing the YMCA as his first customer.

Keywords

💡App Idea

An app idea refers to the concept or plan for a mobile application that aims to solve a problem, meet a need, or entertain users. In the context of the video, app ideas are generated by leveraging one's existing knowledge and experience in a particular domain, such as work or hobbies. For example, Josh's app idea stemmed from his experience as a music teacher, focusing on reducing the time and effort spent on traveling between schools.

💡Residual Income

Residual income, also known as passive income, is the income that continues to be earned even after the initial work is done. In the video, the concept is tied to the creation of an app that generates ongoing revenue with minimal continued effort after its initial development. This is exemplified by Josh's app, which continues to bring in revenue from schools using it for teaching music classes.

💡Smart Idea Formula

The Smart Idea Formula is a method or set of questions designed to guide individuals in brainstorming and refining app ideas. It encourages people to think about their existing knowledge and experiences to identify potential app solutions. The formula is based on the premise that individuals have an 'unfair advantage' in areas they are already familiar with, which can be leveraged to create a unique and effective app.

💡Unfair Advantage

Unfair advantage refers to a significant advantage or edge that someone has over others in a particular area due to their unique knowledge, skills, or experiences. In the context of the video, this concept is used to emphasize the importance of building an app idea around one's area of expertise or familiarity, which can provide a competitive edge in the app development process.

💡Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an individual who organizes and operates a business, taking on financial risks to start and grow that business with the aim of making a profit. In the video, Tara Reed identifies herself as a tech entrepreneur and uses her experience to guide others in developing app ideas that can turn into successful entrepreneurial ventures.

💡Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a creative problem-solving technique that involves the spontaneous generation of ideas. It is a collaborative process where individuals build on each other's ideas to find innovative solutions. In the video, brainstorming is used to help individuals come up with strong app ideas by asking a series of questions that挖掘 their existing knowledge and experiences.

💡Hobby

A hobby is an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure. In the context of the video, hobbies are considered as potential sources of app ideas, as they often involve areas of personal interest and expertise that can be transformed into innovative solutions through app development.

💡Recommendation

Recommendation in the context of apps refers to the feature that suggests content, products, or services to users based on their preferences, behavior, or other data. Apps like Tinder recommend potential dates, while others might suggest items for purchase or resources for users to access. The video highlights this as one of the seven main things an app can do to alleviate challenges or stress in a particular area.

💡Directory

A directory in the context of apps is a feature that provides a categorized list or database of resources, services, or contacts. Directories can include ratings, reviews, and other information to help users make informed choices. Apps like Yelp offer directories of local businesses with user reviews, serving as a decision-making aid for consumers.

💡Social Connection

Social connection refers to the ability of apps to facilitate communication and interaction among users, creating a sense of community or shared interest. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram enable users to connect with others, share content, and engage in discussions, enhancing the social aspect of app usage.

💡Tracking

Tracking in apps involves monitoring and recording specific data or user activities to provide insights, feedback, or progress reports. Health and fitness apps like Fitbit track physical activity and sleep patterns, while other apps might track sales, orders, or service progress.

Highlights

Tara Reed introduces the concept of the 'Smart Idea Formula' as a tool for brainstorming app ideas.

The 'Smart Idea Formula' involves asking a series of questions to help identify a strong app idea based on one's existing knowledge or experience.

The key to the formula is leveraging one's 'unfair advantage', or knowledge in a specific area, to create a unique app.

An example is given of an entrepreneur named Josh, who used the formula to create an app for teaching music classes, resulting in significant revenue and investment.

Josh's app idea stemmed from his personal challenge of traveling between different schools to teach music classes.

The app allows students to complete lessons online, work in teams to compose songs, and receive grades from teachers.

Carlos, another entrepreneur, used the formula to create an app for booking basketball courts at gyms, starting with the YMCA as his first customer.

Carlos identified the difficulty of finding available basketball courts and matching the number of players as a problem his app could solve.

Apps can serve various functions such as recommending, providing directories, facilitating buying and selling, connecting socially, tracking, booking, and teaching.

The 'Smart Idea Formula' can be applied to both professional and hobbyist contexts to find app ideas that address specific challenges.

The process of coming up with an app idea using the formula is emphasized as quick and efficient, with examples showing results within four to six months.

The importance of focusing on areas where one has an unfair advantage is stressed as the secret to successful app idea generation.

The transcript encourages entrepreneurs to think about their work and hobbies to find pain points that their app can solve.

The 'Smart Idea Formula' is presented as a universally applicable method for generating app ideas that can lead to residual or passive income.

The transcript provides a clear and actionable framework for aspiring app developers to create innovative solutions based on their unique expertise.

