Being an entrepreneur means that you are exposed to lots of new information and new ways of doing things and lots of new ideas. Ideas you want to implement into your own business. How many sleeples nights haven’t you spent thinking about that next big fascinating idea that will be absolutely great for your business?!?
Personally I’ve spent way too many nights awake. At one time I couldn’t even sleep but had to go up in the middle of the night and write down my ideas in another part of the house so I wouldn’t wake my family. That was crazy, but I still have nights when I lay in bed thinking about my business and the things I need to do and how to deal with all the ideas that constantly makes their way into my head.
So what do you do with all the ideas you got? How do you know they are worth investing time, money and energy into? Here are a few thing’s I’ve learned;
#1 Write your ideas down. If something is keeping you awake or adding stress to your life because you can’t get it out of your head then write it down and decide that you will think about it when you really have time. If the idea is great then it may be worth setting aside some time thinking it through. Consider getting an idea book where you write only ideas, it will be fun to see which one you acted upon and which ones turned out to be “just an idea”.
#2 Check your future business plans. This new great idea of yours, how does it align with your current and future plans for your business? Do you have time to do it now? When should it be done? What impact will it have on your future?
#3 How much does the idea excite you? New ideas have a way of exciting us and if you are anything like me you will want to jump on it the very next minute. But, if the idea is so great, it will still excite you in a few days, in a week, in two months… if you know you will still want to go through with it in two months time then it can be a good idea.
#4 How much will it cost you to follow through with the idea? This is not just about money but also about time and energy. Do you have it all to make the idea happen? Will you need to outsource anything? Will it be worth it? Will the energy you put into this be worth it? Will it take time from your family – how will you balance that?
#5 Is there a demand for what you want to do? First of all you need to make sure the idea is not totally off topic from what your business currently offers if you are still catering to the same people.~ Don’t start talking about cats when you run a health business. And is this useful for your target market? How will it help them? Will they want to tell others about this great new idea of yours?
Great ideas should be acted upon, some sooner, some later. The one to make the decision which ones is you. I’ve had some great ideas but didn’t act on them quickly enough and someone else had the same vision and acted. But then again I’ve acted too fast on many ideas and wasted both time, money and energy for nothing.
How are you when it comes to new ideas? Do you act on them quickly or do you have a way to decide which ones you should act on? Share your experience in the comments.