Just over the past week, I’ve received quite a few e-mails with the same question: “Esha, I have a business idea, what do I do next?” Firstly, I’m flattered that these folks reached out to me on this – honoured to be a part of your great ideas. I wanted to share my response for others in the same position.

Based on my expereince, I’ve developed a  list of the things I usually do after a light-bulb moment, things I do before I even think about developing the business plan:

1) Define exactly what the business idea is
However, don’t go too far at this stage to avoid misusing efforts in case you realize you don’t want to pursue the idea. Misusing efforts can cause frustration and sensations of failure and this negative energy will make one think twice when one has another “light-bulb moment”. You want your brain to associate “business idea” with positive energy instead. The biggest mistake here is not pursuing an idea out of fear of failing.
 
2) Be able to define your mission 
The mission is something that should go beyond the product itself. I had great conversations with Scott Annan, of Mercury Grove and Nazim Ahmed, of DNA11 and CanvasPop – these two are great examples of Ottawa entrepreneurs who exemplify this in their companies and personalities.

Bringing an idea into fruition is hard. You will face many barriers. How to remain motivated and inspired? Don’t develop a business idea based on the money you will be able to collect; base the business on something you feel you can do well, something you want talk about all the time, something you want to tell everyone about, something you genuinely care about. I think the hardest part is realizing what that “something” is.
 
3) Draw out the business model
Keep it simple – the aim is to ensure your idea makes business sense by illustrating/visualizing the key business components (You can Google a business model template or email me for a copy of the template I use) 
 
4) Look for feedback
Share the insights from the above three steps with entrepreneurial minds to receive different perspectives. I like to ask people who are completely different than me – different age groups, different stages in their career, different personalities. Networking events for entrepreneurs are the best place for this because you can talk to tons of different people and its good way to practice the pitch. LinkedIn and Twitter have also worked for me. I also make sure to ask people I know well too. At this stage, be open-minded and receive feedback as a gift.
 
5) Analyze the different perspectives from the feedback received.
This stage shouldn’t change your mind about the idea, but will help you realize things you didn’t think of before. You’ll receive really interesting questions that will force you to think about things you didn’t and will help strengthen the idea should you decide to pursue it. 
 
6) Meet with potential customers
 If you decide to pursue, meet with the potential customers to ensure their feedback is used in shaping the product – get their “stamp of approval” and do everything you can to get them to pre-order – get them to commit to paying you for the product. If this happens, then you know you want to pursue the idea. At this stage, I like to remember Steve Jobs’ perspectives on customer feedback. As a past researcher, his thoughts on market research completely resonate with me – research should always be taken with a grain of salt. Intuition shouldn’t be ignored.
 
7) Look for the help/expertise you may need
If you’re not a programmer, don’t try to learn how to program so you can do it yourself. Stick to what you’re good at. Meeting people  has become easier with the number of networking events in the City. Check-out EventBrite and Twitter for events. 
 
8) Look for funding opps
I don’t look to secure funding at this point, but like to know what’s out there and start talking to investors to receive feedback on what they are looking for. 
 
9) Try to pick-up media attention
A tough one. But, would be a great way to gather more insights on the impact your business will have – the reaction (or lack of) members may be a good indicator. The more disruptive the idea, the better!
 
10) I would say the last thing should be the business plan
Although they are unpleasant and painful to put together, they’re important, but I don’t think you need to develop one until you compelte the steps above. Once you’re ready, here’s a post I did on the importance of a business plan: “How To Fix RIM!”

Copyright © Esha Abrol. Canada. July 2012