Ideas, like fleas, jump from one man to another. But they don’t bite everyone.- (anonymous)
According to a recent survey, a fifth of people spend at least 25 hours a week trying to give space to the creation of new ideas to undertake.
Ideas that mostly arise outside the office, say in the supermarket, while driving the car or during a social gathering.
However, while good businesses could spring up anywhere, knowing where to find these innovative business ideas is always a concern.
The formula to find them is simpler than it seems and can be summarized in a single sentence: “do it step by step“.
In this post I share some suggestions on how to make the most of your mental capacities and the most conducive environments to find ideas and new ways to earn money.
10 Steps to Developing New Ideas
- Let your ideas flow naturally. The first step in generating ideas is to let them emerge without forcing them. Keeping an open mind and willing to an idea is the best scenario for these to arise naturally.
- Constantly observe your surroundings. The most fabulous business ideas have emerged as solutions to everyday needs. Be observant and try to find in each place possible ways to improve people’s lives and soon you will surely be becoming a generator of potential business.
- Don’t throw away any idea. The ideas themselves are not necessarily good or bad. In fact we make them good or bad according to what we do with them. Most of the time, our ideas take time to take shape and become something even more attractive and potentially good to start with.
- Write them on paper. This is very simple but powerful advice. Larry Page, one of Google’s creators, says that his idea came up one night while he was sleeping. Suddenly he jumped out of his bed and wrote it down in a small notebook. A good idea should be written on the spot to prevent it from fading into the crowd of thoughts.
- Shape them patiently. Once you have a good idea in your hands, the next step is to shape it. Consult upbeat people who think about your business idea. Ask them for suggestions on how they could improve it. Eventually you will discover interesting details to make it more valuable. Write on paper the important aspects that can transform it into a good business. And above all, be patient.
- Have fun. Finding innovative business ideas is a creative process much like the artist creating a beautiful painting or musical work. First they visualize their work and then they capture it. And in the process, have fun! Let your creativity surface and it will help you relax and obtain better results.
- Make a draft of your project. Once you have worked on the initial proposal, prepare a first draft of what your business would be. Write on paper what you hope to achieve, who you want to serve, what are the scope of your entrepreneurial project and what you need to achieve it. Generally speaking, your first draft should answer all the fundamental questions that will help you get started with a plan.
- Be visionary. Do not limit your possibilities by the fact that you do not have all the resources to carry out your undertaking. In fact, many great businesses started without even imagining the scope they could have. Seeing beyond your current possibilities can even boost energy so great that you’ll soon be doing whatever it takes to get the resources to turn it into a business.
- Make a business plan. A business plan is the roadmap that will guide you on the path of building your business. A good plan should contain all the specific details of what you want to do. Basically your plan should answer these questions: What do I want to do? How am I going to do it? When will I do it? With whom or who will I do it? Where will I do it? Responding properly to these questions is called: Strategy.
- Finally: action! The last and not least step in the creative process is action. All of the above would be useless if you don’t act. Many people feel frustrated and unsuccessful because they make it to step 9 but never jump into it. The fear of being wrong can block many people but remember:
It is better to start, make a mistake and set the course right than never to have done something. So don’t stop taking action. [twitéalo]
Innovative Business Ideas Vs. Familiar Ideas What is Better?
Perhaps it is true that to have a better chance of success requires having a passion for your idea, instead of just seeing it as money, but it is also true that the latter is the ultimate goal of any company, that is, what entrepreneur would have his business just for the sake of customers, without thinking about their financial situation?
The saying goes that “all roads lead to Rome“However, let’s imagine that among all these roads that lead to Rome, there are shortcuts, land routes with well-made roads, others with many potholes. There are also routes by sky and sea.
Some will be faster than others, some will be safer and less strenuous, and so on.
With the analysis of this saying, you must be clear about one thing: there are several steps you can take to turn your business idea into a real and solid company. You must select from a multitude of routes and choose the one that you think suits you best, that is, choose the safest path that will lead you to success (And why not? The less hard and exhausting path as well).
In general, to be successful in a project and make it grow over the years until it becomes a more mature organization, a good management plan is required, which is why this is so important when starting a business. Random success, more than a miracle, is an obvious rarity.
However, for any business to exist, it has to have a creative and innovative idea to serve as a starting point. Business ideas are basically of two types, known and innovative.
Known Business Ideas
Create a company that sells products or provides services that are already common in the market. Seen from afar, this type of activity is the one that presents the least risk (compared to an innovative idea, for example).
However, there is no guarantee that such an undertaking will be successful, because there are other facets and parameters to consider.
You have to be creative to survive, as your potential competitors are sure to be much older and more experienced. Care must also be taken in management and marketing, don’t be fooled by how simple an activity may seem.
In addition to the above, you must be able to differentiate yourself from your potential competitors. And to do so, you must find new elements that can improve customer service or your product, and differentiate it from others.
The easiest thing you can do to find an innovative idea for your business is to think that you are not satisfied with your product or service.
This is an exercise that requires you to put yourself in the customers’ shoes, in order to find the possible changes that make buyers have a better experience in your business.
A very simple example of the above: Let’s say you are a fan of chocolate bars and you always carry at least one in your pocket or purse. The problem is that they melt in the midday heat or break when squeezed with other objects in your pocket or purse.
How could we solve this problem with chocolate? simple, you will have to find a formula that solves the problem of heat. In other words, you need to make sure that the chocolate bars that you offer to the market are more resistant to heat.
Regardless of whether the price is a bit above the competition, this “plus” could certainly boost your sales.
Innovative business ideas
It is the antithesis of worldly activities, since you propose to offer services or products for a market that does not yet exist. Look around you: What needs of the people do you know that the market does not solve?
Innovative ideas are usually risky, and must be analyzed with realistic and well-studied parameters. However, this leap into the unknown can bring a host of benefits.
Plus, if successful, your innovative product or service will give your business an extraordinary reputation.
In conclusion, big risks = big gains or big losses. You play double or nothing by starting a business this way. Of course, “game“It’s just a metaphor, because as you might expect, starting a business is more than just a game in particular.
It is possible to put the odds in your favor, minimizing the risks, even on an innovative idea.
3 Final Points to Generate More Ideas
- Be observant. While you’re in line at the bank, at the supermarket checkout or at the movies. Always look around you. Try to discover latent needs in people, systems, or problems that yell at you “here’s a chance!”
- Ask yourself: How could you improve the services in this place? What product would make the experience at this company different? o What could you create to make people’s lives easier? How many would be willing to consider my proposed solution?
- Consider crazy ideas. Don’t stop to think that any idea is absurd. Some of the most creative solutions have emerged as a result of occurrences that someone thought would never work. Do not give up on the first “no”, remember that there may be thousands who say “yes”.
