Got a great idea? Great! I dont care.

Ideas are useless. Anyone can come up with a good or even a great idea, but it is the force behind the idea that matters.

Do you have the know-how to turn your great idea into a great product or service? Are you disciplined enough to learn what you need to know to make that idea a reality? Have you built your network to the point where you have access to the people who can help turn your vision into a reality?

If not, you got nothing.

Well, what about licensing, you say? Well, in order to have your idea licensed, you must know who to call to license your idea to, sell them on why they should buy the rights, and then participate in the development of a prototype that the company you are selling to will inevitably tweak. The process takes awhile, and will be frustrating, but this is where you earn your keep.

So if you think you have a million dollar idea, then build it, license it, or forget about it. If you havent acted on your big idea in 3 months, then dump it and free up your mental hard drive for other things.

Homework

1. In a notebook, write down every “big idea” that  you have right now ( i.e. creating a website, launching an event, or opening a specialty restaurant kiosk) at the top of a blank page.

2. On the page for that idea, create a to-do list. If you are opening a kiosk, your list should include calling malls for rates, researching configurations for stands online, pricing kiosks, identifying sources of raw food material, and budgeting

3. Organize the items on your to-do list in order of priority. Put a 1 next to the most important tasks, 2 next to moderately important items, and 3 next to low priority but necessary tasks.

4. Take the number one item on that list and add it to your schedule with a reasonably aggressive deadline (if you can do it in a week, give yourself 3 days). The reason for this is work will fill the amount of time it is given.

5. Once number one is done, move on to number two.

6. If after 3 months you havent finished the list off and are ready to launch, license the idea off

7 (Licensing): File a provisional patent application ($100), create your sell sheet (a single piece of heavy, glossy 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper thats printed in color costing from $0 to $80. They describe your product in broad terms, emphasizing  benefits to the ultimate user as well as the manufacturer, and includes proof of your claims, like test runs, surveys, or prototypes) and start making phone calls as soon as possible. Dont be that guy or girl that dreams, plans and researches their idea to death.

Ideas are like gold mines; useless until you pick up a shovel and pick and refine their contents. So start digging.

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