How 6 founders discovered gaps in the market, and built businesses to fill them

How 6 founders discovered gaps in the market, and built businesses to fill them

Many entrepreneurs’ lightbulb moments come from a problem they’ve experienced themselves. It’s the first sign that there’s a gap in the market.

According to a 2025 Shopify survey, 38% of business owners relied on their personal experience as a customer to validate their business idea before launching. When one person is experiencing a problem, chances are good they aren’t alone. Not only does this mean a captive audience is likely ready and waiting to buy, but it also means you know exactly what they’re looking for.

These four brands found their sweet spot by solving real problems their founders experienced firsthand. Each discovered strong demand by listening to customers and testing their ideas before going all in—here’s how.

Lighting the way for new moms

When Julie Carty became a new mom, she hit a wall with nighttime feedings. Her top-rated bedside lamps were either too harsh—waking up the whole family—or too dim to see clearly. “I hated my lighting setup at home, and I had the ‘best’ bedside table lights,” Carty says on Shopify Masters.

Recognizing the gap, Carty decided to fill it. She created LatchLight, a wearable, hands-free, soft-glow light made for nighttime baby feedings.

Carty spent two and a half years developing and tweaking LatchLight, getting feedback from other new parents, doulas, and lactation consultants to make sure the product met real needs. When she repeatedly heard how the light “was a game changer for them and a super helpful tool, that is when I decided to move forward,” Carty says.

From there, Carty grew her customer base by selling directly to hospitals as well as promoting LatchLight at trade shows and through influencers. Today, the brand also has a retail partnership with Buy Buy Baby.

Reimagining packaging solutions

The idea for Hero Packaging hit cofounder Anaita Sakar while she was packing orders for her previous business.

“I just wanted to use packaging that was better for the environment,” Sakar says. But nothing worked well. “Boxes were way too expensive to ship. I looked into paper, and it was great—it was recyclable and compostable—but not waterproof.” That’s when she got the idea for a waterproof, plastic-like mailer that would break down naturally.

To test her idea, Sakar asked other small business owners if they’d be interested in switching to this type of packaging. “It was a resounding yes,” she says.

Sakar tested the market before launching using search ads: “We targeted people on Google, so we were hitting anyone that was typing in ‘sustainable packaging’ with a landing page and they would get a free sample,” Sakar says. “We thought we were going to get about 30 or 40 sign-ups for free samples, and in a week we got a thousand people.”

That test showed Sakar there was already a sizable audience looking for exactly what her product offered: A growing market of ecommerce businesses needing shipping materials, plus rising consumer concern about waste, equaled a perfect fit for Hero’s compostable bags. Today, the brand has sold over 35 million compostable mailers to over 73,000 customers.

Making canned goods cool

Heyday Canning Co. found its place in the market by shaking up what cofounder Kat Kavner calls “a sleepy category”: canned foods. When she and cofounder Jaime Lynne Tulley were stocking up on nonperishables during the COVID-19 pandemic, they saw an opportunity for more innovative, flavorful options.

“We had this hypothesis that the canned food category as a whole was very much ready to be reimagined, but we wanted to validate that and, you know, really have some good insights and data to back that up,” Kavner says.

Before jumping into product development, Kavner and Tulley extensively researched what was already on the market, logging every brand and product in a spreadsheet. Once the data confirmed a gap in the market, the cofounders drilled down on where Heyday would fit in.

“We started first by just really thinking about, like, what are the products that we want to develop and what role are they going to play in people's lives? What problem are we solving for people?” Kavner says. Rather than a last-resort pantry item, Kavner and Tulley positioned Heyday’s cans—such as harissa lemon chickpeas and kimchi sesame navy beans—as fun and full of flavor.

To get the word out, the pair hosted a Bean Swap pop-up in New York City where attendees could exchange another brand’s can for a Heyday can. They sold out of all the inventory they brought for the four-day event in just two days.

Redefining sustainable luxury

When Lauren and Alexander Ludwig founded Their Jewelry, it was the result of a pain point Lauren experienced firsthand. “I have a metal allergy to anything copper or brass, and in so many jewelry companies that’s the base metal that they use,” Lauren says. “So, I wanted to create a line that shied away from using those types of metals and things that are a common allergy to so many people.”

They knew other people faced the same challenges, so they saw a chance to create gender-neutral pieces that were both beautiful and hypoallergenic.

But the Ludwigs didn’t stop there. They noticed a growing demand for transparency and sustainability in fashion. In an industry often criticized for environmental damage and murky supply chains, Lauren and Alexander set out to be different. They became the first company to partner with the Artisanal Gold Council, supporting small-scale miners and promoting ethical gold sourcing.

Their commitment to sustainability touched every part of their business. From using recycled materials to ensuring fair labor practices, Their Jewelry built trust with customers who cared about authenticity and responsibility—leading to 177% business growth year over year.

This story was produced by Shopify and reviewed and distributed by Stacker.