6 – easy – steps to create a Winning Business Idea

At BETA* we often meet entrepreneurs and business developers whose minds seems overflowing with superb and brilliant ideas for new products and new market opportunities. They developed terrific ideas every single day of their lives. They are always ‘on the lookout’, curiously looking around, inquiring and actively seeking – and often finding – the next ‘big thing’.

On the other hand there are people, intelligent and successful businessmen and women, who can’t concoct a single viable idea. From time to time we have some of them in our workshops on business development and they ask me if I could teach them a simple method to generating great ideas. And I do.

You can learn to create a winning business idea.

Let me share to you what I tell them in the seminar room. : a simple process for creating your “world-class idea”.

1.    Infinite Ideas

Ideas for new products and services are everywhere and there is a limitless supply of them waiting to be developed and to be put on the market. The ideas are simply there to be seen and pursued by those who seek them. In fact, ideas are available to everyone, worldwide, and at the same moment. I am convinced that as I am writing this article, an innovator somewhere in Europe and a thinker in Davao City will ‘see’ the idea at the same moment.

Ideas can be small and simple, or large and complex. A new compelling idea may be derived of your passion for your favorite hobby and derived from there. It may be the result of the entrepreneur who sees an opportunity to transform an existing product to a totally new context. Or someone might combine elements of two different disciplines into a totally new field.

2.    Knowledge

Ideas are generally developed from known facts, not from thin air.  Concept developers and business builders who generate bold ideas have an high level of knowledge out of study, instruction and experience. Many high achievers got a lot of benefits from lessons learned from former educational and prior job-experiences that have become solid foundations for their thinking and understanding.

Ideas are born by listening to the needs and wants of customers and opening your mind to their perspective on the new concepts you want to develop.

 

3.    Connecting the dots

In my opinion, idea generation is the result of a person’s ability to mentally establish a relationship between two or more different but related facts. When joined together, they create a clear view of something nobody has seen, developed or commercialized before.

 

4.    Test the idea

Testing your idea begins with the observation of a situation, problem or opportunity. Then, you ask yourself what is happening and why. This will lead to the gathering of more information followed by a prediction that explains a possible solution ( solution = your idea). The process continues with the ‘field testing’ of the prediction. Field testing can be experimentation, the developing prototypes, surveys, etc. This step will allow you to collect , analyze and interpret the gathered data. At the end you will have a tested and viable idea, ready to put on the market.

5.    Timing of ideas

Some innovative ideas can  be an answer for the wants and needs of the customers today. Others could be conceived now but are not really sought yet by the market.  So, in the test phase you should check if your idea is viable in the market today. Customer might even think that your product is ‘nice, good idea, but I don’t buy because they don’t see an opportunity to use it’.  30 years ago, scientists at Xerox Parc, the R&D department of Xerox Corp. have already developed the technology we use today, i.e. laser printers, Ethernet, fiber optics,, etc. and commercialized when the market was ready.

 

6.    Good idea?

Remember that an idea is worth nothing until is it commercialized and there are paying customers. Some ideas will be profitable, others a failed dream. You have to learn to eliminate the bad ones very quickly, don’t waste your time, money and energy on them. The good idea will lead to vast markets of enthusiastic buyers; the goal of any dreamer is to pick that ‘winning business idea’.

In conclusion,  the pathway leading to great ideas is to :

·         Know there are ideas with your name on it. Find them!

·         Seek problems and opportunities within your environment. They exist!

·         Based upon knowledge, imagine solutions to of what you will find, be creative.

Ideas are born!

·         Be zealous and passionate about your ideas. They are YOURS!

·         Test your ideas. Will they work and will customers want to buy them?

·         Is the market ready for your ideas? Now or later.

 

*BETA – Business & Entrepreneurial Training Academy offers different courses for entrepreneurs who want to startup a business or to develop their business. Ideas can also be developed in ‘businessAHEAD’, BETA’s Business Incubator.  Info: +6382 304 4948 or +63920 675 2754

Business Success....elements to keep this in mind!

Whatever your business goals are, there are three basic things you can do to make sure that your business is able to meet the goals you have set and to be successful.

What are those three basic elements?

