Free interactive business idea tool
What Business Should I Start?
Tell us what you are good at, what you have done, what resources you have and what you want the business to achieve. Evans will help identify commercially plausible business directions that fit your circumstances.
Already know what you want to build? Explore Evans Business Builder.
Not sure what to start? Or several ideas?
Answer 18 short question groups. Get a small number of reasoned business directions.
About 5–8 minutes. Free. No email needed to see your results. Answers stay in this browser tab.
Already have an idea?
Get a commercially sceptical assessment of it.
Describe the idea and the tool will set out who pays, what must be true, what concerns us and what to test first.
What the tool considers
Your actual situation — not a personality quiz.
- Skills
- Professional experience
- Industry knowledge
- Existing network
- Available capital
- Available time
- Desired income
- Speed to revenue
- Preferred customer type
- Business-model preferences
- Appetite for employees
- Operational involvement
- Existing assets
- Location
- Recurring-revenue preference
- Scalability ambitions
- Sales capability
- Risk tolerance
- Things you don't want
How directions are compared
- Founder fit
- Customer demand
- Startup cost
- Speed to revenue
- Margin potential
- Recurring revenue potential
- Scalability
- Competition
- Operational complexity
- Sales difficulty
The output is a small number of reasoned directions — usually five, sometimes with a few wildcards — not a list of fifty. Each one explains why it fits, what could kill it, the first test and what not to build yet.
How do I decide what business to start?
Start from what you already have — experience, skills, contacts, assets, time and capital — then compare a few options against the same commercial questions: who pays, how easily you can reach them, what it costs to start, how quickly it can earn and what could make it fail. Choose the option with the strongest fit and the cheapest test, then get real customer evidence before spending heavily.
- Business ideas based on your skills and experience
- Ideas that fit your budget
- Options you can test while employed
- Evidence before investment
Explore further
Business ideas by skills, experience, budget and circumstance.
Common questions
Yes. The tool is free to use and shows your full results on the page.
No. You see your results without giving an email address. You can optionally email yourself a copy; that sends one email and does not add you to a mailing list.
The tool compares your answers with a structured model of business types. It first rules out businesses that conflict with your stated constraints — capital, time, timeframe, things you don't want — and explains why. It then weighs founder fit, likely ease of reaching customers, speed to revenue, startup cost, margin, recurring potential, scalability, selling demands and operational complexity against your objectives. Results are shown as fit bands with plain-English reasons, not scores.
No. Nothing can. The tool suggests directions worth investigating and tells you what could kill each one and how to test it cheaply. Demand always has to be validated with real customers.
Yes. Choose “Assess my idea” and describe it. You get a commercially sceptical assessment — who pays, what must be true, concerns, what to test first and what not to build yet. That assessment is generated by AI using Evans' framework.
Yes. Tell the tool how many hours you have and when you can work, and it favours businesses that can genuinely be tested part-time. Check your employment contract for any restrictions.
Run the first test and the 30-day validation plan shown with each result. If customers commit, you can build it yourself or ask Evans for help.
Yes — Evans Business Builder is a structured programme that helps turn a chosen idea into a commercially functioning business.
£995 + VAT per month for 12 months — £11,940 + VAT in total. There is one programme with no tiers.