What’s the Big Idea? How to Spot your Million Dollar Idea When you Have One and Not Forget About it the Next Time you Watch that Netflix Series
If you’re anything like me, then you are either creative or entrepreneurial. I have hundreds of ideas every day and most of them are decent ideas.
I have such a vast amount of good ideas that I would never be able to do them all in the expanse of just one lifetime. Do you feel this way? I’m going to help you learn which ideas of yours are the best and which ideas to lay to rest.
How do you filter through your ideas and spot the one that will make you countless Bitcoin, USD, Euros or whatever unit it is that you value? How do you trust yourself to choose the best idea to focus on?
I’ve got a complementary worksheet to help you filter through your business ideas and find the golden one.
The worksheet is down below, but before we get there, let me tell you what the best business ideas consist of and how to use the worksheet.
Jim Collins, a former Stanford professor turned author, made a list of three things a good business idea is made of. They called it the hedgehog principle. I am going to paraphrase his idea and add some practical things to their list.
Collin’s famed hedgehog principle states the best business idea includes a.) what you are passionate about, b.) what you are best at, and c.) what can make you decent money. They say that if your idea contains those three things, then you can succeed with your business.
However, as true as that may be, I know that there are many more variables to a great idea, especially in the new digital age. Anyone now can start a business online.
Here is my recipe for a million dollar idea.
The best business ideas cost nothing or very little.
Now I’m a big supporter of investing in yourself. Investing in your business and investing in your relationships is important. If you have finances to invest or are hiring a business coach or mentor, then they will help you tremendously. Most successful people I know have done this and attribute their success to the help of their mentors. What I am saying is that if you have a skill or craft that costs next to nothing to produce, then that is a sign that it may be a brilliant business idea. Keeping your expenses low is important when you start a business. Remember that.The best business ideas only rely on you to preform.
This may seem like I’m asking you to work alone. That’s not what I’m saying. What I am saying is that you are always able to manage yourself. The more people you add to a project, the more time it takes, the more mouths you have to feed, and the more people you have to lead. Not everyone will have the same work ethics as you. Flakey team members can ruin your brand reputation and drain your bank accounts.The best business ideas are things you already know how to do.
This seems obvious to many of us, but you shouldn’t try to start a business as a freelance graphic designer with no design experience. That will end badly simply because a.) you have no understanding of how long it takes to create something and b.) you will take a very long time on your designs because you’re learning your software. What skills do you already have and what are you best at doing?The best business ideas support you, as opposed to you supporting them. What I mean by this is, a truly beneficial idea will not make you sacrifice your values on the alter of income. The best business ideas don’t stress you out. The best business ideas are sustainable both for the business owner and for the planet. The best business ideas allow you to give away money to charity. The best business ideas are not at the expense of anyone. You need to run your business and not let your business run you.
The best ideas solve more than one of your problems. They challenge you and help you grow in your craft or skill. The best ideas work on multiple levels. They scratch your own itch and someone else’s proverbial itch. They allow you to have more of the things in your life that you want and less of the things you don’t want. The best business ideas do not leave you feeling like you’ve peaked or plateaued, instead they help you consistently add more skillsets to your entrepreneurial tool belt.
The best business ideas can be monetized. What that means is the idea can make you money. This should always be one of the last thoughts on your list. Too many great ideas are ditched because people can’t initially come up with a way to monetize them. Too many problems have been left unsolved because someone didn’t invest in a business coach to help them polish their rough idea. The truth is that the best ideas have multiple value metrics embedded in them. Does your idea provide one of these value metrics to someone in your audience: Feelings, Learning, Bonding, Defending, or Collecting?
The best business ideas help you stop trading time for money.
I’m not saying that starting a business doesn’t take a large time investment. It usually does. I am saying that any small amount of time you invest should eventually reap exponential benefits. Trading time for money asks the question “How much do you want to make per hour?” If making a product is going to cost you more in time spent than you can sell the product for, then it is a bad idea. The only way to combat this is to be a non-profit. To overcome the need to trade our time for money, we need to change our thinking to be value based. Value based pricing doesn’t entirely negate hourly based pricing, but it helps you break away from trading your time for money as this idea often punishes people for being good or efficient at their craft.
I’m sure you have a good ideas, but which one is great? Now it’s time for you to practice. Practice coming up with new ideas and practice finding the best idea for you in the season that you are in. I love how Dale Partridge says it,
“The truth is that 99 percent of businesses are old ideas that people make just a little better. — We don’t need to pound our minds for the few items or tech or apps that people have yet to experience. Rather, we should scratch our own itch. Create better solutions to the problems in our everyday lives.”People purchase the solutions and emotions associated with personal and professional brands they trust. People need convenience. People purchase convenience. Does your product or service solve someone’s problem? That’s value.
Now I want to give you more value. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I have created a worksheet to help anyone come up with ideas and filter through them to see if they are great ideas.
Enter your email and you’ll receive a code and link. Download my worksheet, fill it out, and it will help you determine if you have a million dollar idea. Then, send me an email or find a business coach and discuss the best ways to make your idea a reality!
I help setup startups for a living. When my clients don’t know how to make money, I help them with consultation, brand design, and marketing services. You’re not alone and the ability to know your needs and ask for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
If this helped you in your journey please tell me how in a comment below and consider subscribing to the email list.
Have fun ideating!
Fariss