·         Is your business recession proof?  To find out if your business can hold strong in ‘heavy weather’ check out the following:

o   First, be the best in what you do. When you are really the best, your customers will likely stay even when the economy is bad and prices are high;

o   Second, offer something the the people need but can’t find or that has little competition;

o   Third, offer something people always buy. Even in bad times, recession, unemployment,….McDonalds is always selling burgers. If you can find a niche, a product (or service) like burgers, people will buy…

·         Be careful with your prices.  Keep out with promo’s, offering low prices, to get new clients! Keep in mind that, once you gave client ‘x’ a special price (a lower price than usual…) it will be nearly impossible to raise the prices later. Client will always have the initial price in mind and will start looking for another supplier when you raise the prices.  If you want to be successful, be very mindful with your pricing policies and the discounts you have in mind.  I am not stating here that you never can use a lower introduction price to attract new clients but know what your margins are and what you need to be profitable and to stay it.

·         Excel in Service.  Never compromise on customer service. Never. Even when you the market needs you more than you need the customers, always, always, always treat your clients as kings and let them know that you really want their business above anything. Your customer need to know that they are important to you and that you are giving them the best service you can . If you lose this ‘service above all’ perspective, you never will be thst successful as you want to be.

7 Principles For Startups.

When you have ever been in the business startup ‘battlefield’ you learned quickly that insights and support from experts and entrepreneurs who have been there before can make the difference between failure and success. But many new entrepreneurs assume that they are ‘bulletproof’, don’t ask for any advice or support.
The result of this is that more than 50% of the startups fail in the first two to three years of their existence. Analyzing startups who didn’t made it learns us that that there are common threads that appear all too often.
 
Many books, articles and studies are written about failure in startup businesses but I think that it is more effective to be prepared up-front using a positive approach to ‘counter’ failure.

In her book, ‘It’s Your Biz’, Susan Wilson Solovic, who has many years of experience in small business development, really focuses on what it takes to succeed and share and excellent summary of words of wisdom that every entrepreneur or business owner should review:

• Don’t chase your tail. As you are building your business, take an introspective look at yourself every week. Think about how many days you have had that lots of things going on, but at the end of the day, you’ve accomplished nothing to move your business forward. Measure results to make sure that you are not chasing your tail like the puppy dog you have at home.

• Keep moving forward. Never let a day go by in which you don’t have done at least one activity that directly relates to one of your key business goals. Establish deadlines and milestones for yourself and monitor your forward progress. Keep an idea on the ball and don’t be distracted by –attractive- options that lead you away from your main objective and goal.

• Listen to your instincts. It’s important to ask advice and guidance and to listen to others, but measure these inputs against your own instincts as well. Following someone blindly, copying the strategy of someone else without thinking can’t serve as an excuse for failure and doesn’t help you at all.

• Manage your growth. Overextending yourself and your resources by taking too much too fast will surely kill your business. Growing a business is like running a marathon, you have to dose your energy and resources…. In one of his books, Seth Godin wrote that the “average overnight success takes six years”.

• Look for collaborative opportunities. In business, it’s tough to survive all alone on an island. Strategic partnerships and alliances allow you to take on bigger challenges, offer more services and cover larger territories. In addition, two heads think better than one, so collaborative brainpower is a significant asset. So, don’t overlook the composition of your teams!

• Expect the unexpected. You can’t predict earthquakes, typhoons , other natural disasters and economic fluctuations. Too few entrepreneurs and business owners think about risk management and have a current list of ‘essentials’ for their business, emergency contacts or solid backup procedures. You need a plan B ( and there are more letters in the alphabet) for survival when the unexpected arrives.

• Learn to manage stress. Your stress! The stress of a startup and of growing a business has a price unless you take care of yourself. Be realistic about what you can handle and don’t over-commit. Learn to say ‘no’ and mean it. Plan some time for yourself and your family. And don’t forget the golden rule: ‘under promise, over deliver’!

In business, you need to keep purpose, promise and principles as cornerstones of your our venture. It’s amazing how many entrepreneurs and business owners (and their teams) run their businesses on a day-to-day basis without ever understanding the purpose behind what they are doing.
Businesses without a purpose don’t have a heart. Or if the principles and values aren’t yours (think of this when you go into franchising), it’s not your heart. If it’s not your heart, then the promises you will make to customers are not really true. Remember that if you don’t deliver for your customers, they won’t deliver you. They can make your normal ‘business trenches’ a very deep hole!

Fail to prepare is preparing to fail!