You’ve decided to start a business but your ideas are all over the map. You think there’s a good idea in your brain somewhere but, how do you cut through the junk in your head to isolate it? Where to start? To begin, there is no magic formula. If yours is a sole proprietorship or a home-based business, you will likely be your greatest asset for a while, so let’s assess your greatest asset. Here are some obvious questions: What is your skill set, your interests? What are your inclinations regarding your future? Are you intentional regarding your future? Put another way, would you walk through fire to achieve the success you feel capable of achieving? That degree of intention takes raw determination and self-confidence in spades.
Here are several odd, but relevant, questions: does your location affect your likelihood of success? Too urban, too rural. What is your financial IQ? Are your ideas for making money grounded in reality? These questions become critical if you have no prior experience as an entrepreneur.
Try this: On a piece of paper, develop a list – short sentences please – of the ideas that resonate with you when you’re not in a position to write them down. On the way to work, for example, when you have the occasional “a-Ha!” moment.
You are a consumer of ideas, products, and services. What are things for which you have a need – or would like to have if you could? Things that would make your life easier, less costly. If you have a need, it is highly probable others have a similar need.
While trying to isolate the big idea in you, ask yourself, “Am I a problem solver?” “Am I inclined to seek solutions to problems after I have identified them?” Robert Kiyosaki frequently reminds us that everyone has money problems. He says if you want to make yourself rich, solve problems. Identifying a problem, he notes, creates the opportunity for creating a solution.
Are you creative? Are you capable of adding value to enhance consumer interest? When your brainstorming produces an idea for the venture you decide to launch, make sure it is something you feel passionate about; something for which you are prepared to make your sole focus to get it off the ground: you are willing to invest the time, resources, and effort.
Solve a problem, meet a need, or add value! Make that your mantra!
Now that you have an idea, let’s hope it is a big, hairy- a—d-idea (BHAG). So, what is your plan to move it from concept to reality? If you are the novice, bring in a small group of people you trust with the requisite business experience i.,e., how to find and attract working capital – if needed. You will experience a misstep or two and they can help you minimize the gravity of those missteps.
Be flexible but, above all, if you believe in yourself, don’t give up on yourself.
