This is a post about anyone who is stuck in the “post-idea” phase and not sure what to do next. Do you start prototyping, pitching, collecting investments, researching markets, recruiting a killer team? NO! In the next 5 minutes you will learn the easiest way to make your idea real and become an entrepreneur.
Having an idea is “generally” a good thing. The inverted commas mean that an idea is only as good as its outcome. But making an idea a reality is a totally different ball game and it is played on the entrepreneurship court. This is where I choose not to do an in-depth analysis of what it takes to be an entrepreneur because I can write a complete e-book filled with URLs just talking about it. Rather I choose to give you the easiest way to become one.
Assumption: you have researched your idea well, you know the market problems and needs and you see revenue potentials – just enough to pass the “post-idea” phase
Stereotypically, society has shaped entrepreneurship to be creating the impossible. After all it is a matter of changing the World in ways never assumed before. Steve Jobs comes to mind, Musk, Branson and dozens more. Of course, the iPhone, Tesla, Virgin Brand – they have shaped the World. But what have they really done?
The iPhone is a phone and Tesla makes cars. The first practical phone was patented in 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell and the first mass produced car – Ford Model T in 1908. So Jobs and Musk, the most prominent shapers of the present World, have not created something never before seen. Rather they have made something common hugely better. And entrepreneurship is exactly that. It is the process of improving things and making life easier.
Reading a lot about their life and work I have come to develop a simple method of making ideas a reality. It is the process of BENCHMARKING.
Benchmarking is the process of researching and finding the best current solutions to a problem you are willing to solve even better.
Or in even simpler terms:
- You have an idea to solve a specific problem
- Research current solutions out there which solve the problem to some extent
- Find the best and most successful one
- See its pros and cons
- Does your idea cover the cons? If no, back to the drawing board
- Conduct an in-depth analysis of all the features and characteristics
- What resources do you need to improve on those features and characteristics?
Easy, right? Now the hard question – how is benchmarking the easiest possible way to become an entrepreneur? It simply saves TIME.
If you think about it, why do the same work someone else has already done? By the time you reach the level of current solutions your opportunities will be lost. Elon certainly does not focus on proven car technologies, such as tyres, construction metal or interior textiles, unless it had something to do with his solution – battery propulsion. But Tesla still shifts the car industry by 360 degrees! Same can be said for Jobs too. The iPhone is still a phone, but vastly better! Now the touch screen is a must, the device combines functionality of multiple individual ones and customer service is extraordinary. It has made him a Legend.
By saving time you focus on your core competences. If you want to be the best out there, you at least have to match the current best and then some to come on top. Being effective in the process is crucial for success. Why am I comparing an idea to the success of entrepreneurial legends? Because the lessons are there for the taking.
Doing benchmarking helps you:
- learn fast about product technology and features
- provides info about team requirements
- gives a financial framework about investments and returns
- it tests the future of your idea compared to the best out there
- gives you and your team motivation to be better than the best
Now you have got a real tool of the trade. Be resourceful, do benchmarking and become an entrepreneur.