• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

LDSPMA

Empowering Latter-day Saints to spread light and truth by connecting them at the intersection of faith, creativity, and professional skill

  • Conference
    • 2025 Conference
      • Register
      • Sessions
      • Workshops
      • Awards Gala
      • LDSPMA’s Got (Secret) Talent!
    • FAQs
    • Volunteer
    • Past Conferences
      • 2024 Conference
        • Sessions
        • Workshops
        • ZIFF Networking Dinner
        • Schedule
      • 2023 Conference
        • Sessions
        • Workshops
        • Schedule
        • Sponsors & Vendors
      • 2022 Conference
        • Sessions
        • Workshops
        • Schedule and Maps
        • Photo Gallery
      • 2021 Conference
        • Sessions
        • Workshops
        • Schedule and Maps
      • 2020 Conference
        • Sessions
        • Workshops
        • Schedule
      • 2019 Conference
      • 2018 Conference
      • 2017 Conference
      • 2016 Conference
  • Membership
    • Email Sign Up (Free)
    • Monthly Zoom Discussions (Free)
    • Mentoring Program
    • LDSPMA Next Gen (Youth)
    • University Chapters
    • Facebook Group
  • Podcast
    • Watch
    • Listen
      • Listen on Apple Podcasts
      • Listen on Spotify
      • Listen on Buzzsprout
    • Submit a Creator Highlight
    • Called to Create Conversations
  • Articles
    • All Articles
    • Faith & Mindset
      • Gospel Principles
      • Creativity
      • Productivity
    • Craft Skills
      • Writing
      • Media, Film & Theater
      • Podcasting & Speaking
      • Music
      • Fine Art
    • Professional Skills
      • Editing
      • Publishing
      • Business
      • Cultural Diversity
      • Marketing
  • Awards
    • 2025 Awards Gala
    • Praiseworthy Awards
      • 2024 Winners
      • 2023 Winners
      • 2022 Winners
      • 2021 Winners
      • 2020 Winners
      • 2019 Winners
      • 2018 Winners
      • 2017 Winners
      • 2016 Winners
    • Spark Awards
      • 2024 Winners
      • 2023 Winners
      • 2022 Winners
      • 2021 Winners
      • 2020 Winners
    • Lifetime Achievement Awards
    • Apply to Be an Awards Judge
  • About
    • Mission
      • LDSPMA in the Media
      • Success Stories
      • Viewpoint on LDSPMA
    • Volunteers
      • Volunteer Year-Round
      • Volunteer at the Conference
      • Apply to Be a Presenter
      • Apply to Be an Awards Judge
      • Resources for Current Volunteers
    • Leadership
    • Policies
      • Nurturing a Caring Community
      • Political Neutrality Policy
      • Antiharassment Policy
      • Harassment Reporting Form
      • Children Policy
    • Contact US
  • Support LDSPMA
    • Donate
    • Volunteer

How to Find Your Golden Idea

February 21, 2025 By LDSPMA Leave a Comment

A man at his laptop.

One of my favorite quotes comes from business magnate Richard Branson: “The best businesses are built by solving a real problem that people have.” A great place to start is to ponder on this statement and let it brew in your creative mind until you’ve formed a list of problems. Then you can brainstorm potential solutions. Some solutions may ease the problem while others temporarily numb it. The idea that comes closest to completely and permanently fixing the problem is the golden foundation on which to build your business.

I had a problem effectively keeping a journal while serving an LDS mission in the Philippines. I was having great experiences, but on some days I couldn’t find the motivation, time, or even willingness to record them in my journal. It felt like a very mundane task, so I found ways to make it more fun. I decided to break up my records into several different journals. In one I would record memories about my companions so I wouldn’t forget the small details that made them unique. In another journal, I would dedicate a few pages to each transfer, highlighting the best moments from that area. A tradition on my mission was to give notes and pictures to other missionaries when they went home. I had nowhere to store all these wonderful and creative cards, so I kept a third journal where I would glue or staple them onto the pages. Though it was a lot to store, I soon found joy in journaling. It even became something I looked forward to every day. Fast forward a few years after my mission and I had my idea: to create a journal for missionaries that would allow them to do everything I did all in a single journal.

