Too Many Ideas? How to Know When You Have “The One Brilliant Idea”

Nancy is like every entrepreneur I know. Highly creative and visionary, she has a million ideas. First she wants to be a coach. Then a mentor tells her she should offer workshops. Then she decides she should offer consulting in her old industry. Then, confused and full of angst, she hears about how one guru makes a million dollars a year on selling just ONE e-book. Now Nancy jumps to writing an e-book but plans to have an audio program and a group coaching program three months from now.

I want to shake Nancy and tell her to STOP THE MADNESS!

Just because you have lots of ideas doesn’t mean you should act on all of them. Adam Gilad, founder of many online dating resources, once had a coaching epiphany with me many years ago.

"Just because you have an idea doesn’t mean you should be the one to act on it."

Moving an idea from inspiration to an actual money making business or revenue stream is much more than just having a vision. You have to allocate time, money and resources to birth it and grow it into a real cash-machine.

Yet most entrepreneurs spin around and around in the “opportunity addiction” phase because it makes them feel excited. Ideas are exciting. They just aren’t a real business opportunity.

So how do you pick the one(s) that really can become a money-making, life-changing business offering? I’ll share with you a formula that is part of my ULTIMATE Success Generator toolkit.

It’s called the Decision Making Filter and here is how it works:

1. Values & Needs
We start building your own personal filter by defining what’s important to you (kinda like the traditional pros and cons list but this step is so powerful you’ll often know exactly what to do before you finish this step.) Your values are an important part of your “compass” for growth so new opportunities must be in alignment.

2. Business Priorities
This step allows us to factor in exactly what you have to focus on in the business. This criteria can include cash flow, credibility, support, funding, etc. An idea that is not in alignment with an urgent priority becomes a “should.” Which means it doesn’t get attention, becomes another item on the to-do list, and eventually falls off the radar.

3. Passion & Inspiration
In this step we identify how much passion you have for the opportunities. Others might tell you that it’s not important but in my ten years of experience with entrepreneurs, this step is critical. If you are not excited then 100 other things will get your attention. If you are not excited, your prospects will feel it. This is part of being aligned for sustainable growth.

4. Profitability
Where most decision making stops at the first three criteria, I add in when and how will it make you money. Identifying exactly how long it will take to make money and later generate a profit moves you out of a “hobby” and into a “real business offering.”

A technique I use is to identify how much of a financial investment is required for the new idea. I map out every cost involved, including my time away from other opportunities (otherwise known as opportunity cost.) Then I estimate best and worst case scenarios for when and how much income will be involved. If I can take that financial risk and accept the worst case scenario then I’ll move forward.

5. Time & Resources
All other things considered, no idea is a good investment unless you have the time and resources to implement it. Consider who would be in charge of it and how will it get funded?

Once you have identified your criteria for each segment of the formula, you then want to rank them (5 being the opportunity has a high level, 1 being very low.) The idea with the highest score is the one most likely to succeed.

Once you have identified your criteria for each segment of the formula, you then want to rank them (5 being the opportunity has a high level, 1 being very low.) The idea with the highest score is the one most likely to succeed.

As I explore this formula with each client who goes through the Re-Energize your Business Retreat, a big reality check is rating each of these five criteria in the Decision Making Filter. Missing just one of them can mean a HUGE deflating effect on your ability to catapult forward.