Ever dreamt about being your own boss, doing something you’re really passionate about? First step is the idea
It’s the kind of thing that comes up after a few glasses of wine on a Friday night. It’s rarely the words “Why not start your own business?” that get voiced. It’s more along the lines of “Wouldn’t it be amazing to open a B&B on a beautiful beach in Thailand?”, with the associated notions of getting away from your nine-to-five job, being your own boss and actually doing something you’d really enjoy, something you could really throw yourself into body and soul. That’s the dream isn’t it?
Usually these dreams get discarded as soon as the intoxicating haze wears off, and you’ve all but forgotten how motivated and inspired you were discussing an idea that really lit up your eyes – probably just the alcohol talking. But hang on, this is exactly where ideas are born, and if you’ve ever had one of those conversations chances are you have an idea in the making. So what to do about it?
Like most things it’s all about planning. Start with the idea. Business advisor Heather Wilkinson from Striding Out gives the following tips:
• The best ideas fit in with your own personal values, interests and ethos. Think of successful business entrepreneurs Anita Roddick and Richard Branson, both of whom owe a lot of their success to their own integrity, values and purpose.
• Get out a notebook and write down your five main talents. Do you have the gift of the gab? Are you expert in a particular subject or do you have a passion or hobby? Are you a good communicator, listener, designer or writer?
• Write down your five main values – the things that are important to you. Honesty, fairness, kindness, integrity? Do you believe in protecting the environment, community, learning, a certain type of lifestyle?
• Write down your five core personality traits. This can be hard so ask friends and family to give you a hand. These will be your greatest allies in business and in life!
The next step is to make sure your business ethos reflects and respects your values, personality and your talents by sitting down and having a proper brainstorming session. You might want to have a couple of sessions, one on your own where you write down all the wackiest crazy ideas you ever had, and one with friends where you do the same again. Don’t force yourself to be sensible from the outset, let you imagination run wild. You might not come up with a single workable idea to begin with but better to think creatively and big as this will give you wider scope and more opportunity to find the idea that is going to work.
So what ideas are workable? More next week.
