I NEED AN IDEA!

[Benjiben]

<div class="bbWrapper">For those of you here that are struggling with &quot;coming up with an idea&quot;. Here&#039;s how you can look for one, it&#039;s what I did anyways.<br /> <br /> 1. Go search for 1 million cups and look for your town&#039;s. (Bunch of business owners &amp; entrepreneurs attend these events).<br /> 2. Find out when they meet.<br /> 3. Attend (it&#039;s free)<br /> 4. Network with business owners.<br /> 5. Ask them if you can do an interview for a project you&#039;re doing.<br /> 6. Call them and then genuinely care about them ( If you can&#039;t, go look for the astonishing secrets thread here on the Fastlane Forum and read it)<br /> 7. Find their pain points or problems faced in business.<br /> 8. Come up with a way to help them.<br /> 9. EXECUTE. (Most important part)<br /> <br /> There you go, it&#039;s as easy as that to get a taste of providing value (which MJ says in the book alot). I am not here to promote any organizations whatsoever, I just thought this would help some of you out in the idea generation phase. <br /> <br /> Ben</div>

 

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[Lex DeVille]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 26250" data-quote="Benjiben" data-source="post: 500364" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=500364" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-500364">Benjiben said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> For those of you here that are struggling with &quot;coming up with an idea&quot;. Here&#039;s how you can look for one, it&#039;s what I did anyways.<br /> <br /> 1. Go search for 1 million cups and look for your town&#039;s. (Bunch of business owners &amp; entrepreneurs attend these events).<br /> 2. Find out when they meet.<br /> 3. Attend (it&#039;s free)<br /> 4. Network with business owners.<br /> 5. Ask them if you can do an interview for a project you&#039;re doing.<br /> 6. Call them and then genuinely care about them ( If you can&#039;t, go look for the astonishing secrets thread here on the Fastlane Forum and read it)<br /> 7. Find their pain points or problems faced in business.<br /> 8. Come up with a way to help them.<br /> 9. EXECUTE. (Most important part)<br /> <br /> There you go, it&#039;s as easy as that to get a taste of providing value (which MJ says in the book alot). I am not here to promote any organizations whatsoever, I just thought this would help some of you out in the idea generation phase.<br /> <br /> Ben </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> I like your method a lot because you get so much more than just an idea.<br /> <br /> Attending a meeting is an action. It gets you moving and builds first momentum.<br /> <br /> An event like this puts you around like-minded people (hopefully), and that can be really motivating.<br /> <br /> Networking helps you start talking to people and start making connections.<br /> <br /> Asking for an interview gets them engaged. There&#039;s also a higher chance of them offering something in exchange.<br /> <br /> When you care you start to develop a habit of thinking in Fastlane ways, and when you find ways to help them you expand your ability to think creatively.<br /> <br /> Soon ideas start to pour from your mind like water from a garden hose.<br /> <br /> When you finally execute you&#039;ve gone through the entire process of moving from the Slowlane to the Fastlane, even if you&#039;re not a millionaire yet.<br /> <br /> When you finish you have everything you need to recreate the <b>process </b>and keep repeating it until you hit it big.</div>

 

[Benjiben]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 13831" data-quote="SinisterLex" data-source="post: 500437" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=500437" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-500437">SinisterLex said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> I like your method a lot because you get so much more than just an idea.<br /> <br /> Attending a meeting is an action. It gets you moving and builds first momentum.<br /> <br /> An event like this puts you around like-minded people (hopefully), and that can be really motivating.<br /> <br /> Networking helps you start talking to people and start making connections.<br /> <br /> Asking for an interview gets them engaged. There&#039;s also a higher chance of them offering something in exchange.<br /> <br /> When you care you start to develop a habit of thinking in Fastlane ways, and when you find ways to help them you expand your ability to think creatively.<br /> <br /> Soon ideas start to pour from your mind like water from a garden hose.<br /> <br /> When you finally execute you&#039;ve gone through the entire process of moving from the Slowlane to the Fastlane, even if you&#039;re not a millionaire yet.<br /> <br /> When you finish you have everything you need to recreate the <b>process </b>and keep repeating it until you hit it big. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>Wow, lex from raw review corner just commented on my post. I must say I&#039;m honored.<br /> <br /> Honestly, I see people asking for idea validation here so I thought of what I did personally. <br /> <br /> The best validation you&#039;re going to get will be from your customers or the market, listen to them and help them sincerely. <br /> <br /> Don&#039;t think about what you&#039;re getting out of it, think of what you&#039;re training yourself to become-a very good listener and problem solver.<br /> <br /> One thing I had a problem with was that I was scared to approach business owners though, felt like I could&#039;ve done more than what I did. <br /> <br /> What steps can I take to improve <a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/members/13831/" class="username" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" data-user-id="13831" data-username="@SinisterLex">@SinisterLex</a> ?<br /> <br /> Ben<br /> <br /> Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk</div>

