We are entrepreneurs and that means we have ideas. Lots and lots of ideas.
Coming up with ideas is great, but not all ideas are all that they seem cracked up to be.
Some business ideas are Good.
They involve a specific target market and a much needed product, service or resouce that the market is willing to pay for (or someone else is willing to pay to support – ie: advertise on.)
Some business ideas are Bad.
These ideas are usually too fuzzy on the issue of target market or involve a product that fails to inspire interest.
Some business ideas are Just Plain Ugly.
I’ve come to realize over the last year that there are business ideas that can be made to work by sheer force of will, but that doesn’t mean that they should. Some business projects are just too labor intensive for so little net profit that you end up working for peanuts. I call that Ugly.
Which is Which?
It can be hard to say which ideas are good and which bad. It depends a great deal on who has the idea.
Someone can have a really good idea but lack the skills and experience to make it work. And on the flip side, I’ve seen someone with skills and experience take what looks like a bad idea, sell the heck out of it and make a lot of money.
What about the Ugly ideas? Couldn’t a skilled entrepreneur make anything work? Maybe they could. But they likely won’t since they know there will never be enough profit to be worth their effort.
How do I decide if my idea is good?
You could just run with it and see what happens. There is a lot to be said for learning in the trenches, still – I’m in favor of skipping hard knocks when possible so I’m going to recommend that you seek out other more experienced marketers to bounce your ideas off of before you invest too much time and resources.
I know from experience that I can develop what I think is a brilliant idea on paper. We want our ideas to work and look for ways to make them work. An outsider can usually see the holes in our theories and that’s a good thing. Be open to their constructive criticism. (They’re critiquing the idea – not you.)
Do some quick market research. Hit up Google to see if there are other people doing what you’re thinking about. Don’t be put off by the existence of competition. That should be a positive sign that there is a market for your ideas. If there is a LOT of competition, check out the top sites and ask yourself, “Can I do this at least 10% better than these guys?”
What if I just realized I have a Bad/Ugly Business?
Pat yourself on the back. You’re in good company. I’ve had more than my fair share of ideas gone bad. Some of the richest, most esteemed entrepreneurs in the world have had ideas that crashed and burned. Having a bad idea isn’t the end of the world and having acted on one isn’t the end of your WAH dreams.
Take your bad ideas (or business) back to the drawing board and see how they can be improved. Drop kick any truly ugly ideas to the curb and move on.
It’s called Failing Forward and it works for me 
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Jim Pearson has spent more than 25 years helping small and mid-size businesses find solutions to their business problems. He specializes in sales, marketing and rapid revenue growth and has helped hundreds of companies make more money.
Gene Culver has more than 15 years of diverse business experience across the music industry, telecom network marketing and business coaching. His specialty is helping individuals with marketing, their internet presence and lead generation.
Failing forward – it’s the best way to learn. I’ve had my share over the past 12 years of things that fly like a lead balloon – the lessons you learn are invaluable for future successes.
I embrace the notion of “failing forward”.
Christine Comaford Lynch, former Google angel investor writes about it extensively in her book, “Rules for Renegades”. She scribes on page 103 …”The key to fail forward, where the pain of the failure is reduced by the benefit of the lesson it brings.”
Lots and lots and lots of ideas!!! I learn so much from failing forward,for me,it eliminates the fear of trying something new and embracing what truely works.
Great post. The trick is knowing the good from the bad. Or in my case, which is the best option to do now…prioritizing the ideas. I’m in the middle of that now as I race to replace some income I’m about lose.