You Have the Idea, What Next? A Primer on Entities

In the last piece, I tackled how to evaluate ideas. I proposed a simple framework to use in considering what constitutes a good idea. In it, I expanded on the thesis of solving a problem that affects people.

Now you have the idea, what next? How do you move it forward? Often, the advice is simple: just start. Move. Write it down. Do one little thing that pushes the idea forward. But my focus in this series is not task-oriented on the granular plane. Rather, I will focus on that broader thread of causing an impact on people. Thus, thinking big. For this reason, each step considered has to be a leap of a kind.

When considering and taking action on impact-causing ideas, you have to decide and do certain things consistently. You must reach out to people a lot more, you must constantly improve on the ideas and solutions you come up with, and you must grow in understanding of the problems you are trying to solve a lot more, and a lot deeper. The idea now has to take form. And you must do certain things that give your idea a life of its own.

This is the logic behind entities, firms or organizations (for simplicity, I’ll stick to the use of “entities”). Entities are vehicles that embody ideas.

The next logical step after ideating is in giving form to the idea. That form is most effectively given through entity formation. An entity is a vehicle that moves the idea from your internal processes to the people it is meant to reach and serve by addressing their problems. It is the vehicle that ferries the solutions in the form of your ideas.

The vehicle may constitute only you: you as its sole organ, or you may think of bringing other people on board. The very notion of an entity allows you to begin thinking in the breadth and depth of its mechanics. What will the vehicle that ferries your idea look like? Not just physically in terms of a constructed space (this may be the last and even least of your considerations in this digital age) but, more importantly, in terms of its constituent elements - the ingredients that actually make it work. What the notion of an entity does is that it calls for you to think of the idea in terms of the space and time you wish it to occupy. As something real, that does things which are tangible, and which has the ability to form relationships with people.

One of the greater functions of the law is that it allows individuals to give form to their ideas through entity formation. This gives the ideas a physical existence in ways that what was once just ether in your mind, can now open a bank account, enter into contracts, negotiate, enter into deals, own assets, incur liabilities, and do virtually everything that a natural person could do within the spectrum of society.

With this innovation of the law, one has a series of categories whereby you may decide how you wish your idea to take the form: whether as a sole proprietorship; a partnership; a company; a society; a non-profit organization; etc. All these forms have their unique characteristics which enable certain flexibilities and certain limitations.

To think in entity terms also gives you a certain discipline. You are no longer working out of your imagination. The idea moves from being an intention to gaining a fighting chance in the realm of space. Now you are out there. The next challenge becomes how to stay there. How to do the things that set you apart, how to actually reach your intended audience, and how to extend your reach. How to grow and morph if necessary. Entities give your idea an existence that is able to incorporate all these potentials.