Page 98 - The Business Idea Factory: A World-Class System for Creating Successful Business Ideas

SCAMPER

Remember what ideas are created from? Ideas are modifications or combinations of other ideas.
SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Magnify or Minimize, Put to other use, Eliminate, Rearrange
or Reverse) is a very popular creative technique, because of its effectiveness for generating high-
quality business ideas. SCAMPER allows you to apply most common modifications to the product or
process and create new business ideas. Imagine that you parked your car near a café. You entered into
the building, the waiter brought a menu and you ordered a dinner. After the meal you asked for a bill
and left a tip. Let’s use the SCAMPER technique for this regular café to see which new business ideas
we can generate.

Subst it ut e. Let’s substitute dr iving to the café to the café co ming to yo ur ho use. Do yo u see which
business ideas we can create based on this substitution? Pizza delivery services use this exact business
model. You call the phone number, order your meal and it is delivered to your house in less than an
hour.

Combine. Let’s combine a café and a thrill ride. For example, a result can be a Belgian Dinner in The
Sky restaurant service which uses a crane to lift people, dinners and tables 150 feet into the air. Forbes
magazine called it one of the world’s ten most unusual restaurants.

Adapt. Let’s adapt a café for kids. How might such a café look? All dishes have funny titles adapted
for kids and are served with a toy. The café has a playground and waiters are dressed in costumes of
characters from popular cartoons. When I was in New York for the first time, a tour guide showed a
doll store. This store has a café where girls can drink tea with their dolls.

Magnify or minimize. Let’s reduce the number of items on the menu to several drinks and
sandwiches. As a result we may get a fast food restaurant such as McDonald’s, Burger King or KFC.

No w let’s r educe the number o f dishes to just thr ee. As a r esult we can g et a business lunch co mbo
that the café offers from noon until 3 p.m.

Put to other use. The building of the café can be used to create a hairdressing salon, a pharmacy or
a sho p. Dining tables can be used as o ffice desks. T he kitchen can pr o duce co o ked fo o d that will be
sold through supermarkets or sandwiches that will be sold through gas stations.

Eliminate. Let’s eliminate a building of the café. As a result we may have a drive-in café where you
o r der and eat fo o d while sitting in a car. Let’s eliminate the waiter s and we can g et a help-yo ur self
café where you put food on your plate yourself and later pay for it at the counter.

Rearrange or reverse. Let’s reverse a statement, “Visitors should leave tips for waiters” to “Visitors
shouldn’t leave tips.” As a result we can have a café where waiters don’t receive tips.

To be honest I hate paying tips. When I lived in Ann Arbor, Michigan, one day, while walking along
the street, I stumbled upon a café with a sign on the door: “We don’t take tips.” I entered and placed an
order. When the waitress arrived she said, “Here is your meal. And I just want to remind you that our
café has a no tips policy.” Should I tell you that I became a regular visitor?

SCAMPER and Tr ansfo r mer ar e thinking techniques that can br ing yo u a lo t o f successful business
ideas. Apply them o ccasio nally to see if yo u can impr o ve yo ur existing business o r star t a new o ne.