Think of all the new products and services that have come about over the past five years. Products for the kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, living room, the home office and small business tools. All these products and services were initially conceived in the minds of people who used their imagination to think up new ideas. In the next five years there will be many more new products and services for the home, working environment, entertainment and sports field. Many of these products and services will come from the imaginations of entrepreneurs who’ve taken the time to explore their world and people around them and have come up with new solutions to problems and challenges.
You see, there isn’t a shortage of opportunities but a shortage of imagination. Whether you use your imagination to come up with a new product or service, many others will do so because of the opportunities that abound. If you took yourself back five years or even further into the past, and looked ahead over the years to where you are right now, you would be amazed at the number of products and services that have been introduced into the market over this time. As a famous entrepreneur said, they is no shortage of opportunity, only shortage of imagination.
Yet the creative imagination will not work for you and less you use it. You need to kickstart or fire up your imagination, backed by a burning desire, with a definite purpose, to come up with solutions to people’s problems, challenges wants, needs and desires. New products and services won’t come about from the brain of a computer but only from the workshop of your imagination.
Priming your imagination requires a search for opportunities. This may be done through observation, one of the oldest idea generation methods, intense listening and asking questions. Some of the most successful products had come about just because sharp entrepreneurs have listened to potential customer complaints and found a solution.
It’s one thing having a creative vision or a new business idea but how will you bring it about into reality? You need a plan. Many intended start-ups do not get off the ground because they do not have a plan. It’s difficult enough coming up with an idea for a viable business but if you do not have a plan, you will not get off the ground.
In these plans you need to identify obstacles, lack of experience and how quickly you will run out of cash. Even if you have a brilliant business idea, you need to determine if it’s good enough, whether it solves a significant problem, delivers a unique value proposition and is difficult for competitors to substitute or replicate.
In the next few months you will be able to grab yourself a copy of my forthcoming book, “Breakthrough Ideas” which walks you through coming up with an idea for a viable business, testing your idea in the real world and planning for implementation, including working out how much cash you will need and other resources. Put your name on the waiting list because only a limited number of copies will be available.
