Disclaimer: The following article contains very simple English. I’m here to drive a point and not to show off my exaggerated English skills which I don’t possess. If you find this too simple and not have GRE/GMAT words – please remember language is a medium of communication and not fancy move in Step-Up 3 or Barcelona’s tiki taka game.
There are a few words that are most abused in this world than ‘Legend’, ‘Strategy’, ‘the Best’, and ‘Idea’ (there are more but let’s stop at it here). The most intriguing and captivating of them all is ‘Idea’. Well rather than captivating should I say much relevant to the current world scenario?
Almost, everybody has an Idea that is worth millions, if not billions, dollars. Here is a reality check…they may be of no better use than Balotelli at Liverpool. But, Why?
Let’s stop calling an idea as …well idea. There are two ways in which an ‘idea’ can occur – Curiosity and Solution. Without delving too much into details of Curiosity; Man (or should I say humans so that I do not sound sexist) probably invented a wheel (what are the chances that a wheel wasn’t invented by a woman. You weren’t there to witness it, were u?)because of a curiosity that “What would an Object that is circular do?” and then wondered what he/she could do with it. Curiosity might be called as a step mother of all invention. But even today “necessity” is the mother of all invention.
This leads to the next debate on how an idea could/is a solution to a problem. In today’s world of entrepreneurship, if you are not solving a problem you do not have an ‘idea’ – period. If you are delivering what someone else is already delivering without any value add, then you are a ‘nobody’ – period. If you cannot differentiate yourself from your closest competitor then you are a ‘Zilch’ – period. You are no better than a Liverpool fan competing in a spell bee competition.
As an ex-entrepreneur who failed miserably, I might have some sort of credibility to stake a claim in the above statements. If you are an entrepreneur, what is the best way to see if you have a solution? How do you know you are talking an entrepreneur – an actual one? Well it’s simple….
Ask the ‘WH’ questions – basically what, why, when, where, how (has ‘w’ and ‘h’ in it), who, so what and why so.
- What is that you are trying to do? What problem are you solving? So What?
- Why would anybody buy my solution? Why so?
- How is the solution going to be implemented?
- Who are we selling the solution to?
*- When and where are usually a decision made upon answering the above questions.
Now are these few questions enough to judge the completeness of an ‘Idea’? The answer is a resounding No. So loud a No, that it will put Fox News to shame. Keep adding questions; ask more and more questions till you have answers to them. There is no such as thing as a stupid question (well unless you ask “How many Chelsea fans exist in this world?”; It’s a trick question because Chelsea fans are myth – they don’t exist). The more questions you are able to answer, the more robust solution you have in place which in turn translates to a great business.
Without boring you with gory details, let’s just say that if you have an ‘Idea’ start looking at it from a ‘Solutions’ perspective. See if somebody is going to benefit out of it which can translate to monetary units for you. Don’t do it because you are good at it. Do it because you are adding value to someone. Or, alternatively, you could also just ask Manchester City owners to adopt you.