The Opportunity Hiding in the Workaround

We use chip clips for almost everything in our kitchen.

Cereal. Pasta. Coffee. Cream of Wheat. Anything that comes in a bag and needs to be closed again.

Eventually, we started running out of clips. So I used Scotch tape instead. It sort of worked, but it often came loose.

Then I tried painter’s tape.

It worked surprisingly well. It was easy to remove, easy to reposition and strong enough to keep the package closed.

That little workaround made me wonder: Why isn’t there a tape made specifically for this?

Imagine a small roll or pack of clear, repositionable tape squares designed for the kitchen. They could reseal bags, boxes and packages without leaving a sticky residue. Instead of searching for another chip clip, you would pull off a square, press it down and be done.

Maybe this product already exists. Most ideas do in some form.

But that isn’t really the point.

The point is that opportunities often reveal themselves through the things we already do to solve small problems.

A home remedy. A makeshift tool. A step we add to an existing process. Something we borrow from another use because the product we actually need isn’t nearby, doesn’t work very well or hasn’t been created yet.

These workarounds are worth paying attention to.

In this case, the potential product fits several things I look for in an opportunity. It is simple. It solves a common problem. It should be relatively inexpensive to produce. The market is enormous, and the path to the customer is easy to understand. Grocery stores, kitchen stores and online retailers already sell products meant to preserve and organize food.

I probably won’t pursue this idea. But I like noticing it.

Some people look for business opportunities by studying trends, markets or emerging technology. I often start by watching what people actually do, especially when they are improvising.

The next useful product may not begin with a brilliant invention.

It may begin with running out of chip clips.

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I help entrepreneurial people think through what’s next in their work, business or ideas. If something here sparks an idea or conversation, I’d love to hear from you.