 

[Guest34764]

<div class="bbWrapper">Damn checked my area.Spring Hill is a damn graveyard.I&#039;ll keep my eyes out for anything in Tampa.<br /> <br /> Frankly I&#039;m not interested in the food business or Women-owned businesses so I&#039;ll have to skip on those two <img src="/community/imgs/emoticons/em-tongue.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":P" title="Stick Out Tongue :P" data-shortname=":P" /></div>

 

[Benjiben]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 34764" data-quote="Omega" data-source="post: 500493" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=500493" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-500493">Omega said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Damn checked my area.Spring Hill is a damn graveyard.I&#039;ll keep my eyes out for anything in Tampa.<br /> <br /> Frankly I&#039;m not interested in the food business or Women-owned businesses so I&#039;ll have to skip on those two [emoji14] </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>Omega,<br /> <br /> Don&#039;t worry about looking for 1 million cups too much. Even if you don&#039;t have one, you can still look for business owners in your area online.<br /> <br /> Or better yet, build a Linkedin profile and start approaching them there.<br /> <br /> You can do it, just take what ever I mentioned as the backbone, you build your own muscles into it.<br /> <br /> Ben<br /> <br /> Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk</div>

 

[Guest34764]

<div class="bbWrapper">Thanks for the motivational words.I&#039;ll poke around my area and see if I can get some attend some webinars or like you said,Linkedin.</div>

 

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[Benjiben]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 34764" data-quote="Omega" data-source="post: 500500" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=500500" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-500500">Omega said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> Thanks for the motivational words.I&#039;ll poke around my area and see if I can get some attend some webinars or like you said,Linkedin. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote><br /> <br /> So I just got around building my Linkedin profile right after writing this post... Pretty sure everyone I talked to told me to add their Linkedin.<br /> Ben<br /> <br /> Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk</div>

 

[Wisith]

<div class="bbWrapper">Great post, Ben. It&#039;s a shame I just found this now because there are a couple coming up next week...can&#039;t take off work that soon sadly. Also, very surprisingly Los Angeles has nothing! Gotta go a few (or 50+ miles south) for the two on there.</div>

 

[GuestUser450]

<div class="bbWrapper">One process for finding pain points and productizing a service:<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Pick a department within most medium-sized businesses. (maybe hr)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Pick a painful, time-consuming, specialized task they do. (maybe hiring; specifically, writing job ads )</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Find out if they use software or labor to do it. (maybe software to sort, labor to interview and hire)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Find a point where you can jump in and solve part/all of a problem in a week or less. (help hr write job description copy that not only lays out the position&#039;s requirements but also sells the job and the company to qualified candidates)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Offer a one-time price (per job description/salary grade,etc.) deliverable in 5 days or faster.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Market. (white papers on hiring top millennial talent, medium/linkedin essays on current hiring practices,etc.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Grow. (courses for hiring managers on building teams, retaining talent, dealing with staffing agencies, etc.)</li> </ul>Not promoting this idea, just the train of thought.</div>

 

[Benjiben]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 35328" data-quote="TeveTorbes" data-source="post: 502347" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=502347" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-502347">TeveTorbes said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> One process for finding pain points and productizing a service:<br /> <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Pick a department within most medium-sized businesses. (maybe hr)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Pick a painful, time-consuming, specialized task they do. (maybe hiring; specifically, writing job ads )</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Find out if they use software or labor to do it. (maybe software to sort, labor to interview and hire)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Find a point where you can jump in and solve part/all of a problem in a week or less. (help hr write job description copy that not only lays out the position&#039;s requirements but also sells the job and the company to qualified candidates)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Offer a one-time price (per job description/salary grade,etc.) deliverable in 5 days or faster.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Market. (white papers on hiring top millennial talent, medium/linkedin essays on current hiring practices,etc.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Grow. (courses for hiring managers on building teams, retaining talent, dealing with staffing agencies, etc.)</li> </ul>Not promoting this idea, just the train of thought. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>I like your train of thought. Have you tried this out on your own yet?<br /> <br /> Ben<br /> <br /> Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk</div>

