As an entrepreneur and CEO, I’m often asked for advice on how to start a business or where I get the inspiration for ideas.
What I’ve found is that most people don’t have a problem generating ideas. The real challenge is generating ideas that can actually become a viable business.
So the big question is: “How do I come up with an idea that has not been done, one that I am uniquely qualified to execute on better than others, and one that stands a chance of growing into something big?”
Use what you know
One good way to generate an idea that has legs is to look within your own area of expertise. I’ve typically found ideas within the framework of my own daily experience.
You can think about how your daily life breaks down in terms of three categories: home, work and everything in between including commuting, vacations and weekends. In all those areas of your life, there are things that can be improved upon.
Think about where you see opportunities to optimize your life and then brainstorm ways to do it. To me, an entrepreneur is someone who has the tendency to ask, “What if?” What if this were faster? What if this were easier? What if this were more efficient?
Allow your ideas to percolate
When I have an idea, it’s only a glimpse of what it could potentially become. I find that I need time to think and develop the more complex elements of the problem or vision.
Alone time is critical to letting your vision emerge, or having those “aha” moments where your concept or idea finally begins to coalesce.
Think like an investor
You also need a process for evaluating, assessing and prioritizing ideas to formulate a path from ideation to execution. A way to do this is to think like an investor.
Investors are determining whether your business has the potential to go the distance. Most good investors start from “no,” and then may be convinced to “yes.”
Entrepreneurs, on the contrary, have the rose-colored glasses and start with “yes.” When you’re trying to raise money, venture capitalists are looking for holes in your plan. You should poke holes in your own plan so you can evolve your idea or change it altogether.
Here are some questions you should ask:
■ Is my idea a feature, product or a company?
■ What is the second product?
■ Is there a market for this product that meets my expectations?
■ Has someone else already tried to do it, and if not, why not?
■ Are customers ready to buy? Too many ideas fail simply because they are too early to market.
■ Is this technically feasible with a limited investment to prove?
■ Can you execute with resources you have available to you now?
If you have sound answers to all these questions, you’ve found an idea that might be ready to become a business. ●
