What are the best ways to generate good business ideas?

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Think out of your customers perspective, why do they have to pay you a lot of money? You know why some companies are successful and others aren't? They have a competitive advantage. That can be different things for example:

• An important brand name. Coca cola is a good example.
• Having a patent on an important invention. Often seen in Biotech, it's hard to develop new medicines (failure rates are high) but once it's approved you have a goldmine.
• High cost to change. Oracle is a good example of this. Customers are used to the software and it's a lot of work to change everything to a competitors software program. The staff usually gets a special training to work with the software which has a unique interface.
• Networkeffect. Facebook and Ebay are good examples of this. Most people use Facebook so it's a popular place to meet. Which is a self reinforcing effect. Same for ebay, it's the best way to buy and sell because all the action is taking place there. 
• Distribution advantage. Having the most efficiënt distribution can sometimes mean being a winner.
• Costs advantage. When you can produce the cheapest you can out price your competitors. 
• Scale advantage. Because you are bigger than your competitors it's easier to organise things. You can command more discounts from your suppliers because you're very important to them.
• First mover advantage. When you are the first one to do something it's hard for a competitor because they need to move faster than you to make up the difference in market share. And you already have the knowledge and resources.