r/Businessideas

This might sound kind of stupid but I’ve been thinking about it a lot.

I hate dealing with socks. Matching them, half of them are worn out, some disappear, and I always seem to run out at the worst time.

So I had this idea — what if socks were just… taken care of?

Like you just get the same comfortable socks delivered every month and your drawer is always full. No thinking about it, no buying random packs, no mismatched pairs.

Nothing fancy either, just plain good socks that feel the same every time.

I was thinking something like 15–30 pairs a month, maybe around $20–$40 depending on how many.

I know most people probably wouldn’t care, but I feel like there’s a certain type of person that would actually love this just for the convenience.

I’m not trying to sell anything right now, I just want to know if I’m crazy or not.

Would you personally pay for something like this?

And if not, what kills it for you — price, idea, or just unnecessary?

Hey everyone,

Hope you’re all doing well.

I’ve been thinking about starting a small “social hub” type space and wanted to get some outside perspective on the idea.

The basic concept is a place where people can come just to hang out…not a full restaurant, not just a café, but something in between. Somewhere you’d go with friends after work, after classes, or on weekends when you don’t really want a formal setting but also don’t want to just sit at home.

Right now the plan is to keep it fairly simple:

Coffee, mocktails, and a small menu (pastries, cakes, light snacks. nothing crazy)

Board games and casual group activities

Occasional screenings (sports, big events, maybe movie nights)

A comfortable, aesthetic space where people can actually sit and stay for a while

The idea is less about food and more about creating a “go to spot” where people feel like they can just show up and chill.

I feel like a lot of places have plenty of cafés and restaurants, but not many spots that are built specifically around socializing and just spending time.

I’d love to hear:

Would you personally go to a place like this? Why or why not?

What would make you come back regularly instead of just once?

Is there anything you think is missing from this idea?

Have you seen similar concepts in other cities around the world that actually work well (and seem profitable)?

Open to any thoughts, criticisms, or ideas. Just trying to pressure test this properly before committing.

I’m 20 year female living in the Uk. I work as a room attendant that pays me 35k£ a yr. I live with my parents and don’t really have much financial responsibilities. I plan on saving at least 15k this yr or more. I want to start a beauty product business in the next 1.5 yrs that covers a specific common pain point and want to help people deal with it. I plan on building a an audience on social media while i work but only educating content and just build a community then build a email list before I launch so then I would at least get potential customer.

As Im 20 and have friends going university studying better job with better reputation I feel very behind and ashamed of the fact that at this point I only work as a room attendan no one knows friends or family. But at the same time o don’t want to go university and study a course I would absolutely hate (nursing) but it has a good reputation and a stable income.

I feel lost and behind and idk what to do. my dream is to start that buisness but is it realisti? will it work? Or will I make myself an idiot for thinking otherwise? in 5 years time will I still be working in entry level positions while my frirnds have stable life while I’m still trying to figure out life because I made a mistake of starting a business

The concept: A showroom and fulfillment studio for celebrations. Not a traditional party store - a curated market where customers browse styled vignettes by color collection, then order at the counter or online. Everything from tableware, balloons, florals, custom cake, signage, gifting — coordinated under one aesthetic, fulfilled in a branded box for drive-thru pickup or delivery.

The model: Rather than hiring employees for every specialty, I would use licensed partners for certain stations: a florist, a baker, a calligrapher, etc. They operate their station with creative autonomy within the brand aesthetic, keep 65-70% of their station revenue, and stock on their own schedule. Not employees, licensed operators with a revenue share agreement.

The market: Deliberately launching in a small city of 26,000 with a university before expanding to a larger regional market nearby. Lower costs, less competition, faster word of mouth, tighter demographic fit - and I live there. The plan is to prove the model, document the playbook, then scale.

Questions:

•	Does this solve a real problem or am I building something people don’t actually need?

•	Has anyone used a licensed partner model like this & what were the legal complications?

•	Is launching in a small market by design smart or naive?

•	What am I missing?

Not looking for validation, looking for the things nobody tells you until you learn them the hard way.

Hi I’m trying to start a small business over the summer. I plan to make at least 3k in savings by August if I stick to my budget. I’m good at cooking, crocheting, and fashion curating. I’ve thought about opening up a thrift store but I wouldn’t even know how to go about it. Any advice would be amazing.

Tool to switch AI when one stops working?

You’re using ChatGPT / Gemini / Perplexity, and suddenly:

• limit reached
• error
• stops working

I’m thinking of a simple Chrome extension that:

• detects that
• grabs your last prompt
• lets you instantly continue in another AI

Would you actually use this, or is it not a problem?

I've got about $3k saved up and want to start something real. Not interested in dropshipping or print-on-demand.

I've been looking at pressure washing, window cleaning, maybe vending machines. Something I can run on nights and weekends while keeping my day job.

Has anyone here started something in that budget range that actually worked? Would love to hear what you'd do differently.

Hi there,

i have this idea to open a business using n8n to make a system that ato reply to emails with AI integration.

My target audience are Realestates agencies, and the idea is if they are geting to many emails per day that the ai will reply to them with a personalized email.

Any one with experience in this field? and some advice? Dos this is even worth it?

sorry for my english is not my native language.

Thanks for feedback.

I'm a self-employed videographer and content creator.

I've been thinking about launching a physical product brand alongside my service business.

The concept:

Premium handcrafted leather bags produced by artisans in Morocco. Starting with one product, a minimal leather backpack in cognac with gold hardware. Modern design with subtle traditional Moroccan details. Plan is to expand the product range over time with more bag styles and leather accessories.

My advantage:

I can handle all the marketing myself since I already run a videography business.

