Here is low-down. I don’t believe that there is anything like a great idea, because you simply can not empirically put all the data on a presentation slide and say “yes, this is it.” An idea is a matter of perception – that some may be better than others and some ideas may plainly be crap.
What a mention in the previous sentence, the fundamental flaw of an idea lies in the perception of the idea. How do you know which idea to pick and execute on?
Perhaps I can shed some light on that question by spurring on some thought around some other questions.
The core of the problem is that when you sit down and evaluate your idea, there is absolutely no way to determine if what you are evaluating is good or bad. Don’t misunderstand me. I posted here the example of social media and how an idea can flourish. But the idea still remains the problem because in it’s core it actually means that you’ll never really know whether your onto something once you start working on it and exploring the greater context around it.
Example: Laundry shop. With a quick search I find over 30 laundry mats in Barcelona city. So apparently with the idea of opening a laundry mat in Barcelona, I must be on to something, no? It seems to work for other entrepreneurs, why not for me? Ill offer a better service with quick turn around times.
That’s not what I want to convey here. You need to validate the idea and pour your heart into it. Test all the assumptions and plan carefully (Ill get to planning vs. goal setting soon). Have a very clear idea about the problem you are trying to solve and for whom. None of us have a magical crystal ball and your guess is as good as mine.
Here are a few considerations to help you decide which idea to pick;
1. Regardless of whether your idea is for your personal life or for entrepreneurship, the thought behind an idea is ultimately about seeing opportunity. If that is the case than your off to a good start.
2. Think about the risk and assumptions that relate to the idea and how you can mitigate the least amount of work possible to execute on the idea?
3. Can you march forward with the idea?
4. What happens when i simply write down my idea and let it evolve in my mind? Some ideas fade away, others stick a bit while the one or the other idea keeps shouting “You need to do this right now. Don’t be stupid!” When you obsess about this than you know you are passionate about executing.
5. Time sensitivity. How are you on timing? Does it makes sense now? Should you really open your new ice cream shop in December next to the amusement park simply because your passionate and love making the best ice cream in the world?
Now these questions may not be a complete list or the solution but perhaps they spur further thinking to your ideas. If so, than I have accomplished what I set out to do with this post.
However when it comes to ideas my advice is to peel back as many layers as you can and look at it from angles. It’s not about perfection. You need only to pick the better than bad idea, stick to it for a while and execute properly. The beauty of the whole concept is that it only takes this better than bad idea to flourish into something wonderful and successful.
Stay motivated. Work hard.
What else do you think is important when it comes to envisioning ideas?
