How long have you spent just trying to come up with a business idea?
Hey PH community đź‘‹
I’m curious — how much time have you personally spent trying to come up with a business idea, without actually starting anything?
A few hours?
Days?
Weeks?
Still stuck in the loop?
I ask because I’ve definitely been there. That frustrating cycle of brainstorming, doubting, researching, restarting… all before writing a single line of code or putting anything into the world.
It’s a surprisingly common challenge, and I’m wondering how many others have experienced it too.
💬 Drop your answer below — and if you broke out of that loop, how did you do it?
Your story might help someone else get unstuck.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
— A 19-year-old maker building an AI tool to help others turn ideas into execution 🚀
Replies
I've spent the last 2 years coming up with business ideas and trying them out. What has helped me break out of the loop is talking to people and listening to their problems and what frustrates them about it. Then offering small ways to help with software and go from there. What do you think has helped you break out of the cycle of thinking before trying something?
@katrinarodriguez I’ve definitely been in that loop — for me it wasn’t just about lack of ideas, it was too many ideas. I’d jump from one to another, chasing the “perfect” one instead of testing anything. What finally helped was lowering the pressure. I stopped trying to build the next big thing and just focused on solving one small problem I personally understood. From there, momentum grew naturally. Also, talking to potential users early made everything feel more real and grounded. Curious — do you think perfectionism plays a role in staying stuck
@novastart definitely, I think wanting it to be "perfect" is a very easy and sneaky way to delay testing something. I've been there and have to remind myself that it's better to get it out, knowing there's future work to improve it, and get any feedback because if you wait until it's perfect, you may wait too long.
contactform.dev
I have too many ideas and its annoyingly distracting me focusing on things I am working on.
contactform.dev
@novastart Love this. Glad it helped. hit me up at hello@zapdigits.com
@malithmcrdev Sent !
I spent months trapped in that loop.
Endless whiteboards, coffee-fueled brainstorms, second-guessing every idea before it even breathed.
And then one day, I stopped looking for the “perfect” idea.
Instead, I built something I wished already existed.
A tool to end tool overload.
A workspace that doesn’t scatter your brain across 10 tabs.
That’s how Nexli was born.
The loop ends the moment you stop trying to impress and start solving your own pain.
That’s the kind of honesty no brainstorm can outsmart.
I can definitely relate to the struggle of spending so much time brainstorming without taking action. It's easy to get stuck in the loop of perfecting the idea before even starting. For me, breaking free from that cycle came down to just taking the first step — even if it wasn't perfect. Small actions in https://joyfully-me.com/, like sketching out my ideas or testing with a small audience, really helped me build momentum
Hey Kamila, thanks for bringing this up! I spent several weeks stuck in that exact loop—constantly brainstorming and second-guessing myself before I finally decided to just start building a simple prototype. For me, the breakthrough came when I shifted my mindset from “perfect idea” to “learning by doing.” Even a rough MVP helped clarify what worked and what didn’t, which then fueled further iteration. Your AI tool sounds awesome and much needed—sometimes all we need is a little nudge or framework to move from idea paralysis to action. Looking forward to seeing what you create!