IDEA; Importance in Entrepreneurship
IDEA
Are you mulling upon start-up, new business or entrepreneurship? If the answer is yes, then you must have the primary requirement, the basic ingredient to cook the dish, the seed to grow a tree and the material to build a tower!!! Yes, you must have an Idea.
What is Idea?
Broadly speaking idea is a mental representation of some object and can also be abstract of mental images. The capacity to create and understand the meaning of Idea is considered to be an essential and defining feature of human beings. In a popular sense, an idea arises in an impulsive, spontaneous manner, even without thinking or serious reflection. A new or original idea can often lead to innovation.
Idea for Start-up
For all start-ups and entrepreneurs the foundation to start a business is ‘Idea of business.’ For any successful start-up; ‘first comes Idea’. Idea has been defined or understood many ways, but here it is not merely a thought or a traditional business model that already exists; it is always a thought that “ comes with; (a) Solution to a problem, (b) Innovative in nature. Both the reasons are key ingredients to gain customers or clients spontaneously and vice versa for the customers.
We are in an era where daily hundreds and thousands of new businesses, entrepreneurs or start-ups are founded. Start-up culture is spontaneously growing, so are the Ideas, sprouting like blooms. In this scenario an entrepreneur has to come up with a solid and proven solution to an existing or unseen problem, or an innovation to an existing idea. All blooms do not bear fruits and same is the case with start-ups and Ideas; every idea does not emerge with a successful business model. It depends how strong your idea is, same as how strong is the foundation of a building. You cannot build a towering or multi storied building on a week foundation.
Here I would like to quote the tagline of India’s famous cellular company ‘Idea’. “Ek Idea jo badal de aapki duniya” (An idea can change your life). This is very true for the entrepreneurs and start-ups. Their idea can really change their world and the world they are living in. Here we can quote hundreds of examples of ‘Ideas’ that has literally changed the world. Be it in Information Technology sector or Non IT sector. Who would know about FaceBook or Whatsapp and the importance of these apps in our daily life?! Somebody in a corner of globe got the idea of the and now a days we see billions of users for the duo. Once there would not had come the Idea of social networking FaceBook and Whatsapp would not had born. We have example of KFC, the retired govt. servant becomes bilinear after his retirement ‘only when the idea stuck his mind’. There are examples so on and so forth. Idea is mother of the entrepreneurship. The finest Idea is the greatest success will be.
We see lot of people around us, in family, neighbourhood, friendship who are rich by virtue of money, may be their ancestral or inherited money! Yes! There are hundreds and thousands of people around who are well versed with the bank balances. They always want to do something with that money, a business or a construction where from they can get a recurrent income; most of them think like that, fewer may be there who think like the entrepreneur. Either they will opt for the traditional or ancestral business and carry on with that or will see for the secured source of income over their money reservoirs. While as we see people with Ideas and without money who made billions and their first million dollar in few months. Who made billions and their first million dollar in a few months! Yes! This is the power of Idea. To sum up with the both categories f people the quote fits for the example “Nobody has money problem, everybody has idea problem”. In next chapter we will learn about the ‘Business Idea Generation” (BIG). BIG is essential and has its essence for the entrepreneurs as oxygen has for life. BIG involves certain activities and a handful of research that you will learn in next paragraphs.
BRAIN STORMING
In order to get ready for the BIG, you must be aware of the activity called ‘Brain Storming’. This is a group activity. You have to have a command over intriguing and interviewing people. On your ideas you can call upon your friends, guides or even your family, sit somewhere over a coffee or a party and ask a series of questions and queries about your ideas. The activity is called Brain Storming. This will help you in Business Idea Generation. Brainstorming is always a good place to start. To get the most out of a brainstorming exercise, it’s helpful if you work with a group of people. Start by identifying the problem you need to solve. In this case, the problem is the lack of a business idea.
BUSINESS IDEA GENERATION (BIG)
Business Idea Generation is a series of activities and processes. It includes from the basic idea to Brain Storming and ends with a concrete ideation that includes a researched paper in hand, what we can say a preliminary project report. This process includes the stages of creating, developing, and communicating ideas which are abstract, concrete, or visual. The process includes the process of constructing through the idea, innovating the concept, developing the process, and bringing the concept to reality.
Business Idea Generation also includes the work for the Innovation of already existing Business Model or a traditional Business Idea. There are hundreds of regional or ‘Traditional Businesses’. What BIG can do is you can take it to the next level by thinking for its innovation. This will include again the same process; Idea to Brain Storming and then up to research and with a conclusion and more refined idea with a paper work in hand.
BIG can be a solution to a problem as well. If you can see a problem, ask people about the problem, review their solutions and conclude a solid result, you can come up with BIG. For example we can take example of Amazon, that helps people to shop online and save their time and money. This idea started with a small concept of selling the products on a website but as the time passed the journey taught the people at the helm of affairs a lot. Many problems were unveiled and multi opportunities were achieved and converted into business by the people at Amazon. You can see a series of services provided by Amazon. This is when you start with a small BIG you can reach to great BIG.
You have a gamut of ideas, businesses and services around. Pick them one by one. Read about all of them, have a thorough research. Check your ability, passion and financial possibility. Pen down all on a sheet of paper in two columns; Compare them all by putting all of them in Column A & Column B, respectively. Do many exercises over the same in above given columns, separately. Now compare your results. Put the highly possible result at number one and accordingly all of the results obtained from the exercise.
What happens! Yes!! You come up with a concrete Idea. Now take your result sheet and call your friends, relatives or mentors. Have a conversation over a cup of coffee. Reveal your results, refine your results, note down the opinions and finally take a breath and go home. Finish your all work and before you go to sleep, take the paper in your hand and start reading. Now you can see a visual picture or a movie playing in your mind or a beautiful name of your coming up business house on the canvas of your mind. Yes!! You are done with the most important activity called BIG. You are finally with a decisive conclusion in your hand. Now you will start thinking differently and working uniquely. “Winners do not do different things, they do things differently”, Shiv Khera, the management trainer has rightly said. When you will feel you have started thinking differently, you have chosen your own path amongst the crowd, and then believe you are reborn. Now you feel the name inside you “Entrepreneur”.