 

[GuestUser450]

<div class="bbWrapper">I have; used the same basic process to start a billing and collections company in 05.<br /> <br /> Obviously, MJ lays it out in depth with CENTS, but for my little exercise, I think of it like this:<br /> <br /> The first 3 are the most important: choose b2b, find a PIA job they have to do, preferably by law, and where neither software nor people have effectively provided a solution.<br /> <br /> The time and pricing guidelines are not hard and fast, but simply to determine the ability to actually be competitive.<br /> <br /> I suffered from a medical condition known as Headupassidosis and among other things, did not market well at all. Nor did I grow us creatively. But we got enough things really right that it worked in spite of me.<br /> <br /> I&#039;ll do things 99% differently this time, but I&#039;ll still try to solve the narrow+deep problems of a market with money.</div>

 

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[Benjiben]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 35328" data-quote="TeveTorbes" data-source="post: 502590" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=502590" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-502590">TeveTorbes said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> I have; used the same basic process to start a billing and collections company in 05.<br /> <br /> Obviously, MJ lays it out in depth with CENTS, but for my little exercise, I think of it like this:<br /> <br /> The first 3 are the most important: choose b2b, find a PIA job they have to do, preferably by law, and where neither software nor people have effectively provided a solution.<br /> <br /> The time and pricing guidelines are not hard and fast, but simply to determine the ability to actually be competitive.<br /> <br /> I suffered from a medical condition known as Headupassidosis and among other things, did not market well at all. Nor did I grow us creatively. But we got enough things really right that it worked in spite of me.<br /> <br /> I&#039;ll do things 99% differently this time, but I&#039;ll still try to solve the narrow+deep problems of a market with money. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>Thanks for giving us more insights on your process. <br /> <br /> Also hope you&#039;re doing well as of now.<br /> <br /> Your procces sounds an awful lot like providing value, I think anyone out there that&#039;s willing to take action will benefit from it!<br /> <br /> Ben<br /> <br /> Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk</div>

 

[apexstrat]

<div class="bbWrapper">If you&#039;re looking for ideas read Jame Altucher... he&#039;s got this theory of &quot;10 ideas a day&quot; which i&#039;ve found very useful. <br /> The idea is that you force yourself to write 10 ideas a day in any given area (ideally in some way linked)... and over time your brain becomes better at looking for and identifying &quot;good&quot; ideas. It doesn&#039;t happen over night, it&#039;s like working any muscle, you have to push yourself until you start seeing any gain. <br /> <br /> Then when you&#039;ve got 10 ideas you like... you can start making 10 ideas about each of your 10 ideas... or 10 ideas about how you would implement, or 10 ideas about how you will get your first client.<br /> <br /> Breaking it down like this makes it really simple to get started.</div>

 

[Benjiben]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 14734" data-quote="apexstrat" data-source="post: 503628" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=503628" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-503628">apexstrat said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> If you&#039;re looking for ideas read Jame Altucher... he&#039;s got this theory of &quot;10 ideas a day&quot; which i&#039;ve found very useful. <br /> The idea is that you force yourself to write 10 ideas a day in any given area (ideally in some way linked)... and over time your brain becomes better at looking for and identifying &quot;good&quot; ideas. It doesn&#039;t happen over night, it&#039;s like working any muscle, you have to push yourself until you start seeing any gain. <br /> <br /> Then when you&#039;ve got 10 ideas you like... you can start making 10 ideas about each of your 10 ideas... or 10 ideas about how you would implement, or 10 ideas about how you will get your first client.<br /> <br /> Breaking it down like this makes it really simple to get started. </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>Apexstrat,<br /> I&#039;ve heard about that a few times here in the forum. <br /> <br /> But really, you don&#039;t even have to do that, just get yourself out and start talking to people. Coming out with ideas is a really good skill to have, but a lot of people would just be action faking.<br /> <br /> With that said, I quote a number of legendary contributors here &quot;execution is more important than an idea&quot;<br /> <br /> Ben<br /> <br /> Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk</div>

 

[apexstrat]

