You have knowledge, skills, experience, or expertise. But expertise alone doesn't tell you what people will pay you for.
The Problem Opportunity Finder helps you move from: What can I sell? to what problems do people actually have that my expertise could help solve? Instead of starting with an offer, you'll start by identifying problems worth investigating.
What is this toolkit for?
The Problem Opportunity Finder is a guided tool for identifying potential customer problems that connect with your expertise.
It helps you explore business opportunities before you invest time creating an offer, product, course, or service.
Your goal isn't to find the perfect business idea.Your goal is to identify problems worth investigating further
What problem does it solve?
Experts often start with: I'm good at X. What can I sell? That's backwards. A stronger starting point is: Who has a problem I understand well enough to help solve?
This tool helps you avoid building offers around assumptions and instead identify problems that may be valuable to solve.
Your expertise is the resource. The customer's problem is the opportunity.
When should I use it?
Use this toolkit when:
You have expertise but don't know what business to build around it
.You have several possible ideas and need to explore the problems behind them.
You want to turn your professional experience into an offer.
You know what you can do but aren't sure who needs it.
You have an offer idea but want to examine the underlying problem before building it.
Don't use it if you already have a clearly defined and validated customer problem. Move to the appropriate next step instead.
Remember: This tool helps you identify opportunities. It does not validate them
What will I have when I'm done?
You’ll have a Problem Opportunity Map containing:
- At least 10 potential problems
- The people experiencing each problem
- The situation in which each problem occurs
- The outcome they want
- The consequences of leaving the problem unresolved
- The connection between the problem and your expertise
- Your Top 3 problems to investigate further
You’ll finish with a clearer understanding of where your expertise could create value
How to use it
This Notion toolkit will guide you through four simple activities:
1. Map your expertise
Identify what you know, can do, have experienced, and understand.
2. Find potential problems
Explore the problems experienced by people you understand.
3. Assess the opportunities
Evaluate which problems appear important, frequent, consequential, and aligned with your expertise.
4. Choose your Top 3
Select the problems that deserve deeper investigation.
Don’t try to find the perfect problem
Generate possibilities first, then narrow them down.
The Toolkit
Problem Opportunity Finder: Notion Template
Use the interactive Notion template to complete the exercise.
👉 Open the Problem Opportunity Finder Toolkit
Duplicate the template into your Notion workspace before you begin.
Your Completed Output
When you’re finished, save:
- Your Expertise Inventory
What you know, can do, have experienced, and understand. - Your Problem Opportunity Map. The potential problems you’ve identified.
- Your Top 3 Problem Opportunities
The three problems you believe are most worth investigating.
Don’t build your offer yet.
Your next task is to understand why people behave the way they do, what motivates them, and what they are actually trying to accomplish.
Your Top 3 problems become the input for the next step.
What's Next?
Understanding Human Behaviour & Motivation.
Before designing your solution, understand the needs of the person experiencing the problem.