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Episode R4: Ideation

Ideation – Small Business Idea Creation & Development with Henry and David. They discuss the topic of ideation – the process of creating and developing new business ideas. How do you develop new business ideas, and then how do you prove and execute that idea to develop a successful business?

• Is coming up with the idea the hard part, or is it execution?
• The process for developing business ideas: Idea –> Research –> Prototype –> Iterate/Evolve –> Exit
• There are three basic types of business ideas: New (a new invention or business concept), Improvement (a better mouse trap), Disruption (a new way to do something).
• The improvement category is typically the source of most small business ideas.
• What are good sources for good business ideas? Henry gets idea inspiration from reading, podcasts, art, architecture, personal experiences, travel, conversations with others, hobbies, and borrowing ideas from others. David tends to listen to people and their problems and then tries to solve those issues. He also is observant of a processes that is not efficient or broken, and how it can be improved.
• For our existing businesses, most of our good ideas to improve or grow the business come from listening to our customers.
• How can you use Crowd Creativity to develop an idea?
• Crowdfunding is also being used to develop a business idea. It can be used to test a business idea.
• Do you need to be a creative person to come up with great business ideas?
• “You can’t have good ideas unless you’re willing to generate a lot of bad ones.” Seth Godin
• Some questions to ask yourself to help qualify your business idea:
  • What need does my product or service fill? What problem does it solve?
  • What are the features and benefits of my offering?
  • What is my competitive advantage? What makes me truly unique in my market?
  • How do my skills and experience fit with my idea?
  • Do I want to be doing this in 10 years?
• You can find other related episodes in The How of Business podcast Archives.

Resources:

Books mentioned in this episode:
[We receive commissions for purchases made through these links (more info)].

• Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon