From Idea Surplus to Entrepreneur

An aspiring entrepreneur from Australia recently asked me, “I’ve got lots of ideas but which is best and how do I get started?” Here are the three tips I gave him. (Why I’m mentoring someone 16,000 miles away is a question for my therapist.)

Sometimes, the hardest part of entrepreneurship is just starting. The answer breaks down into three parts: selection, validation, and momentum.

1. Selection

Which idea?

Entrepreneurs are the schizophrenics of business. Instead of hearing dozens of voices, they splatter dozens of ideas on Post-Its, apps, and napkins. The greatest threat to their success is lack of focus...or the flu, which can ravage those precious napkins.

Instead, you can try scoring each idea 1(lowest) to 3(highest) based on criteria from my article How to Choose The Perfect Business Idea For You:

• How well does the idea fit my abilities?
• How many connections do I have in this space?
• How attractive is the market opportunity?

The idea with the highest total score wins.

To save time, you can download this simple IdeaEvaluator Excel template I created.

2. Validation

Is your idea any good? At first, probably not. But it’ll change more often than Lady Gaga at a sample sale.

Here are two ways to test it:

For consumer ideas...

Put a simple landing page together of the product or service you want to sell. Then buy some Google ads. Experiment with different keywords, messages, and designs. See which combination gets the most interest.

Add an email signup to your page and contact the people who signed up. Ask them about the problem they're experiencing. Early birds almost always chirp, er, ‘tweet’...

There are standalone services like QuickMVP and several others to do this. Others may be cheaper if you’re handy with WordPress.

For B2B ideas...

Talk to at least three target customers who don’t know you. As my adopted Aussie go-getter asked, “But why would they talk to me? Aren’t they extremely busy?” Well that made me feel like a loser... Why was I talking to him??? Oh, right, ego.

As I wrote in The 9 Corporate Personality Types, even the most revered corporate deities win only 50% of their battles. The rest of the time? They need validation...or a hug. Capitalize on that. Appeal to their expertise, their wisdom, their need to be heard or feel important. Interview them. But make it implicitly clear what’s in it for them. As you get better at the approach, expect a 10-50% response rate.

Once you do talk, make sure you walk away with at least these three detailed answers:

1. Did my hypothesis hold - is this a real problem?
2. How much of a priority is it?
3. If it’s not a problem or a priority, what is?

Give yourself no more than two months to get validation done. And no more than six months total to test up to three ideas. At that point, I suggest starting small, but starting! Otherwise, the dream quickly devolves into delusion.

3. Momentum

There’s nothing lonelier than a company of one. Motivation flickers like the light at a rest stop restroom. There are few deadlines, besides the fear aging. And you have to build every bridge from scratch – even to cross the smallest puddle.

You’ll need a support system of likeminded entrepreneurs. In the Bay Area, you barely have to leave your bathroom to find one. Elsewhere, you could find yourself so alone, you’ll catch yourself studying a panhandler thinking, “I wonder if he has revenue projections...?”

Many cities have entrepreneur meetups, Eventbrite events, or other local options. Find them. If they don’t, create one like this example using the Splashthat service. People love to leave the damn house and mingle with the smart and ambitious. (The beautiful might drop by after you make it.)

Most importantly, find specific entrepreneurs succeeding in your area. Check TechCrunch for fundraising news or local newspapers for stories. Use personal connections, LinkedIn, or Twitter to connect.

If there aren't relevant successes nearby...

You could be the first. But you probably won’t. This journey’s hard enough. Move to where it has the best chance to succeed. Never stop the momentum. Those conversations and relationships will take you places.

Otherwise, find a way to fall in love with your job...or build a hobby drone. As Woody Allen says, maybe the only thing that matters in life is distraction.

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Micro-Bio: I’m the author of Econovation, CEO of IdeaFaktory innovation consultancy, and former American Express, Citi and MasterCard executive. Stalk me via email newsletter, Facebook, Twitter & Google+.