Is your product or service being utilized in a way you did not intend? If so, is there a way you can create a new product or service that institutionalizes the idea created by the users of your existing product. They may not have created a new product or service, it may be a new delivery mechanism, method of billing, supplying or distributing.

Several cities in India have, what I have dubbed, micro-stations. Mini, non-official, non-sanctioned street vendors that sell fuel. They remind me of the espresso huts seen in the Seattle area. These micro-stations exist primarily to fill the need of just-in-time fuel requirements for the auto-rickshaw drivers. Rather than paying to keep the fuel tank filled, rickshaw drivers carry just enough fuel to make a run or two. After getting paid for a trip, or in many cases, after being contracted for a fare, the driver will purchase just enough fuel to get them by.

These micro-stations expand the distribution network of the official gas stations and meet a crucial need for the public, conveniently located and portable fuel. The innovation comes from the secondary supply chain and the concept of portable packaging. The local street vendors purchase their fuel from a gas station in some kind of bulk, transfer it into smaller water-bottles or coke-bottles and then resell.

Within India, I am told that this practice has recently been outlawed for two reasons: 1) the quality of the fuel is in question as vendors tend to cut the fuel with kerosene; and 2) the packing makes it far too easy for a local hooligan to create a Molotov cocktail. Making it illegal is unlikely to stop this practice and it will most likely move underground. As long as there is a need, and, there are those willing to sell, it is unlikely that it will just go away.
Which brings us back to our point. Products and services that are misused are vivid indicators of new business opportunities. In this case, a product intended to be sold from the pump, by the gallon/liter, is being resold in individual packages, by the milliliter. This is ripe for a legitimate venture to come in and provide a real solution, even if it does require legislation and regulation.

So ask yourself this question, "what unforeseen need is my product fulfilling and how can we restructure or introduce a solution into this untapped market?" By focusing on the users on the edge, we can often take advantage of innovations that have already proven their value.