At the risk of committing entrepreneurial heresy, I must admit that BIG IDEAS are a dime a dozen. I can no longer count the number of business owners who have shared — usually publicly on facebook — hints of their big idea.
Life changing ideas. Ideas that will have them soon hiring 327 people. BIG ideas that will change their industry forever. I’ve seen all of these claims, or some version of them, many times over. I once had a very very (very) well known A-lister (in the business world) come to talk at one of my events about a new ground-breaking social media site.
I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t mention that none of these ideas — so wildly and prematurely promoted — came to pass. That social media site? I never joined and haven’t heard much about it since.
Yet, your WILD SUCCESS does depend on you accurately assessing, wisely protecting, and intentionally launching your big idea. This post will walk you through all three steps.
Accurately Assess.
First, know how to recognize and accurately assess a BIG IDEA — both yours and others. Here’s a check list:
1) Does the idea capture your imagination and make you excited about birthing this “baby?” If it’s not your idea, do you sit back and think, “Man… I wish I’d thought of that!”
2) Which part of the idea is already being implemented somewhere? Note: This is not a question of IS some part of the idea already being implemented, but WHICH PART? My Bible assures me that there is “nothing new under the sun.” So, this is where accurate thinking comes into play.
3) Referring to the answer to question 2, how is that part of your big idea performing already? And how is your twist or addition going to make it that much better?
4) Is your idea truly unique?
5) Could it be used for 30 years?
Note: EarlyToRise.com also has a great article on Your Big Idea.
#s 4 & 5 above were swiped from their site.
Wisely Protect.
You were formed in your mother’s womb weeks — if not a couple of months — before your presence was even known to HER — and probably several weeks more before even the IDEA of you was announced to others. And, of course, it would be almost a full year before you were “officially launched.”
There’s some real wisdom in this divine design of protecting something truly unique and life changing.
If your BIG IDEA is worthy of your effort and investment, it is worthy of your protection. Don’t over-expose it to nay-sayers, thieves, rip off artists, and the world at large. The FIRST sign to me that someone’s big idea will NEVER grow to see it’s full potential — even if there IS such potential — is that they blab it out to the world while still in its conceptual stages.
Launch Intentionally.
Have a plan. There ARE some big ideas out there — maybe being conceived within you or your team right now — that you do not want to risk launching slowly or haphazardly. So, create a launch plan. When? How? and To WHOM will you launch FIRST? What’s next? And what will come after that? How will you safeguard your initial baby steps?