Transcripts

foreign

hey my name is Tara Reed and I am a tech

entrepreneur today I want to talk to you

about how to come up with a really good

app idea that you can use to create

residual income passive income or to

create something just cool that exists

in the world so we're going to talk

about how to come up with a strong app

idea in 15 minutes now to help you

understand this I want to introduce you

to my smart idea formula and what is the

smart idea formula the smart idea

formula is a series of questions that

you can ask yourself to help you

brainstorm an app idea that you are

already right now in this moment whether

you know it or not 100 qualified to

build and the trick to the smart idea of

formula I'm going to tell you the trick

right here up front the trick to the

idea formula is to think of something

that you already know something about it

could be what you do for work it could

be what you do for a hobby it could be

anything but something that you already

know something about because when you

build an app idea centered around or any

business idea centered around something

you already know something about you are

leveraging what I call your unfair

Advantage your unfair Advantage is

something that you know a little bit

more about than the average person you

don't have to be the world's biggest

expert but you know something

so to help you understand how the smart

idea formula works I want to introduce

you to Josh Josh is an entrepreneur I've

had the pleasure of coaching and when I

sat down to work with Josh we went

through his smart idea formula so I

remember I said this is a series of

questions let me show you the questions

that I asked Josh

the first question that I asked Josh

when brainstorming an app idea for him

was what do you do for work and he was

like okay that's an easy question I'm a

music teacher

and we moved on to the second question

now my second question for Josh was tell

me something that you spend a lot of

time or effort on at work what's

something you spend a lot of time or

effort on and he thought about it and he

was like okay well I have to travel to

go teach after school music classes at

many different middle schools so one

thing that I spent a lot of time or

effort on is traveling back and forth

between the schools where I teach right

and we all have a part of our job that's

time consuming it takes a lot of time it

takes a lot of effort so these were easy

questions for Josh I'm sure they're easy

questions for you I want you to be

thinking about what these questions the

answers to these questions for you what

do you do for work what's something you

spend a lot of time or effort on at work

because then I moved on to the third

question for Josh and I said okay great

let's say that you built an app to

alleviate some of that stress you

wouldn't have to drive back and forth

between the different jobs you wouldn't

have to feel like you needed to clone

yourself if you built an app to

alleviate that specific thing you just

told me was hard or time consuming what

could happen what someone logs in and we

were just brainstorming here so he

thought about it he had never thought

about this before and he said okay well

students could log into the app and

maybe they can complete the lessons

online I wouldn't have to be there in

person they could complete the lessons

online and they could work in teams to

compose songs to drag and drop different

elements of a song to put it together

and the teachers could give grades and I

could sell this to the schools and this

is a true story Josh ended up building

an app for schools to teach music

classes he has 23 schools in the state

of Virginia who wrote him a check to say

we would love to use this here you go we

would love to have this in our school

he's on thirty thousand dollars in

revenue and he's also gotten fifty

thousand dollars from investors who said

I love the idea I want to see you take

it to the next level here's a check and

he did all of this in six months like

came up with the idea built the app and

got paying customers in six months so

Josh says this app is definitely a

revenue generating Endeavor I did not

know it will grow as quickly as it did

we got television and radio interviews

in the process it's been a blessing so

remember the trick to the smart idea

formula that was just an example but the

key to the smart idea formula is to take

something you already know something

about Josh built the whole business and

the whole empire just thinking what's

something that I do in my day-to-day job

that's kind of hard or takes a lot of

time because I could build a solution to

that right so these are this common the

seven top things that an app can do and

as you're brainstorming for example what

you do for work as you think about what

you do for work and what's hard or time

consuming about what you do for work

these are the seven things the same main

things that apps can do to really solve

and help that right whatever that hard

thing is a lot of apps recommend things

the main thing that they do is recommend

something think like Tinder where it's

recommending dates for you but an app

can recommend anything or apps give

directories of resources think Yelp

where there's all these different

listings of resources you can see

ratings and reviews and get access to

things

or apps often will let people buy and

sell things from each other think Airbnb

think eBay where people are buying and

selling things it can also allow people

to connect socially in a community think

Facebook and Instagram Tick Tock where

everybody's gathering together in a

community and sharing resources and

sharing things your app could do that or

apps help people track something think

about a Fitbit for example which is

tracking your health but it can track

all kinds of things you can track sales

you can track everything or apps often

will let people book something and track

the service think about Uber where you

book a ride and then you can see the

progress or even the Domino's Pizza

tracking app where you book something

and you see the progress and apps also

often will teach people something it's

lessons and videos and tutorials and

quizzes and assignments so really look

at one of these seven things you can do

other things with your app of course but

these are seven common things that apps

can do to relieve some of the stress of

maybe what you do for your hobby or what

you do for work so just wanted to give

you these ideas

now we've been talking about the smart

idea formula and thinking about what you

do for work and what you do for a hobby

so I want to give you one more example

of how you can use the smart idea

formula to come up with an idea the

example I showed you with Josh was how

to come up with an idea centered around

what you do for work but what about what

you do for a hobby so to show you how

this works I want to introduce you to

Carlos Carlos is another entrepreneur

I've had the pleasure of coaching and

when I sat down to work with Carlos we

did the same thing we just went through

this simple three-step questions which

is a smart idea formula to come up with

a good idea for him so my first question

to Carlos was what's one thing that you

do in your free time I want you to think

about this as you're watching this

what's one thing that you do in your

free time and he said I like to play

basketball and I was like okay great so

tell me one thing that's hard or time

consuming about your hobby of playing

basketball there's always something

and he thought about it and he was like

well I've got to figure out sometimes

which courts are available when I want

to play sometimes there's too many

people sometimes there's not enough

people so that takes a lot of time

and then I asked him the third and final

question and I said okay great let's say

you built an app to alleviate some of

that stress what could happen when

someone logs in and he didn't know he's

just brainstorming for a minute but he

was like okay well maybe the gyms could

let their members log into the app and

they could see which courts are free the

members can see which courts are free

and they can book the court in advance

and I could sell it to gyms and like put

the Gym's branding on the app and it's a

true story Carlos built an app for gyms

to let people book basketball courts and

guess who his first customer was the

YMCA who said we love this here's a

check we want to use it in our first

location to test it out for that first

location they paid him 300 a month just

for that one location and he did all of

that in four weeks came up with the idea

built the app and got the YMCA on board

as his customer in four weeks so I want

you to think about this what do you do

for work what do you do for a hobby and

what's time consuming or hard about that

and I would love to help you come up

with a really strong app idea that

leverages your unfair Advantage

something that you already know

something about and that is the secret

of how to come up with an app idea in 15

minutes