Identify Your (Small and Specific) Audience

Now that you have a potential solution to a problem, you have a business idea. It’s time to figure out who this idea best serves. It may be tempting to assume that the bigger your market, the better, but there’s actually power in starting with a smaller and more specific audience. According to We Can Track, conversion rates for niche e-commerce sites are 29% higher than broad markets, and niche websites experience 53% more user engagement than general topic sites. The more specific your audience, the easier it will be to speak to them and learn from them.

I asked, Is there real demand for my business/product idea? Before going all in, it’s important to know what the demand level looks like. I wanted to know if other returned missionaries struggled with journaling while they were in the field. How many of them even purchased a journal for their mission? How satisfied were they with their journal? What would make my audience more satisfied?

Once Identified, Master Your Audience

You can never know too much about your audience. The better you understand them, the better you’ll be able to serve them. Here are some strategies:

  • Create surveys. Post these surveys on social media groups and send them to friends and anyone else in your small and specific audience. Be prepared to provide an incentive for them to take these surveys. My first survey got me thirty responses. With my second survey, I offered two $10 gift cards to two random participants, and the $20 investment got me over 250 responses. The incentive drove people who took the survey to ask their friends and family to take it as well. Be sure to include questions to verify how well each respondent fits into your audience. I knew to value the answers of respondents who served missions and purchased a journal more than those who didn’t serve missions or didn’t prioritize purchasing a journal, and I couldn’t have distinguished that if I hadn’t asked.
  • Make a focus group. Once I had a sample of my product, I wanted to see my audience’s reaction. The feedback was brutal, but I knew as long as I was growing in knowledge of who my audience was and what they wanted, I was winning. This data taught me to take myself out of the equation and focus on what my audience cared about. The two focus groups I used provided me with the additional information I needed to make a more refined version of my product that my audience overwhelmingly approved. A business or product idea often begins with what you want it to be, but it should then progress and develop into what your audience wants it to be.

Once Mastered, Build Your Audience

You don’t have to wait for your business to be off the ground before building an audience. If your business is a landscaping service, try starting a social media page with beautiful before-and-after landscaping photos. If your business is selling a product to an LDS audience, try starting a blog centered on topics that the audience may find engaging. This way, come launch time, you’ve already built a community that you can continue to nurture—hopefully for years to come!

Build Your Idea and Find a Supplier

Using the data learned from your audience, begin the building process. I used tools to design journal pages and components such as Adobe, Canva, and other sites to find template inspirations.

Do your due diligence in finding a good manufacturer. A popular platform that I prefer to use is Alibaba. After speaking with over fifty manufacturers on the app, here are some things I’d recommend you prioritize:

  • Experience. Find their profile or website and ensure they have years of experience working with sellers.
  • Verification. Find suppliers who are verified by third-party companies. This reduces the risk of anything going wrong.
  • Reviews. Find out how others who worked with the supplier felt about the service.

Many suppliers offer good deals if you order in large quantities. I recommend starting small and then building out. I began with a modest order of 100 copies. This allowed me to test the waters and see if the demand level was accurate without being left with too many extra copies and a nonexistent audience. Once the data in our sales numbers verified the demand level, I ordered a greater quantity.

Misconceptions That Keep You Stagnant

  • You don’t need a huge team to start. You will need to wear a couple of different hats, but it only takes one person to turn an idea into a business. With the help of services like Fiverr, it’s even easier to start without a big team.
  • You don’t need a lot of money to start. My wife and I used funds from donating plasma to start our small business, and because we started with a smaller supply quantity, it didn’t take much capital to launch.
  • You don’t have to succeed in order to win. The fear of failing or making a stupid mistake is what has previously kept me from giving any business venture a try. But I hope this quote by Henry Ford helps any reader as much as it helped me. It reads, “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.” Your first business idea may not be the one that brings the most revenue, but as long as you are learning something, you are winning.
Headshot of Junior Germain.

