Business Idea Crush and What To Do About It

Remember when you were younger, and had a crush on somebody? Man that was great. I mean, the possibilities were great… and the daydreams about the possibilities were especially great… I think that the escape from reality, in and of itself, is what made it.

I have a crush on my latest business idea.

That loving feeling that I thought I had lost, after getting beat down by life, is back with a vengeance. Now, I am fully aware that this house of cards could tumble down tomorrow, but I’m really excited about it today and that is exhilarating. Seriously, I was totally planning on writing another name dropping post tonight on some kind of important topic du jour, but have decided to dedicate that time to researching this thing that I just can’t seem to get out of my head.

I’ve got a fever

And the only cure is more cowbell. Here are three things that you should do while your mind and body are taken over by your “next big thing” idea. They will help bring you back to earth long enough to get organized. Then you can move out with confidence:

Research
If you have an Internet connection, and if you don’t how are you reading this, then you’re all set. Google is your friend and can help you with the leg work. The first thing that I like to understand is my target market. How many people possibly care about what I want to do? Then I like to take 1% of that number and see how big it is… If it’s big enough, I know that I may be on to something. I also like to look up similar services on-line in order to get an understanding of what’s already out there, as well as to understand what the competition is and what it is not.

Map It Out
The first thing I did on Saturday night was stay up until 4am mapping out my idea in my head and on paper. I like to call it a one-man brainstorming session because I am able to evacuate all of the thoughts in my head and arrange them on paper. Here are some things to consider: What is your idea’s defensible position? What are the possible revenue streams? And a solid oldie but goodie from Todd Earwood, what are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) around you and your idea.

Talk About It
Once you have your idea straight in your head, talk about it with other people. That’s the first thing that I did today, and I plan to continue to talk about it throughout the week. I know that there is a lot of fear that someone will swoop in and steal an idea. There are even origination claims after the fact, when an idea turns out to be a great idea that was executed well… But that’s water under the bridge. I think that ideas are everywhere, and tend to look at them as multipliers of execution. So by all means, talk about your idea, your research, and your map and find people who want to, and can, help you execute on it.

Take home quiz

When was the last time that you let something consume you? Did you feel alive? What did you do about it? What did you learn from it? I’m going through this right now, so please let me know in the comments below.