Thinking of quitting the tech industry grind to start a profitable software business yourself? Before you take the plunge, don't make the same mistakes I did!

The secret to finding a profitable software idea, is that it must come from your customers. Unless you know a real pain that people who would use your software are experiencing, you can easily fool yourself into thinking it's good enough to build a software product business on.

In this episode, I share what I've learned about finding real software product ideas. I use a combination of IBISWorld, ChatGPT, and a book by Dane Maxwell to help my software development coaching clients discover software startup ideas.

IBISWorld Businesses 
https://www.ibisworld.com/industry-statistics/number-of-businesses/

Start from Zero by Dane Maxwell
https://www.amazon.com/Start-Zero-Business-Experience-Freedom/dp/1950367185

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TechRolepedia, a wiki about the top 25 roles in tech: 
https://thrivingtechnologist.com/techroles

The Thriving Technologist career guide: 
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You can also watch this episode on YouTube. 

Chapter markers / timelinks:

(0:00 ) Introduction
(1:42 ) Finding a Profitable Software Idea
(1:54 ) 1. Select a Customer Market
(2:50 ) 2. Determine How to Contact Customers
(4:37 ) 3. Ask Customers for Their Biggest Problem
(6:05 ) 4. Ask People Who Responded To Meet
(7:03 ) 5. Ask Them 5 Questions
(7:15 ) Make Sure You're On The Same Page
(7:29 ) How Are You Solving It Today?
(8:15 ) What Happens When You Don't Solve This Problem?
(8:50 ) If You Could Wave a Magic Wand, How Would You Solve It?
(9:36 ) Would You Pay for That Solution? How Much?
(10:48 ) Identify Consistent Profitable Problems

Visit me at thrivingtechnologist.com