Analyzing the business and software idea thought process
Recently I have been working on a few ideas, trying to prototype them and deploy them to see how well they catch on. I also recently read an article on Forbes: Is Your Great Idea a Real Business? Paired with an article that I read on Micro-ISV by Bob Walsh, I have come to realize that I spend a lot of my time thinking about how I go about working towards getting “that idea…” the million dollar idea that is going to set me for life, because I’m going to think about The Thing that everyone needs but doesn’t know it yet!
Well, it hasn’t come to me yet. Furthermore I don’t think that I am gaining ground towards finding that special idea. As a matter of fact, I think that I am working against myself in trying to find that idea. I am somewhat convinced that there are opportunities that are sitting in front of us, but we can’t see it. Sometimes we are thinking about how to take over the world with a simple application that everyone needs, a la Google.
First, the scope of the business: both the Forbes article and Bob Walsh describe the ability to establish oneself in a smaller niche market and taking a bigger share of it, versus taking an insignificant part of the global market. We’ve all been around situations where taking smaller bites of things end up making a much larger task (like taking over the world) easier, and such is the case with launching a business for oneself.
I have to be careful, because I do not want to imply that thinking big is bad or that thinking small is the only way to get big. I think we all have ambition and want to succeed as best as we can. Its just a matter of what steps we take when.
Second, business definition is a very important aspect of the success of any business. For example, if I were to try to sell super bouncy balls to left handed 1st generation American born Mexicans (as my fictional niche), I would have to make a pretty quick and simple explanation as to what my product/service was so that my target audience understands. Writing up a huge business plan and having every one of my potential customers read it wont work. The inability to explain easily what you do to a potential customer, or even to yourself can probably prevent an idea from working.
Finally, fear is the other thing that may be keeping good ideas and opportunities from fully materializing into a prototype/beta launch. Fear of failure, fear of having to leave your current day job to work on this full time and having to worry about paying bills, fear of not being excited or engaged a year down the road… All these and many other types of fears can probably kill an idea really really fast. Fear may be the thing that keeps blinders on you to keep you from seeing opportunities that are basically right in front of you.
So the question for me is, what am I really going after? Am I single handedly trying to be the next Microsoft/Google/Apple or am I trying to start my own business so that I can pursue some dream? Am I attempting to take a big bite out of a specialized market or a tiny bit of a global market? Do I exactly know if my idea will work? Can I explain it simply? How much convincing do I have to do in my market to have people buy? And finally, am I scared? Am I paralyzed beyond my ability to see that I am scared to pursue these opportunities?
Who moved MY cheese
I have finally read “Who Moved my Cheese.” I recommend everyone read it if you have access to it, just because it’s short and easy to read.
My first impressions on the book that is supposed to be an eye opener on personal fear/motivation, was somewhat skeptical. I though the topic that the author was trying to tackle was quite large, and a story about mice and men (kind of, really ‘littlepeople’ as he refers to them), was not going to really do much to help me get rid of my fears and get motivated to make change.
After I read it though, I did see some benefit to the story. I don’t think I truly know what MY cheese is. What is it that I’m after? Spirituality and faith? money? power? own company? white picket fence home with 2.5 kids, loving stay at home wife, a dog and a warm dinner waiting for me at home? Needless to say, we all have a driving motivating factor that gets us out of bed. Sometimes it’s the fear of getting fired, or fear of not paying bills, perhaps the fear of being alone, but we all get out of bed and do what it is we do on a daily basis, but here is the thing… most of us complain about things not being the way we want them to be. And when we are asked what we want, some of us don’t even know what it is that we really want in life!
The story in and of itself is short, and I will probably read it again. I will read it slowly, and will try to put my name in for the story’s 4 different characters, as well as identify in myself what parts of me are represented in those characters. I will also challenge myself to identify what my Cheese (cheese as described by the author is that in life that which pursue) is and how I go about getting my cheese. The next thing after that is getting over my fears of change. And as much as I want to not admit to myself, I am comfortable with my unidentifiable wants in my life as things currently are. Once I identify what my Cheese is, I’ll try to identify what fears are keeping me from getting to where my cheese is.
Finally, change is something we all must deal with. We cannot simply pretend that change is controllable by some equation that we wrote. Change is imminent and continuous. We are living in change, we are the cause of change whether we like it or not, and we are change as human beings. We must learn to adapt to change, find our cheese, and when our cheese gets moldy, we must go out into that cold, cold world and find more of it. The ability to overcome the fear of something different, that is the ability to take a close look at what is comfortable to us, is in and of itself the driving force behind us going out, and pursuing our dream (cheese).
I hope that this post helps anybody looking for inspiration to change and find new opportunities in life. I know writing this post really helped me.