I would argue that coming up with a good idea is the easiest phase of taking an idea to market. Conceptualizing the idea takes a lot more work as now you have to start asking questions about your idea to see how it may fare in the marketplace. As a side note, you shouldn’t let questions stand in your way of getting started with an idea but it helps to ask a few simple questions before you embark on your journey. The following 3 ideas will get your idea going: Why is my idea Valuable? Who values my idea? What leverage do I have to make the idea happen?
Let’s start with the first question: Why is my idea valuable?
This is an important first question to make sure that you are really thinking about your idea. This is where you decide what potential impact your idea may have on the marketplace. You may be creating value for a certain group of people or solving a big problem in business. The main thing is that the idea can’t be all about you and why it’s a good idea for you.
Who Values The Idea?
You first establish what impact your idea could potentially have on the world. From there you narrow it down to who would benefit specifically once your idea hits the market. Start laying out a niche. You are simply asking the question: who would buy this?
What leverage do I have to make the idea happen?
This last question provides a lot of information about what you and your organization is capable of. If you have blind spots in the process for putting your idea into the market, who do you know that can help? Do you have the funding that is needed. How is your knowledge going to play a role? How do your talents and abilities fit in? This is a great time for a simple assessment on what is available to you.
You don’t have to spend a lot of time doing this but it will help with the initial frame work of your idea. In reality, you may end up scrapping the idea altogether when you do this simple assessment or at the very least take it back to the drawing board for a few tweaks. Either way, asking these 3 questions will allow you to be more prepared to take about your idea with confidence.