Eureka! I haven’t heard someone say that in a long time but I know for a fact, whenever a reasonable idea enters my mind eureka is being echoed through my entire subconscious. Its that spark of hope that you may just have stumbled upon the next big thing. Without the spark we usually run out of gas, like when we reach a critical point whilst developing an idea. The steps which follow have provided me with the hope and inspiration to carry on when things get tough. I hope that they will do the same for you.

1. Passion, Passion, Passion!: If you don’t have this before venturing into the unknown then I would advise on staying put for a while. The journey you are embarking on is a long and difficult one, but highly rewarding. Having the motivation to get up after you fall countless times is essential. In my experience that only comes with this absolute burning passion to succeed, to prove the naysayers wrong, to prove to yourself that you have what it takes to win and most importantly a passion for life. As cliched as that last sentence may sound please make sure you have this quality in you before taking your idea any further. To read more please click here.

2. Find the people who care about your idea: Ask yourself the question “Would anyone care about what we are wanting to do?”. From experience this initial market research for your idea is the key , the reality check for the space you are wanting to venture in. A simple test would be to google your idea. You will be amazed as to how many people may be building or have built complete businesses around your concept. This will provide you with key information on how to move forward and in what way you could fulfill this need in the market place with your concept. To read more please click here.

3. The ABC of business begins with an N: The N represents the customer and/or market need. After your preliminary research, you will now reach a critical stage in which you will have to put down a lot of your ideas and research in writing. The NABC approach provides a framework for doing that in an extremely effective manner. It has become my default evaluation model. Once we identify the need we can move on to A where we talk about how we will approach the market. After which we reach B where we will document all the benefits vs costs for our idea. Lastly C will involve listing down competition and evaluating how best to add greater value as compared to our competitors. You will now have your value proposition. To read more please click here.

4. Focus…have you got it?: This is where a lot of first-timers stumble. For you to be successful you have to pinpoint the one area that you will commit to do better in than anyone else. Say for example at InnovoGS we operate in the human resources industry where services provided can be as diverse as doing simple data entry for payroll processing to restructuring the entire organization structure through consulting. We focus in the recruitment department and use psychometric tests to help organizations make more informed staffing and developmental decisions. We have focused solely on building our competencies in this one aspect for the last 15 months. Once we reach a certain level of competency in this department we have plans to move laterally to outsourcing functions related to recruitment. For us to offer virtually every human resource related consultancy service would dilute our initial focus and we would not have made the progress we have. Making sure you stay focused in the early stages of your venture is essential. To read more please click here.

5. Innovation Champions: Every venture needs at least one individual who has this awesome passion for the idea. He/she is the sort of person who infuses everyone with a contagious sense of euphoria and enthusiasm when they speak about their venture. They help team mates through the bad times and are having the most fun at the celebration party when they win their first contract. An idea without this champion would be lost and fall off the wayside when things become tough. If you are serious about the idea you are working on make sure there is at least one champion. To read more please click here.

6. Venture Alignment: In two words this is basically aligning your “core values” with your venture. When there is a disconnect between what you truly believe in and what you are actually doing there can’t be any sustainable long term success. You need to make sure you partner with people who share your core values, get idea champions to make sure everyone is on the same page and to continuously keep checking your value systems. From a long run perspective this is what it is all about. The best of ideas have amazing short term success but if there are vital building blocks missing from the foundation the structure isn’t going to last. To read more please click here.

I cant believe 3 weeks have already gone by. I want to thank all my loyal readers for yet another fantastic week. Thank you for all your emails and comments. I am accepting topics which you would like covered in the next following weeks for the blog. Please leave a comment on this blog and I will get back to you on whether I will be writing on the topic and by when. Best of luck!