When you find a real problem, do not assume there is only one way to solve it.
The same underlying frustration can often support several completely different businesses.
Suppose you discover:
Small local newspapers struggle to consistently produce good TikTok content.
That does not automatically mean:
“I should start making TikToks for newspapers.”
That is only one possible level.
You could solve the same problem in several ways:
| Offer | What you actually do | Complexity | Potential value | Leverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Training | Teach employees how to make better TikToks themselves | Low | Medium | High |
| Done-for-you service | Produce the TikToks for the newspaper | Medium | High | Low–medium |
| Marketplace | Connect newspapers with local TikTok creators | High | Potentially high | Very high if it works |
| Consulting | Determine whether TikTok makes sense, build the strategy, workflow and measurement system | Low–medium operationally, high expertise | High | Medium |
| Software/tools | Help journalists generate ideas, scripts, captions, workflows or measure performance | High upfront | Depends heavily on demand | Very high |
| Agency + strategy | Decide what to do and then execute it | High | Very high | Lower unless systemized |
They all scratch roughly the same itch.
But they are very different businesses.
Move Up and Down the Problem
A useful question is:
At what level should I solve this?
You can move closer to the work:
“I will make the TikToks for you.”
Or further away:
“I will teach your staff how.”
Further still:
“I will build the system your staff uses.”
Or:
“I will help you decide whether TikTok is even the right answer to the problem you are trying to solve.”
The higher-level problem may actually be:
“We need younger people to discover and engage with our journalism.”
TikTok is only one possible mechanism.
A consultant might discover that the newspaper should not invest heavily in TikTok at all.
That could still be a valuable result.
Complexity and Leverage Usually Trade Off
A done-for-you service is often easy to start.
You need one customer and the ability to do the work.
But every new customer creates more work.
A marketplace is the opposite.
It is much harder to get started because you need both:
- newspapers;
- and creators.
But if it works, the business may facilitate hundreds of transactions without you personally making every video.
Software can have similar leverage.
Build once, serve many.
But only if enough customers actually want the standardized thing you built.
So do not automatically choose the most scalable version.
High leverage is useless if you cannot get the first customer.
Often the sensible path is:
Manual service → repeated learning → standardized process → training/product/software/marketplace
You earn money while discovering what deserves to be scaled.
Different Buyers May Want Different Levels
The same newspaper might buy different solutions depending on its situation.
One editor might say:
“Our journalists are capable. They just need training.”
Sell training.
Another might say:
“Nobody here has time for this.”
Sell done-for-you production.
Another might say:
“We don’t know if TikTok is worth doing at all.”
Sell strategy.
Another group of 100 newspapers might say:
“Finding competent local creators is impossible.”
Now the marketplace becomes interesting.
Listen to what customers are actually asking for.
Do not force your favorite business model onto the problem.
Not Every Version Will Be a Good Business
Something can be useful without being commercially attractive.
For each possible solution, ask:
- Who pays?
- How painful is the problem?
- How often does it occur?
- What is solving it worth?
- Can I reach the buyer?
- How expensive is delivery?
- Can the solution be repeated?
- Does the customer want to do it themselves or have it done for them?
- Does this require lots of behavior change?
- Can I prove the result?
- Is there enough demand for the scalable version?
For example, newspapers may enthusiastically say they want a creator marketplace.
But if each paper hires one creator every two years, the marketplace economics may be terrible.
The done-for-you service might actually be the better business.
Or perhaps training sells extremely well because the papers already employ journalists and simply need to teach them a new format.
Reality decides.
The First Solution Does Not Have to Be the Final Business
You may begin with:
“I’ll make five TikToks for you.”
While doing that, you discover the real problem is that journalists do not know how to identify stories that work visually.
Now you can sell:
“TikTok story-selection and production training for local newsrooms.”
After training twenty newspapers, you discover they all need the same planning workflow.
Now perhaps that becomes software.
The original service was not wasted.
It was how you discovered the next business.
Look at the Problem From Several Distances
Whenever you find an interesting problem, ask:
Could I do it for them?
Could I teach them to do it?
Could I advise them on what to do?
Could I give them tools to do it?
Could I connect them with somebody who does it?
Could I automate part of it?
Could I solve the larger problem that created this one?
Each answer creates a different business.
Do not fall in love with the first delivery model that enters your head.
Find the itch first. Then decide the best way to scratch it.