I am completely sold on the idea of looking for needs that are not being met. This is especially true if these needs fall inside of your sphere of influence. Wed a need to a business acumen and success is guaranteed. This is a key step in brainstorming possibilities, but success is not that easy to attain. Great ideas are just that until other questions are answered.

Before cell phones were so common, I once thought about giving digital watches a paging feature. I don’t know the first thing about the technology that goes into pagers. Of course there is no real need for pagers anymore and looking at your watch for the time or a page during your boss’ presentation is probably not a good idea. This might have been a great idea 20 years ago. So, when I get great ideas, I have to ask myself about the long term usefulness of the idea. Yes, there is a need, but does my idea fit with the current times and technology. Do I have the resources to produce innovate ideas within the particular market that I am trying to gain entry? If it is such a good idea I always ask: “how come no one else thought of this?”

The cliché, “think outside of the box”, describes innovation and creativity. However, sometimes an entrepreneur can be just as successful by making the box bigger. Some opportunities exist by taking an idea that is profitable to a different target group. For example, a community has two athletic shoe stores competing in the big box mall on West side of town. Customers from the East side of town are avid, athletic shoe fans and consistent customers at the big box mall. What would happen if a risk taker opened an athletic shoe store on the East side of town? This individual has taken a successful business to the front door of the customer base.

There are many ways to approach conceptualizing a business idea. Looking for needs that are not being met is a necessary first step. If you are living in a community and you have enough knowledge about where the needs are, then you know your potential customer base. “See a need, fill a need!”

The line between a pleasant dream and a nightmare is a very thin one. Often what inhibits most of us from fulfilling our dreams and our purpose is the fear of the nightmare scenario. We never take the leap from dreaming to reality with our goals safely in tow. How does an individual conquer fear and doubt when taking the first steps toward creating a successful start-up?

It is quite possible that great business leaders and entrepreneurs never really conquer fear, but they redirect that energy into useful tasks. If it were possible to know all the risks, predict success, and make correct decisions with pinpoint accuracy, what would be left to drive new entrepreneurs to take the plunge into business?

I suspect that achieving despite uncertainty and persevering in hard times, while learning along the way, are important traits that represent the driving force for new business people. Hard earned victories one achieves are badges of honor and distinction. They are rites of passage. These victories function as an induction into a select group of individuals who marched on, sometimes in the face of difficult circumstances.

There are individuals who could win one million dollars and still not be satisfied unless they build something. We have a natural inclination to be creative. No one really wants to be fashioned from a cookie cutter. Even when we desire to be different, we somehow manage to still be unoriginal. It is our unique experiences of success that make us feel we have accomplished something worthwhile. We want to learn from others, yet we want to know what they don’t know. The only way to truly do this is through our individual challenges and triumphs.
Realizing the dream and investigating your extrinsic or intrinsic motivations alone do not build a successful business. Moving from awareness to action is always the hardest step. As I prepare to take a step towards realizing my dream of building a business, I grapple with these same questions and emotions. Success is a series of choices that range from best, to good, to bad. Having a written plan would qualify as one of the better choices we should all make. This is one of the most crucial steps in your journey. Drawing up a plan may come in the form of a fully functional business plan or it may simply be a preliminary outline detailing where you are and where you want to go. Treat your plan like a roadmap.

The analogy is quite simple: most of us who have an unfamiliar destination in mind, grab a map or some means to plot out what will happen in between here and there. Often we need answers before we dive in. There are also times when we don’t even know what questions to ask. A plan can draw these areas out into the open. Be warned, this can be a challenging step. Don’t fear this task. You may discover some issues that will spark frustration or require you to reevaluate the dream. This is the process of learning. I had to learn to welcome this challenge.
This is just the beginning. Taking the plunge is a big step. Taking the plunge without knowing your strengths or ignoring your weaknesses can be fatal to your dream. Make sure that you enjoy your first steps into this brave new world. It is now time to sink, float, or swim.