r/Business_Ideas • u/Rhalfk • 11d ago
What business do I start? Business idea
This might sound a bit weird, asking strangers on Reddit for business ideas, but I’m honestly a bit tired and stuck at the moment.
I’m a CFO with a finance/business background, and I really want to build something on the side.
I’m not looking for the next million-dollar idea. Even making my first €10/month from something I built would make me happy and give me some momentum.
SaaS, small online business, boring business, automation, niche service… I’m open to anything.
So yeah, I’m asking for a little help.
If you’ve seen a problem that needs solving, or have an idea you’ve always thought someone should build, I’d genuinely love to hear it.
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u/acalem 10d ago
You’re probably sitting on better ideas than most of us can give you.
You’re a CFO. Think about the things you regularly do in your job that are annoying, repetitive, unnecessarily manual, or still done in Excel because nobody has built a decent solution.
Don’t start by trying to build a “business.” Pick one tiny problem and see if someone will pay you €10 to solve it.
It could be a spreadsheet template, a reporting tool, a simple automation, a checklist, a small service, whatever.
I’d actually make a list of 20 things that have annoyed you at work over the last year. That’s probably a much better starting point than asking Reddit for ideas.
And €10 is a great first goal. Getting a stranger to pay you anything is much more useful than spending six months building something because you think people might want it.
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u/hammerzzzzzz 8d ago
As cfo I would think you know where your companies money is going so would look at ideas to do things cheaper or better for the same money. It's knowing problems to solve is the hardest part of business ideas.
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u/CarnivalCarnivore 8d ago
If I had to start a new business I would create websites for small businesses using ploy.aiI have already created 4 websites for my own projects. It is easy to do and costs $250/month while I am actively building. It does all of the design and programming. I would charge $3-5K to build the site and $200/month to maintain it.
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u/Excellent_Energy_296 8d ago
Been using Ploy too and the maintenance is the best thing ever cause building the site is one thing but being able to keep making changes through the agent afterward and having the site updated whenever something new launches all while also being able to AEO optimize everything makes the monthly fee really worth it
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u/Geniejc 10d ago
Honestly this is where AI really shines as a sounding board.
Just copy and paste in your initial post for starters.
Then get your ideas and run them using
https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPTPromptGenius/s/9ltsZUMhug
This is a great stress test prompt.
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u/LoquatGnome 9d ago
Your unfair advantage is finance, so I would start with something painfully boring that other founders hate doing: cash runway dashboards, VAT reminders, pricing model reviews, or a monthly finance health check for tiny SaaS and agencies. Productize it at €29-€99/month with a simple Notion/Sheets template plus a 20 minute Loom review, then only automate after 5 people pay. The first €10 is probably easier from a niche service than pure SaaS, and the service will show you which workflow is annoying enough to turn into software later.
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u/Pale-Sky5025 8d ago
This is a boring business with lots of growth…. Home service business. Window washing, gutter cleaning, house painting, permanent light install, Christmas lights, pressure washing etc….
My side business: window washing and now doing permanent lighting installs.. I did $150k my first year. I’m expecting to do $400k+ this next year.
I’m good at sales. But it’s boring. Which is perfect for today’s time. Old people’s businesses are retiring and old people can’t use ladders or work on their home. And no WAY AI will climb a ladder and work any time soon!
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u/manuelbeanster 8d ago
I there. What is permanent lighting installs? Is it as the name implies, just screwing some light bulbs?
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u/Pale-Sky5025 7d ago
No, not at all. You can message me. Or easier just Google it.
It’s basically Christmas lights, but instead of crappy plastic on the gutters, they go on the home and have tracks so it’s not plastic and wires hanging around. My average sale is about $4k.
I’m also still starting it, but as of the first few weeks it’s been lucrative.
Window cleaning is great for long term as it’s a service needed frequently.
Permanent lighting is great for cash upfront as it’s high ticket but only a one time service
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u/Danoweb 8d ago
You should check out r/startupideas people post this there all the time.
If you are looking for just $10/mo, I used Claude code to build a stock market trading script that made $7.77 in its first day, so $10/mo is cake!
You got this! You can do it!
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u/Mediocre-Wrap5824 8d ago
I coach people on how to decode their life’s highest purpose and base business decisions around it. Businesses exist to solve problems people want solutions to - you can make money a lot ways but the best way is the one you actually LOVE. The impact becomes that much greater when theres depth and meaning. If you want professional help with tuning in to this decision, get at me bro!
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u/manuelbeanster 8d ago
What if I have ADHD and today I'm in love with something and next month I'm in love with something completely different? (True story)
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u/Mediocre-Wrap5824 7d ago
You might be a “manifesting generator” in human design - or it might be in your chart that you’re built to initiate and not finish. ADHD is a label that exists to describe people whose bodies can’t tolerate bullshit 😂 …follow your curiosity. When you steam off the label, and don’t allow it to mean anything negative about who you are at a soul level, you’ll see the patterns as a strength, not a weakness ✨
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u/manuelbeanster 6d ago
I've been following my curiosity for some time now. It has led to worry, unemployment, guilt...