Junior Germain

In addition to operating a small business with his wife, Junior works as the head of the marketing and sales department at a real estate marketing agency based in Utah. He graduated from BYU-Idaho with degrees in Marketing and Communications, and welcomed his first child a few months ago.

    Filed Under: Articles, Business, Professional Skills Tagged With: audience, ideas

    You May Also Like

    Headshot of Cali Black

    A Conversation with Cali Black

    By Cali Black – “I truly believe that when we stop and we reflect, that allows the Spirit to bring things to our remembrance.”

    Sprint Writing for the Win

    By Rebecca Talley – “There is no one-size-fits-all for writing a novel – or any book, for that matter. We all must figure out what works for us.”

    To Creative Middle-Aged Sisters in the Working World

    By JoLynne J. Lyon – “Decide how you’ll measure success. Study your possibilities. Say a prayer. And if it’s what you want to do, get yourself out there.”

    A young woman writing.

    Why You Don’t Want to Get Your Book Done Quickly

    By Angela Eschler – “The quality of the book is a publisher’s best chance to convey the brand experience that will convert readers.”

    Reader Interactions

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Primary Sidebar

    Recent Articles

    Headshot of Cali Black

    A Conversation with Cali Black

    By Cali Black – “I truly believe that when we stop and we reflect, that allows the Spirit to bring things to our remembrance.”

    Sprint Writing for the Win

    By Rebecca Talley – “There is no one-size-fits-all for writing a novel – or any book, for that matter. We all must figure out what works for us.”

    To Creative Middle-Aged Sisters in the Working World

    By JoLynne J. Lyon – “Decide how you’ll measure success. Study your possibilities. Say a prayer. And if it’s what you want to do, get yourself out there.”

    Recent Podcast Episodes

    Popular Articles

    A senior couple walking down a quiet lane

    Sometimes Things Do Work Out

    By Steve Dunn Hanson – We can choose how any situation or circumstance we find ourselves in will ultimately affect us. We can literally shape the results of all our experiences.

    Cussing & Creating: 3 Reasons Why You Shouldn’t (& Should!) Use Profanities in Your Writing

    By Lizzy Pingry – Writers must evaluate the way they express themselves: how does our use of language and its profanities build or destroy our stories? 

    Portrait of a Painter: The Journey of Latter-day Saint Artist Dan Wilson

    By Howard Collett – “God is in the very details of our work. That doesn’t just apply to Christian artists working on temple paintings, but it applies to anyone in any career. God can answer specific questions to help us be better providers, better employees, better employers, better husbands or wives, or wherever we need help.” – Artist, Dan Wilson

    More Articles

    Nephi restrains Zoram in a scene in the opera

    God Prepares a Way: 5 Lessons from a BYU Student’s Opera about 1 Nephi

    By Jeremy Madsen – The miraculous story of the making of “He Shall Prepare a Way” teaches us 5 lessons about launching creative projects in the Lord’s way.

    Empowered By Vision

    By Steve Piersanti – The theme of our 2020 conference is “Empowered by Vision.” This theme was chosen in recognition of the 200th anniversary of the First Vision. And it signifies that Latter-day Saints who are writers, editors, filmmakers, designers, artists, performers, producers, marketers, and other kinds of publishing and media professionals—and students and others who are preparing for these roles—can be tremendously empowered by the vision contained within the scriptures and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

    A clock on a desk.

    Time Management Skills: Creating a Life of Order

    By KaTrina Jackson – “Time is a limited resource, and it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks and to-dos. But time management doesn’t have to be a mighty dragon to fear.”

    Footer

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube

    Copyright © 2025 LDSPMA. All Rights Reserved. LDSPMA is not endorsed by nor affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.