How to choose an idea to run with?

[orangjul]

I just finished reading the TMF and have read several books on entrepreneurship over the last couple of months. I'm fed up with my 9-5 job and ready to take action. I went from no ideas to a few dozen in the last couple of months. I have about 5-6 that I think are actually pretty promising. One thing that MJ stresses in his book is to only focus on one idea and to run with it. However, I haven't market tested any of my ideas yet and am not sure which has the potential to really take off. None of them require huge financial investments, but some will take more time invested than others, and they all have different hurdles. Other gurus or anti-gurus have said it's ok to explore more than one business concept at once. But I'm under the impression that MJ doesn't recommend that since you won't be able to really dedicate yourself to any one idea if you are pursing multiple ideas...and without commitment, no idea will succeed. What do you guys think? How did you/are you getting started with your ideas if you had/have more than one idea to start with? I'm ready to execute!

As I side note, I'm not necessarily interested in becoming a multi-millionaire (although I admit it would be nice). I'm more interested in gaining more free time and working less. There's a line in the book that says something like "I'd rather work 10 hours a week and make 60K, than work 70 hours a week and earn $140K". I totally identify with this...not sure if this will affect responses or not.

 

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[Runum]

Welcome to the fastlane.

A wise man once said, "Kill a bad idea quickly." (Zen)

Get to testing those ideas quick and kill off the bad ones and foster the good ones. There are some guys here that test several ideas a month. I spent 4 years developing an idea that stunk. Get started testing.

 

[orangjul]

There are some guys here that test several ideas a month.

Wow, who are they? Are they successful?

 

[throttleforward]

Think about it this way - if I were a scientist, would I come up with a hypothesis, test it, and then determine if the hypothesis was valid? Or, would I come up with a hypothesis, not test it, and just try to write a dissertation on it without the initial testing?

In another industry - gold mining - you can go one of two ways. One, you can take a look at the landscape, guess the underlying geology, and start spending thousands per day digging against that analysis/hypothesis. Or, you can drill equidistant test pits within your claim, determining exactly where the gold is before devoting scarce and volumnous resources toward digging. Which one makes more sense?

There are a lot of posts on here detailing how to easily test markets. I'm sure a lot of folks would be willing to help you design tests if you give us more specifics.

 

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[DeletedUser2]

We test alot. I believe in my golden nuggets thread, I posted about about a test we did once. its about killing bad ideas quickly

https://www.thefastlaneforum.com/co...ets-tips-processes-how-tos.35110/#post-193437

Am I successful? meh, depends on what you determine as success.

 

[Runum]

Wow, who are they? Are they successful?

Yes, they are successful. Hang around and read and you will find what you want.

Point is, do some quick research. Design a test. Use keyword tools, check for searches, look for trends, check out your competition. Run the test. Make a decision.

You will a higher quality response from the doers here if you are doing things and trying things and sharing what works and doesn't work for you. You ask better questions when you are doing and you get better answers.

You have ideas. Sounds like you are waiting for someone to tell you what to do. You don't like where things are going but are unsure of what to do. You are unsure because it's risky? How risky is it to stay in the life you are in now? 100%

Not trying to sound harsh. I do wish you well.

 

[Runum]

Hint....you want to read anything written by Zendolpin.

 

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[tafy]

I agree with Runum, do something. I would begin by testing some of the ideas

 

[Gale4rc]

Don't just do something, do the right activity.

If you're up for another book I highly suggest Lean Startup by Eric Reiss. It's all about taking idea to implementation and the right route which many entrepreneurs are now agreeing with..

In a nutshell start your idea by building a basic landing page, drive traffic to that landing page and either get actual pre-orders or signups. If people are signing up / paying then you know they're interested in the idea. Next is building the right product.

If you don't know HTML / any web code/stuff then I would suggest using http://launchrock.co/


I would also consider taking this course: https://www.udacity.com/course/ep245 - I've scanned through it but, most i've learned already --- Highly suggest for anyone starting out in creating their own actual startup (not schemes)

 

[orangjul]

All really good points, thanks. And no not harsh, although I probably need harsh, anyways. But today I took the first step and determined which manufacturer I think I want to use for my product and ordered a test run. So, a small step, but it's farther in the process than I was yesterday.

 

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[Runum]

Congrats. Keep us updated on your progress. When you get stuck, ask questions.

Good luck.

 

[orangjul]

Awesome. Love how supportive it seems everyone is!

 

[Woodsman81]

How do you test a product where you have no prototype or product?

 

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