As a mindset educator I often get asked by entrepreneurs about how to get an idea off the ground. Often, they say “ideas are cheap, and we have thousands of them” but their interest is specifically how to turn their ideas into actionable items or better yet moneymaking businesses. There are a few steps that one can take, let me outline these step by step: The first step is to select only one idea of the many and prioritize it.

It is way too easy to get distracted by new ideas and end up procrastinating or get overwhelmed and do nothing.

This happens when people have so much creativity and have so many ideas at once and don’t select and stick to only one idea at a time. It also happens out of the fear of
failure or fear of rejection, which will kill an idea before it even has a chance to grow. To avoid procrastinating and to get over the fear of failure or fear of rejection, understand that every human has these as an built-in survival mechanism and the most successful business people learn to harness fears and adapt them as part of their plans. Don’t let fear stop you from being the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

Think of the outcome you want when your idea is a huge success! What will that look, sound and feel like? Create this picture, make it very clear and feel the feelings that come with it. Sense the emotions and if they don’t move you the idea needs more work; but if you are so moved by your emotions, your idea can potentially change the world or at least change your life for good. Next step is to act now. Don’t wait for later or tomorrow write your idea down, as tomorrow you may have already forgotten your idea or lost the passion or enthusiasm that created that idea in the first place.

Now it’s time for research to find out if your idea has been done and if so, is it successful? Don’t be discouraged if it had been done before as this doesn’t mean your idea won’t fly. You might be able to enhance what’s been done before or even have a unique advantage. If it hasn’t been done before after extensive research, you need to ask a few more questions:

1. Who are the people whom your idea is going to impact? (The community, country or the world. Get as specific as you can, this will give you a marketing niche.)
2. Why do you think it hasn’t been done before? Is it due to lack of innovation or lack of market demand?
3. Who can you ask for some guidance or mentoring towards sounding out or brainstorming your idea? You don’t have to do it alone.

Now you have a formula to use each time you select a genius idea to turn it into a business. May your ideas lead to success.