Thanks to Jake Hayes, from InSource Executives, for his eye-opening session on The Greatest Idea Ever and other beliefs that kill business. What an amazing half an hour!
The Greatest Idea Ever. We all have great ideas, but do we have the business to back up our idea? It’s dangerous to have the greatest idea ever, because if you think about it, you don’t need to do market research. It sells itself! It’s the greatest idea ever! Is this realistic?We look around us and all we see is products. iPods. It’s the business that makes these products successful, not the idea itself. Apple took the mundane product of an mp3, and innovation and commitment to their brand lead the iPod to where it is today.
When you have the greatest idea ever, the idea itself is sacred. So…if that’s the case, you can’t innovate. You can’t enhance it. There’s no room for improvement. When you have the greatest idea ever, what’s the right price for it? If you drop the price, what if the quality drops?
Follow your passions. If everyone in the world starting off by pursuing their passion, we’d have a world full of actors, astronauts, and athletes. Passion and talent aren’t necessary linked. Just because we’re passionate about something doesn’t mean we’re good at it. Think about a football game. A stadium is full of fans watching a sport that they are immensely passionate about. If they passionate about football, shouldn’t they be out on the field playing?
We don’t want to tell people to follow their passion. We’re not in a country of finishers. We start things and we don’t finish them. If what you’re doing today is a bad idea, then stop doing it! Finish what you started, absolutely, but know when to quit.
Finish what you have started. When you are starting a business, you can’t afford to throw away your trash. The biggest pieces of wastes we see in small business is our contacts and our needs. If your business can’t provide the services that the customer needs, find out who can, bring them in, and make a difference. Does your trash consist of lost contacts, lost projects, etc.? How you use this trash can make the difference between profitability and just making it.
The competition is your best chance of success. Being there will make us push to improve our business model and our product. There’s room for mutual success, and you just have to find it.
If I only had more money. Money doesn’t solve problems, it’s the universal accelerator. We’re looking at the wrong gages. Accounts receivable is not how much money you’re going to get. Sales are irrelevant if your costs are astronomical.
As we look out at launching Greenville and taking small business to the next rung, we have to sit down and look at our beliefs. We have to know when to use what we know. When is it important to be motivated, and when is it important to be realistic? We have to have a plan, and abandon these beliefs that are killing our business.
I think that is an interesting point, it made me think a bit. Thanks for sparking my thinking cap. Sometimes I get so much in a rut that I just feel like a record.
I think that is an interesting point, it made me think a bit. Thanks for sparking my thinking cap. Sometimes I get so much in a rut that I just feel like a record.