How To Make Your Ideas Worth $1 Million
Ideas might be a dime a dozen but…
You have an idea worth a million dollars.
When I finished University, I had the idea to start a franchise for Fura. It was a popular drink in the north where I schooled but not so much in the South where I live.
At the time, I wrote it down as one of those ideas I would execute much later. I also had the idea to start a natural/healthy food business but I thought I wasn’t ready at the time.
Someone with more guts started So Fresh and in 2018, they signed an equity investment of $360,000. Not up to a million dollars but way more than I have gotten.
And Habib yoghurt now has a franchise shop on major streets in Lagos selling Fura.
So the problem isn’t that we don’t have worthy ideas, the problem is that we either don’t believe in ourselves enough and by extension, we don’t believe in the ideas as well.
I am sure it has happened to you as well, where you get a creative or business idea then you dismiss it and years later someone is executing it.
There are many reasons we doubt our ideas but validating your thoughts and ideas is the first step towards actualizing them.
If you always doubt your ideas, here are ways you can validate your ideas
- Instantly welcome it, be grateful for it: We all have that eureka moment where in that instant before our insecurities start getting in the way, we believe we have the best idea or we have struck gold. Your mindset and the work you have been doing regarding self-belief and self-worth come into play here. If you are the type who has worked on your self-belief, you believe in the idea and are certain it is going to work out. On the other hand, if you still have doubts about yourself, your mind starts spiraling and the stories you tell yourself comes into play. Which leads me to the next point.
- Don’t talk to other people about it asking for their validation: You either start working on the idea because you believe in it or you start talking to people hoping they’ll validate it for you. Even people with the best intentions for us sometimes won’t get it. Not everyone is equipped with helping us validate our ideas. People are at different stages in their lives and sometimes, they won’t see the picture as clearly as you do. When you talk to them, their response would affect your belief in the idea.
- You don’t have the whole picture and it shouldn’t stop you: Your imagination and knowledge can’t conceive what is going to become of it. Many times we don’t have all the resources and information required to see an idea through in the moment. But taking a step will lead to a new door of enlightenment. Sometimes, it could be that you’d come across a resource, person or opportunity that’ll move the needle forward. When we get ideas, because we believe that we don’t have the resources in the moment to see it through, we believe it can’t work. Ideas are like seeds or a human being, they develop with more time, dedication and energy committed to it. Don’t discard an idea because you don’t have the resources yet.
- Write it down (I always go back to this): Writing is a way to lend some legitimacy and validation to an idea. Write down everything that comes to mind about the idea and it gives you more clarity. It would also help you process your thoughts more. We also forget that our minds are fickle and we can easily forget and get carried away by what is going on around us. Writing down ideas would remind us often of the plan even after time has passed.
- Start taking steps: Could be as simple as making calls, researching, looking for partners, etc. With each step, you discover more things and move forward. You can learn more of what you need, meet people who can help you actualize or people you can partner with. Some steps might lead to a dead end, others might lead to a chain reaction but that is how you know whether the idea can work or not.
When you take these steps, you lend your idea legitimacy and you find that the things you need will start finding its way to you.
What idea did you have in the past that you dismissed but found someone else executing much later? Share in the comments.