The gap I see:

I saw nobody in the German-speaking market is actively marketing quality Moroccan handcrafted leather goods with a strong brand identity. I saw one in UK, his product seems good and it he seems to make revenue with it, but his marketing is dead.

Would love to hear honest thoughts, does this have legs, or am I missing something?

Would love honest feedback on this idea.

I’ve been planning a lot of birthday parties lately, and I kept running into the same annoying issue: I’d make the invite in Canva or generate a flyer image, but then I’d have to retype all the details again into another tool just to collect RSVPs and track headcount.

So I built MintInvite— you upload a flyer, image, or link and it instantly turns it into a shareable RSVP page.

The main people I had in mind are parents planning birthdays and baby showers, but I could also see it being useful for school events, community events, and small business pop-ups.

What made this feel timely to me is that more people are creating invites digitally now, especially with tools like Canva and AI image tools, but the RSVP flow still feels disconnected.

I know there are tools like Partiful and Paperless Post, but they usually want you to recreate the invite inside their platform. I wanted something that works with what you’ve already made.

Still figuring out whether this should be freemium for personal events and paid for businesses or power users.

The prototype is already live, so I’m mainly trying to validate whether this is a real pain point and who would actually pay for it.

Would you use something like this, and for what type of event?

https://preview.redd.it/vel8o5f4pgvg1.png?width=2748&format=png&auto=webp&s=abfffb909aa7d53869233d85fa19812993414a31

I've been doing side projects for 15+ years. Most didn't make money. A few made a lot.

What I've noticed is that the projects I started because I wanted to get rich almost always died, and the ones I started because I wanted to figure something out usually turned into something useful, even if the "something useful" wasn't always cash.

Back in high school I started a source gaming community around servers for CS:S, TF2 and Gmod. I was not going to get rich running game servers. But I learned how to run Linux boxes, handle DDoS attacks, manage a community of people who all thought they were right about everything, write website copy, run promos, etc. I cleared maybe 5k total but the skills paid for themselves a hundred times over in everything that came after.

Then I started AnonCloud, an anonymous hosting business. Again, not a rocket ship. But I learned how to handle payments, abuse reports, customer support at 3am, how to hire people, and the actual mechanics of running infrastructure at scale.

The issue with chasing money on your early projects is you pick things you don't actually care about more often than not, so you bail the second things get hard. Things always get hard. If you're in it to learn, the grind feels like progress. If you're in it for the money, the grind feels like you're wasting time.

The people who made $500 on their "boring" first projects and built real skills will always be ahead of the person who spends years hunting for the "right" idea, and never building anything.

So I encourage everyone to just build.
Build what you think is cool.
Build what you think is interesting.
Build what you wish you had.

Even if you don't get on Forbes because of it- it doesn't mean the skills and experience won't let you land your next venture there.

What's your most painful manual workflow across tools (CRM + email + docs)? Would you pay $39/mo for a no-code AI agent that handles it autonomously with approvals and logging? (e.g., new lead → score → quote → follow-up)

Something like: Every time a new lead comes in, score it, pull data from our sheet, generate a custom quote, email it, and follow up in 3 days if no reply.

I've had an idea that I've been working on for years what I have not been able to do anything to get it going.

the idea is to subsidize gas. subscriber would get double the amount of gas for their subscription. for example if they usually purchase $400 worth of gas in a month they would pay that $400 as a subscription to me or the company then they would get $800 of gas allowance for the month. the plan was to make up for the loss via brand advertisements discounts from gas stations and also government subsidies because of the environmental initiatives that are possible. for example rewards for driving less etc etc.

I am looking at starting a business that basically does the admin side of a business for smaller home service companies such as handymen, pressure washers, hvac, electrical, plumbers, ect

Tasks would include but not be limited to -Answering phones -Lead/Estimate/Invoice follow ups -Soical media/GMB posting -Bookkeeping -Job data entry -Review follow ups -And more

Does this seem viable and needed?

Hey everyone,

I’m exploring a potential deal to import copper (scrap/cathode) from Tanzania at around LME -18%, which sounds attractive, but I don’t have prior experience in importing.

Here’s my situation:

•	I know a person who has an import/export license and claims to have contacts with a supplier in Tanzania

•	He is willing to help facilitate the deal using his license and documentation

•	The idea is to import the material under my firm’s name, but using his support/license

•	Payment would likely be done via LC (Letter of Credit)

I have a few concerns and would really appreciate guidance from experienced importers/traders:

1.	Is it legally possible to import goods using someone else’s license but under my firm’s name?

2.	What are the major risks in such deals (fraud, quality mismatch, payment issues, etc.)?

3.	How can I structure a “safe” LC to protect myself? (inspection clauses, documents, etc.)

4.	Should I involve a lawyer or trade consultant before proceeding?

5.	Any red flags specifically with deals offering LME -15% to -20%?

I’m completely new to this, so even basic advice or things to watch out for would help a lot.

Thanks in advance 🙏

I’ve been building a small productivity web app over the past few weeks and trying to grow it from zero, so I figured I’d share what’s actually working so far and see if anyone has advice.

A big mistake I made at the start was trying to explain everything the app does. No one cared. The moment I switched to showing one clear use case, like organizing a messy week or breaking down one assignment, people started engaging more.

Right now I’m focusing on:

• short videos that show one specific use
• talking to people who comment and asking what confuses them
• fixing small friction points instead of building new features

The app itself is basically a visual workspace where you organize tasks and ideas on a board instead of a list. I built it because I kept abandoning every productivity app I tried.

Still very early, but I’m trying to grow it to something real.

If you’ve built or grown anything before:

• what actually helped you get your first real users?
• anything you would do differently starting from zero?

Would appreciate any advice!