Dream Big. Get Grounded Quickly.
It will focus a new interest upon Southern California through the mediums of television and other exploitation…
It will be a place for California to be at home, to bring its guests, to demonstrate its faith in the future…
And, mostly, as stated at the beginning — it will be a place for people to find happiness and knowledge.
It wasn’t a sure bet that Disneyland would work, nor was the original idea as grounded as the original prospectus. Imagine getting a pitch about turning a vacant lot without much close by to service the “thousands of people coming each year” making it the “Most magical place on earth.” Walt Disney was a visionary and it took a formal document to prove the dream could be a reality.
“I thought of that, but someone else built it.”
Dreaming big or thinking of ideas where the sky is the limit is not uncommon, but its lacking two distinct criteria: a feasibility check and constraints.
Feasibility Check on your Big Dreams
This isn’t about crushing your dreams, its the opposite. Take the time to understand if you’re going on your journey by foot, on a bicycle or in a Ferrari. Based on the resources available to you and the market conditions, you can find yourself with clear roads ahead that are smooth, or a rocky road so bumpy it might not be worth it.
Digging into the college memory bank, here’s a few business modelling
- SWOT Analysis
- Porter’s 5 Forces
- Three Cs — Customer, Competition, Company
- Market-Oriented Strategy
Each of these looks through a different perspective on your business idea. The key is that they get you to focus on how you might approach building something that will be accepted by the market and fit an opportunity that competitors might have missed.
Most importantly, the facts and thought that goes into completing each of these is quite easy. You don’t need to start with major depth, by doing this, you’re already miles ahead of the dreamer.
With your feasibility in place, you’ve got a good idea of what you’re going to do and now you need to develop and action plan.
Develop within Constraints
Disciplined Dreaming was a great book to put this idea into perspective. Without having some constraints or rules, you cannot be as focused or as successful. For example:
If you were to approach an artist and say, “I would like to commission you to make something beautiful.” and walk away you’re missing may key details the artist needs to deliver on your work:
- medium — is it supposed to be a sculpture, painting, an exhibit?
- timing — when is this expected to be ready?
- taste — as the client, what do you prefer?
One more example.
If you were to walk up to an athlete and say, “get ready for the game.” and walk away, you’d be missing the point and potentially missing out on the right skills:
- what sport are you playing?
- what equipment does this athlete need to play?
- do their athletic talents transfer to your sport… I mean, have you seen some of these pro-athletes play other sports? It can be comical.
By creating constraints for your project, you are giving criteria for time, money and other resources that can work in your favor. Sometimes, you make better hires when the budget is tight. Other times, choosing to work on something yourself as a labor of love actually gives you a better position for the future.
Work on what you’ll do first and how to create a minimum viable product (MVP) so you can use your analysis above to test with the market. As much as you toil with your prototype, there’s no substitute for good, authentic user feedback.
