Most of the time I’m so optimistic about my latest projects that there seems to be virtually no risk. With my gut leading the way, I can do no wrong.

I take a five minute tour to the past while searching for a document I need, I stumble upon old logos, designs, ideas. I ask myself, why do all these pieces of work look so bad? Why did I choose those colours? That was an awful idea… why did I even write that down?

It turns out, I’m not always right. My ideas are not always long-lasting and I’m really glad they didn’t all work out.

As an entrepreneur who can sometimes (ok all the time) get overly excited about new ideas, I’ve had to find ways to filter through them:

1. Check if something like it already exists. Don’t fool yourself either. If your idea is kinda the same or you’ve got “a new spin” on an existing product, consider that if you pursue it, you will probably be devoting years of your life to a spinoff.
2. Check with Dieter. Famous industrial designer Dieter Rams came up with Ten Principles for Good Design. Even though its original purpose was to evaluate product design, you can repurpose it to quickly evaluate your idea.
3. Can you bootstrap it? The idea can’t and shouldn’t be too big unless this isn’t your first dance… Don’t rely on investment, being jobless or getting into a lot of debt. Your spare time and sweat equity should be sufficient to get started.

If your idea is still alive at this point, well, spend a little more time with it by writing up a quick Business Model Canvas. Create multiple iterations and keep refining it, don’t settle for whatever comes to mind first.