Seven tips to take you from business idea to business success

1. First tip is to write it down! If it came to you just as I described, grab a notebook and jot down as much detail as possible. Then sleep! Your subconscious mind will get to work and when you wake in the morning, this life-changing idea will either disappear into the grey grave of previous ones or be ready for you to take it to the next level.

2. Remember there is no such thing as a bad idea. All ideas, good and ‘bad’, stem from creativity, and this is exactly what is needed to find solutions to our pains and problems. Weird ideas can evolve into something wonderful in really unexpected ways. Japanese Chindōgu illustrates this perfectly. Literally translated, Chindōgu means ‘unusual’. The term was originally used by Kenji Kawakami, a former editor and contributor to the Japanese home-shopping magazine ‘Mail Order Life.’ Kenji was referring to weird and wonderful product prototypes which you can’t buy, wouldn’t ever want to buy, but somehow appear both appealing and amusing. Take for example the ‘hayfever hat’; a baseball cap with a toilet roll attached enabling you untethered access to paper for your streaming nose. You wouldn’t really buy such a thing if it was available, would you?

3. Don’t fall in love with your idea. Not just yet. Not until you know in both your head and heart that you have a valid idea which makes financial, feasible sense. How can you find this out? Research your idea. Start by writing a list of all the stakeholders who could potentially buy, or benefit from, your idea. Remember, the purchaser may not be the end user so think broadly. Once you know who they are, go talk to them. Find out what their issues really are, and try to establish whether your idea could solve this for them. If you discover your original thoughts don’t actually meet their needs, you haven’t wasted time and money on an idea that ultimately just won’t work.

4. Protect your idea. From the very outset. Whether it is a product or a service, this applies to both. Go get that notebook out again. Record everything in it and date it. You never know when you’ll need to prove this idea was yours and when this process started. Get expert advice, and when appropriate to do so, trademark, copyright or patent. When doing your research make sure confidentiality and consent is in place. Use Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) when entering into official conversations with potential stakeholders and collaborators. It’s the boring stuff, I know! But it’s the stuff you’ll regret not having done when this idea takes flight and someone else might want to ‘steal’ it.

5. Having completed your research, take time to revise and iterate your ideas further. What could be added? What needs to be amended? Is it time to pivot? Or is it now time to fall in love with your idea and take it forward?

6. Recognise your own strengths and play to them. By the same token, acknowledge your weaknesses and delegate tasks to people with the expertise you lack. If technology isn’t your thing, that’s ok. If numbers and accounts cause you to despair, that’s also ok. As you develop your business idea, collaborate, delegate and outsource. Your business will progress much more readily and smoothly if you aren’t wasting time on the ‘stuff’ you neither can nor want to do.

7. Put in place all plans. Ever heard the quote ‘Fail to prepare. Prepare to fail?’ You need your business plan (think bank, investors and team members), and you need your personal plan (you). You are about to get onto the business and entrepreneurial rollercoaster. You need to be resilient, confident and a consistent action taker. You need to plan in time for business, time to set your intentions and goals, and time to relax; a new business can be all-consuming. I see it all too often. Passionate entrepreneurs who sacrifice their health and burn out before their business idea and vision can become reality. Don’t let this be you.