Evaluating Business Ideas
Opportunities Lead to Opportunities if You're in the Entrepreneur Groove
Written by Jay Shapiro for Gaebler Ventures
When one opportunity leads to another the fledgling entrepreneur can find his/herself confused about how to maintain focus. Which idea is the best one to follow when you have a veritable swarm of them to consider?
The word entrepreneur is French, and many people find it an exotic and unique word. Indeed, for many it conjures an image of a mysterious yet charismatic character who somehow lives life on the edge.
The reality is often a lot more industrious. A person sees an opportunity and exploits it, and this leads it to fulfil its potential. When a person is doing their entrepreneur thing, they often see other opportunities to that will push their idea further, a related idea, or an altogether different idea for exploitation. This happens when a person is an entrepreneur groove.
Opportunities lead to opportunities, and rarely is it something that happens consciously. The entrepreneur may be doing something unrelated to their business, and subsequently just see something on television, hear something on the radio, or glimpse a website and the cogs will start to turn.
An element of entrepreneurialism may be present to some degree in everybody, but not everybody wants to pursue the path of turning the idea into a tangible business. This is understandable as there is often a huge element of risk, and domestic circumstances can make it impossible. Many say it is about drive and an ambition, but in many respects it is more a question of whether or not you are in a position to do so.
If you are developing an idea, and see another the question is do you try and do both or concentrate on one? Both would be the answer, as doing everything at once will make you more money in the long run. It will also help to establish a reputation, and lead to more ideas. Also, you will be more experienced at developing an idea and be in a better position to develop idea number two.
Strangely, it can sometimes be an advantage if the two are only distantly related, rather than inextricably linked. The approach you take to develop both ideas will now be different. In all probability, you will find this refreshing as you switch between them, and subsequently make more of an effort in both instances. This will reflect on the quality of service you provide, and broaden your horizons as you meet people connected with both of your ideas.
At this point, you are probably asking several questions: Where am I going to find the time? How am I going to market these ideas? Who do I market them to? What are the risks? And many more. The answer is to do as much as you can, and it will come together. You will find as you get leads and customers, it will become obvious at that point on which to peruse at which time. You will probably find yourself selling the other idea to a customer or client you got from the different idea.
It is not unheard of that the different approaches needed for each idea, may well compliment each other nicely, and will not conflict. So one idea can be marketed in a very different way to the other.
No matter what your ideas are, as an entrepreneur it is a good idea to explore all of them and make the most of opportunities.
You are an entrepreneur, it is what you do.
Jay Shapiro is a freelance writer based in the UK. Jay has a particular interest in the emotive aspects of the entrepreneur's character. "Alongside the nuts and bolts of business, the character of the person is often the ingredient responsible for success."
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