Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I got tons of ideas that I think can cash on from. I have a passion to learn a lot, strong interest in being a leader; I`m extremely creative and determined to not give up on anything I believe in, like creative business ideas.

 

Here are some of my flaws that I think may affect my ideas coming to life.

 

- I got no experience in running a company with employees, especially within the fields/industries of the ideas I got in mind.

 

- Lack of education, currently about to start my college education for Business Administration, and then get hands on experience within the office environment and hopefully within my field/industries of my ideas.

 

- I have tons of ideas that are spread over a lot of different fields and industries.

 

- I have zero capital available and may be until I get my education completed (A.S. Business Administration.)

 

Q: Would it be possible to get funding (if I can) and just hire someone like a CEO to run the company while I am a founder and CCO?

 

Q: How would I convince investors to invest into my ideas, if I have no experience in any business background, have a lack of technical education, and only have an idea that I strongly think is profitable?

 

Q: Also how would I check on my ideas would be profitable based on research, what kind of research would I need to do (if possible alone)?

 

Most of my ideas are from areas I am a knowledgeable customer of already, i.e. digital distribution I think is lacking on the internet, and I think it can be very profitable right now and in the coming years it will boom. (That’s only just 1 of my ideas I have in mind, but you should get the picture I`m trying to paint for yall)

Hi, you ask some good questions.  Here are my 2 cents:

It depends on how much capital you are looking to raise.  If it`s millions, you`ll need a prototype or some existing sales and or definite customers to show that the market thinks you have a product/service of value.

If it`s tens or hundreds of thousanda, then you could possibly reach out to friends and family.  This won`t be easy either, as you`re going to have to sell them that whatever idea you have is powerful enough to overcome for your lack of experience.   It`d be tough, but not impossible.

And a bank loan or a SBA loan is always possible, but they`d want you to be personally liable.  So if your biz doesn`t work, you`ll still owe the money.

The best way to prove that your idea is good is to actually implement it.  I understand that it might not be possible (say you`ve got an idea for a better helicopter or something), so you may want to start off doing something smaller where you can actually get it moving with just a little (or no) capital.   I`d say that this is also the best way to do the research.  Do some due diligence - talk to possible customers, find out what your competitors don`t do, etc - but then don`t overdo it.  It just delays you getting going on the execution.

So, in general, try and find one of your ideas that you could start with little money or expertise.  It might be small, but you`ll build yourself a reputation and will have an easier time raising money and hiring people for your subsequent projects.

From a personal view I would have to say slow down just a bit. I know that’s not what most people think they will hear on here but let`s look at it this way.  You need time to learn.  I would keep on plan for college and also it is never too early to get with SCORE.  That is a great resource to get with people that have run businesses before.  They can help you with most aspects of business such as business planning, test marketing, research and more. 

 

Mentors are a great thing to have around. People that can help you stay focused and on the right track.  These are people in the business world around your area that are willing to take you under their wing and help guide you and teach you in real life.

 

Surround yourself with people that are smarter then you.  If you do not know the technical side then get someone that does, if you lack in marketing then find someone that shares your vision and take them on as your marketing director even if it means giving up part of your business to them.  Have you ever noticed that people who have true wealth, I`m not talking about being rich but true wealth have surrounded themselves with people that are smarter than they are.  They rely on these people every day of their business life.

 

Just a couple of my personal views, take them for what their worth but always remember, slow and steady wins over rushing headlong into the unknown.

start with the one simplest and least expensive concept.  build on it, then branch out.

-------------------------

James Lindon, Ph.D. Patent Attorney
Lindon & Lindon, LLC
Cleveland, Ohio
Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, Pharmacy Law, Litigation
[this is not legal advice - provided for discussion only]
Intellectual Property for the Individual and Small Business: Identify, Protect, Enforce, Defend.
"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread."
http://www.LindonLaw.com

 

Yea I would need to do heavy research, which I am pretty good at, but finding accurate numbers on possible revenue I got no idea how to get. One of my biggest ideas I think is very profitable is within the Digital Distribution business, which right now is small and very new, but I see it will boom sooner or later when more and more vendors are online and running. So getting accurate research on such very different business or too new industry to really see actual numbers. Only 2 businesses/industries out their uses digital distribution, which are the music business and video game business, and others uses a bit of digital distribution. And most of my ideas are having small or huge unique twists of today’s current services/products, just I reinvest them to be better and more profitable.

