I once visited Ideas Bank, an online platform with a shared resource where you find,
discuss and exchange ideas. I was amazed to
find one of my ideas described by someone
else. I learned my lesson: even if your idea
seems to be unique, the probability that a
person can start a similar one is very high.
So next time you hear your fellow entrepreneur pronouncing the same idea you had in
mind, or you hear about a rising competitor
to your business, prevent yourself from saying “he stole my idea.”
Ideas are cheap
I know this is a disappointment for hopeful
entrepreneurs but ideas can be bought at a
very low price. Experts always advice to
not seek initial funding from a VC partner
or outsiders because they know that the
moment you do, you lose a significant share
of your company. Why? Because you can’t
exactly evaluate an idea. As much as you
think it is the best idea in the world when
negotiation begins, you lose.
Timing’s King
One of my best readings, Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, touched on the importance
of timing. How the rich became wealthy not
because they were the most innovative people, but because their timing was so perfect
that no one could say no to their business.
Look at Google Glass, for instance. We
all know about them, but how many of us
use them? Don’t expect your consumers to
accommodate to your business. Let them call
for it. Let them be ready for your product.
Choose a timing where a market of consumers beg for your business not where you beg
for customers.
Similarly, an idea that comes too late will
not get welcomed. Targeting the sweet spot
is critical in starting a business. “Never too
late, never too early” should be your new
motto.
Team’s Queen
If timing is King, let your team marry it.
No matter how great your idea is, if you fail
to constitute an able team, your business
will get squashed. Imagine this; you are in
a Formula One race where right after the
start signal, you manage to be the first. You
keep being in the frontline, happy with your
driving, feeling the victory getting closer
until your car is asking you to refuel. You try
to maintain the pace, waiting for the entrance
to your garage. You get there. Your team is
too slow, too careless, and too lazy to do
anything for you.
Do you think you will still be the first?
Execution v Planning
Whether we like or not, the real world
experience proves that business is all about
execution. Most entrepreneurs prepare a
business plan in the hope of convincing
themselves or investors that they are on the
right track. However; most of them learn the
hard way that “on-paper” hardly translates to
reality.
So is planning worthless? I wouldn’t go that
far.
The inception phase of an idea is a discovery
moment for both the entrepreneur and the
customer. Spending too much time on the
idea phase (or the planning) is not necessarily the wisest thing to do. I would rather go
for creating a minimum viable product that
proves my concept.
Let’s restate it again, an idea is not enough.