<div class="bbWrapper"><blockquote data-attributes="member: 26250" data-quote="Benjiben" data-source="post: 503728" class="bbCodeBlock bbCodeBlock--expandable bbCodeBlock--quote js-expandWatch"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-title"> <a href="/community/goto/post?id=503728" class="bbCodeBlock-sourceJump" rel="nofollow" data-xf-click="attribution" data-content-selector="#post-503728">Benjiben said:</a> </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-content"> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandContent js-expandContent "> &quot;execution is more important than an idea&quot; </div> <div class="bbCodeBlock-expandLink js-expandLink"><a role="button" tabindex="0">Click to expand...</a></div> </div> </blockquote>Totally agree with this, its very easy to over think...<br /> At the end of the day, a lot of people have made a lot of money doing some very mundane things without ever having a &quot;big idea&quot;<br /> <br /> The &quot;10 ideas&quot; framework is only useful if you can link it to action..<br /> i.e. 10 business ideas... 10 sub ideas for each of them... 10 ideas for things you can do over the next month... 10 ideas for things you can do RIGHT NOW<br /> <br /> Then... GO DO THEM.</div>

 

[ZeroTo100]

<div class="bbWrapper">I&#039;ve had this problem for a very long time. When I was in nightlife, I thought to myself, why pay to party when I can just produce my own event and party for free. I became a &quot;producer&quot; long before I read MJ&#039;s book - I just didn&#039;t know it yet. I&#039;ve struggled with idea overload the past few years, having tons of great ideas and executing on them with no success. I learned the hard way that ideas are bullshit and not because of the fact that most people come up with ideas and don&#039;t execute on them but for the simple fact that most people cannot create value for a specific market. What I&#039;ve been doing (and I feel I&#039;m almost ready with a little more market research) is to simply put yourself on the other side of a consumer - be a producer. Say for example, you spend x every year on doing y. Ask yourself, instead of spending x on y, can I sell y and earn x. Here&#039;s another thing you&#039;ll learn - even if x is just not as good as your competitor, if your target thinks your a great person, but your product is good, they&#039;ll buy you! You don&#039;t even have to be the best on the block - just be the most likable! <br /> <br /> So - everytime you make a purchase, ask yourself if you can produce it instead. You buy a book, can you produce it instead? You go for ice cream every night? Can you produce it instead? You party every weekend? Can you produce it instead? Once you decide, think about the best way you can add value. <br /> <br /> Remember scale X magnitude. <br /> <br /> Good luck!</div>

 

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[T-K]

<div class="bbWrapper"><a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/members/34764/" class="username" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" data-user-id="34764" data-username="@Omega">@Omega</a> and <a href="https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/community/members/34023/" class="username" data-xf-init="member-tooltip" data-user-id="34023" data-username="@Wisith">@Wisith</a> <br /> <br /> I have checked the website and it says you can start your own. Wouldn&#039;t it be awesome to be the organizer? You should consider it.</div>

 

[Ian O'Bryant]

<div class="bbWrapper">I just learned about 1 Million Cups from your thread, thanks for telling me about it. Is there any other events or clubs that you would recommend to begin networking with other entrepreneurs or business owners?</div>

 

[Ubermensch]

<div class="bbWrapper">Which guy will make more money: The guy &quot;looking for an idea,&quot; or the guy actually selling something.</div>

 

[Papillon]

<div class="bbWrapper">RE: &quot; 1. Go search for 1 million cups and look for your town&#039;s. (Bunch of business owners &amp; entrepreneurs attend these events). &quot;<br /> <br /> SORRY, I don&#039;t understand this...<br /> <br /> Anyway just did a google search AND I see...well we <u>don&#039;t</u> have this over the pond (UK)<br /> <br /> *NOW* there&#039;s a... <b>IDEA</b><img src="/community/imgs/emoticons/em-haha.png" class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":happy:" title="Happy :happy:" data-shortname=":happy:" /></div>

 

[sharkas]

<div class="bbWrapper">I agree with you guys! But how can you get execution if you have no ideas? <br /> The 10 idea a day is dangerous, you should look for a market, and then search ideas. Not the inverse.</div>

 

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[David Young]

<div class="bbWrapper">As newbie myself the key take away that I take it is that the idea does not have to be perfect or grandiose. I have certainly spent far to only trying to identify the perfect idea and used this as an excuse to not execute. It is only when you start to execute, to undertake process, that you grown and develop.</div>