Every day, thousands of ideas are birthed. Unfortunately, only a few of these ideas ever get to see the light of the day. Many of us have conceived ideas that can change society and earn us a fortune. But we often lack the willingness to give life to these ideas because entrepreneurship comes with taking risks. So, Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn, was right when he said: “The entrepreneurial journey starts with jumping off a cliff and assembling an airplane on the way down.”
Nobody knows your ideas more than you do. So, when you work on your ideas, it is likely that you’ll develop a feeling of innermost satisfaction. Indeed, it will be a dream come true for you.
Many folks are led to believe that only a particular set of people with special traits can create things. But this belief is wrong. Everyone has the skill to realize their dreams. And we all can develop distinct ideas in different industries.
Being an innovator is not a small feat. If you eventually succeed on the project, you’ll experience a boost in your self-esteem. Even if you fail, it is not the end of the road. There are many other projects to work on in the future with gained skills and experience. Hence, you will be able to bring lessons learned from your previous actions to bear when you’re developing new ideas.
If you are unsure of an idea, there’s no harm in giving it time. However, if the idea sticks with you for more than 3 days, you should start gathering some facts about it. Once you’ve conducted personal research, don’t hesitate to develop the idea. Subsequently, you can fine-tune and experiment with the idea before putting it out there for investors or the general public.
The world we now live in is one with unlimited problems. Hence, solutions are desperately needed to combat many of these challenges. If you are creative enough, you can exploit the market opportunities by developing the best ideas.
You should probably bear in mind that your innovation is not only to be enjoyed by the public. Sometimes, your product can be incredibly beneficial for your own personal use. If you need a tool that can make things easier for you at home or the workplace, you should create such a tool by every means possible. Also, someone out there might need the same tools from your co-workers. You can make some bucks from selling the products to such customers.
You can conceive many ideas at once. But the choice is yours in determining the best product to develop at a particular time. If you need help deciding which idea satisfies you personally or financially, I recommend the Realizr tool.
You must be aware that not taking risks simply means you are not ready to make any gains. If you are scared to develop that idea, it only implies that you will not develop any skills that can help you in the future.
Think of saving your money in the bank versus investing in the stock market. It is true that the latter takes some time and bears more risks. But you are confident of making good profits if you are patient enough. This same analogy applies to developing your ideas. Ideas will remain idle until you develop them. You will never grow unless you take the initiative of building your idea.
Most importantly, I hope you wouldn’t cry yourself to bed after discovering that someone else is making waves with a similar project you initially conceived.
It is natural for human beings to be fearful when they venture into something for the first time. The chances are that you will want to withdraw from taking action for fear of doing something wrong, looking foolish, or not meeting expectations. But you must learn to overlook these obstacles. Quite frankly, for entrepreneurs, courage is not the absence of fear. It is the ability to persist despite it.
Experience has made us realize that failure is part of the process. There’s enough proof that those who fail more are likely to succeed more. For instance, Thomas Edison and James Dyson had to try several times without any luck. But their efforts paid off one day, and they got the desired breakthrough.
Whenever it seems as if your ideas are not working, just remember what Edison said about him failing to make an electric bulb 1000 times. Edison noted that: “I didn’t fail 1,000 times – the light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”
Fear is a temporary cognitive and emotional reaction to a threat or potential achievement. So, let the fear of failure be a source of motivation to succeed.
Several industries need different products. Hence, you can’t be a master of everything. Trying to figure out everything by yourself will only result in feeling overwhelmed. In fact, research has shown that the best of ideas are not inspired when we are alone. They are obtained during interactions with like-minded people.
Building a product requires a lot of time and concentration. If you devote all your time to one innovation, how will you keep up with other aspects of your life? Of course, time is money. And you should put yours into more valuable tasks.
Opportunities for product developers are so many that you would only be short changing yourself by refusing to work on your ideas. If your ideas are consistently innovative and successfu, I assure you that you are made for life in terms of personal financial security.
Onega Ulanova, co-founder of LA New Product Development Team