 

I think this discussion has to do with the imagination; what it is, why do we have one, how does it work, and can it be developed.

Let`s change the subject of the discussion just a little bit, maybe putting a different title on it: "I`ve got 2 entirely good arms but how would I get help using them?"

From my perspective, one massive problem in today`s culture is the way children are raised without developing their imagination. And I think imagination is the gateway to ideas themselves. The functional and necessary reason we have an imagination is to develop ideas.

An imagination seems unique to human beings. It offers us a way to simultaneously envision what`s real (with our eyes), and what`s only probable (our mind`s eye). With imagination we can convert concretes into abstractions.

The imagination is the key tool we have that allows human beings to think in symbols. Without an imagination, we couldn`t have mathematics, for example.

Without an imagination, we wouldn`t be able to use a map. Someone would say, "Here`s the path to my home." And we`d respond, "No, it`s a piece of paper with squiggles on it."

Out of that empty landscape comes a few people who DO have an imagination. They "see" ideas, come up with ideas, understand problems and solution. To them, it feels like an amazing and unusual capability. It`s as if they have 1 working eye and live in a community of blind people.

The problem is that until recently, EVERYbody had an imagination! Ideas were everywhere. Nobody considered that having an idea was unusual, strange, or anything other than the normal way to go through life.

Children were taught the process of turning an idea into practical reality from as soon as they could talk or walk.

The solution is to go to the next step. Use that same imagination to not only get the first flash of inspiration, but to carry it forward "logically." IF you were to put into place something involving an idea, what would you imagine would happen next?

As PatentAndTrademark said: Pick the simplest idea, then begin the process of making it happen. Choose the least expensive, based on what you imagine it would cost.

In the meanwhile, get the education and experience, and study the way other people have taken an idea and put it into place. :-)

Dude - hate to tell you this but a good idea is worth absolutely nothing. I cant tell you how many people come up to me asking for funding for their awesome ideas when they only thing they have done is brainstormed some crap in their head and call it a new business idea.

That is worth nothing! You need to be able to prove you can do what you actually say, you need to be able to prove there is a market for it, you need to be able to show people something...not just some hairbrained idea. Sorry to break it to you like this.

What nastytoe is talking about is "proof of concept," or POC. It means having an initial idea, then putting something together to actually prove that a) you can make it, b) it works, and/or c) that anyone would want to buy whatever it is.

The proof-of-concept stage goes along with Market Research, where you ask folks if they`d be interested in seeing whatever the idea involves.

 

Chris,
The "proof" in proof-of-concept isn`t so much that someone else is doing something similar to a new idea. It`s rather that you yourself have proven that your specific idea will work, based on a prototype and some actual numbers of results.

The best solution for you is to pick 1 idea that you really like a lot. Then put it together in such a way that you can test-market that exact idea. Go out and actually show it to people, not your family and close friends.

Ask them how much they would pay for what you`re showing. That`s a proof of concept.

Here`s an example, where we know for a fact that hot-air balloons fly. The idea would be a sort of carnival ride, where people pay money to fly up in a balloon, tethered to the ground, perhaps around 500 feet in the air. They stay there a few minutes, then they`re reeled back down to the ground by the tether rope.

The proof that balloons fly isn`t sufficient. Nor is the proof that carnivals exist, or that people pay money for rides of some sort. Proof-of-concept would be to get an actual balloon, with a tether, then take it to a park or celebration. Ask people how much money they would pay for a ride on the balloon. The count the number of people who actually do take the ride.

Aside from seeing whether or not the idea would sell and work, you ALSO would learn what sort of permits, restrictions, and other regulations would apply. Not in a theoretical form, but in a real, actual setting with a real actual balloon. See?