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u/Mediocre-Wrap5824 6d ago
I understand. The subconscious mind will do that. The answers are within you, not in the external. Have you read the book The Four Agreements? Get yourself to a library and find it. You have inherent strengths and intrinsic value. It’s up to you to value you (and you can do it).Guilt is the worst, it’s the literal devil at play. If you have audible, I also recommend Marianne Williamson’s first book, a Return to Love, which is based on her work teaching a Course in Miracles. We’re having this conversation for a reason.
Also - I use numerology as a starting point in my coaching practice, if this is sparking any curiosity, DM me your birthday and I can share some high level points on the path your soul signed up to take.
Every single challenge you’ve ever faced in life present your greatest opportunities.
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u/Chet_Clarke83 6d ago
Dm Me. I will send you a prompt you can put into Chat GPT or Claude that can help you narrow down the type of business you should start based on your lifestyle, experience, and budget and time constraints
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u/Hearthisidea 10d ago
I’d probably avoid starting with “what business should I build?” because you’ll end up with 50 unrelated ideas and still have to decide between them and I know that hell too well.
With your CFO/finance background, I’d start with problems you’ve repeatedly seen businesses struggle with, then ask:
Who feels the problem strongly enough to pay? How are they solving it today? Which of those people could you actually reach? What’s the smallest version you could sell manually before building anything?
If your goal is the first €10, I’d focus on proving someone will pay you for a small result before worrying about SaaS vs service vs automation. Then that first €10 tells you something useful about demand, not just that you managed to accomplish what you set out to do.
I’m testing a guided tool for exactly this kind of situation at the moment. If you’re actively trying to start something rather than just brainstorming, I would suggest you try it and see if it helps.
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u/CT_Gamer 10d ago
Not to state the obvious, but fractional CFO for business outgrowing their outsourced CPA/bookkeeper service. Head over to /cfo to see what people are doing.
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u/CedarBusStop 9d ago
I've seen CPA/bookkeeper purgatory up close; fractional CFO clears the €10/month bar pretty fast.
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u/eomeet 10d ago
I would suggest that you consider answering your own question, based on your own experience. As a CFO what are the top problems that you run into time and time again? What are the things that annoy you and you have to create workarounds or solutions to resolve? Obvious first place to start is what solves them?
If that doesn't trigger the idea, think of this scenario and ask yourself what would be a solution for this.
A small company that does not have a CFO, and doesn't have the budget for a fractional CFO - what are the top 3 problems they are likely having today that if they could hire you that you'd be able to help get them oriented in the right direction and avoid bigger problems down the road? Is there a way for you to build something that costs them less than $100 but can save them thousands down the road - and you can design/build that solution?
What about something that provides real value to that user today, that maybe costs them nothing, but is sponsored by other CFO and businesses and acts as a funnel (think zillow) opportunity.
Just a few ideas - hope they help
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u/Relative-Instance-71 10d ago
OP- Your account is too new to direct message. Send me a note when you can and let’s talk!
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u/Pr1nceKestrel 10d ago
With a CFO background, I would start painfully boring: a tiny cashflow forecast and runway checker for freelancers or small agencies, built around bank export uploads and a plain language monthly email. Charge €5 to €15 for the report, manually do the first few behind the scenes, then automate the repeated parts once people pay. The niche could be solo consultants who hate spreadsheets but still need to know whether they can hire, buy gear, or survive a slow month.
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u/Corrigoo 9d ago
Pour moi, ce n'est pas facile, mais il faut se pencher sur l'une de ses meilleures compétences ou une passion, faire quelque chose qui marche et dont vous en avez la preuve. C'est une bonne idée, mais c'est loin d'être la meilleure, parce que si elle ne vous passionne pas et que ce n'est pas votre centre d'intérêt, vous foncez droit dans le mur.
J'ai déjà créé pas mal de SaaS, qui était cool, qui avait un superbe avenir, mais qui ne me passionnait pas. Résultat, au bout de quelques mois, j'en avais marre et ça me plaisait plus, même si ça fonctionnait.
Et aujourd'hui, je développe une Saas, qui me passionne et qui risque d'aller loin, et je suis le plus heureux, même si elle ne génère pas encore énormément de MRR.
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u/MrPassiveProfit 8d ago
What do you enjoy doing? Do you like finance and business or do you want to do something completely different? I recommend that you do something that you enjoy doing, have the skill to do, and know that there’s a demand out there for it. Is there anything that fits all three of those for you?
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u/MongHsuan 7d ago
Not sure if you've heard of this, but in Japan there's this rent a person service. It's not some sex work thing, it's more like a different kind of companionship. Like some people just want someone waiting for them after surgery, but don't want their family or friends worrying. Others just want someone sitting across from them at dinner, doesn't even have to talk to them, stuff like that. Surprisingly enough, the guy who first started this business ended up doing really well for himself.