by Rich Lazzara on March 19, 2010
All those business ideas in your head just bouncing around are being held captive by the don’t. As in..
I don’t have the time.
I don’t have the skill.
I don’t have the money.
I don’t have the knowledge.
I don’t have the energy.
Perhaps all those are true, but what do you have?
I do have the desire.
I do have the passion.
I do have a dream.
I do have a vision.
I do have hope.
I do have excitement.
Most of the time you find that the things you don’t have can be obtained why the things you do have are innate. Sure the innate traits need to be stimulated and encouraged (that’s a purpose of this blog) but you already have those. The don’t is the thing that is holding you back. Recognize the don’t and navigate your way around it.
Tak the leap, don’t let the don’t get in your way.
photo credit
by Rich Lazzara on March 17, 2010
On my commute home everyday I have to pass through two toll booths. Several years ago they introduced a device, Sun Pass, that allows you to drive through the lane without stopping to physically pay the toll. Now as I drive through the Sun Pass transponder debits my account automatically. The toll cost me the same, the transponder device was free, I save time and the experience is superb….but guess what…each day I pass huge lines of cars backed up paying the toll the same old way.
Hold that illustration in your head.
I speak to people all the time that have aspirations of being an entrepreneur and yet they continue day in and day out doing the same job, the same task, the same patterns as they have everyday. Meanwhile as they look around people are flying right by them, taking their careers to new heights and new directions.
There’s a similarity to those people still paying tolls the old way and those of you sitting around waiting to become an entrepreneur. Here’s three…
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by Rich Lazzara on March 16, 2010
I hear it over and over again, “I have this great idea for…, now what?”
Really that’s the most difficult part for people is developing a plan, a strategy, to go from idea to implementation. Many are looking for a “connect the dots” type system that will show them step 1, step 2, step 3 and now your done. The problem is there really isnt a step by step guide that can be applied to taking an idea to implementation and success.
However there are two steps you should be sure not to skip.
Step 2 Is All About Research
This is the most critical part of developing your business idea. You need to do in depth research into your idea. Some things you should be looking for. Is there a market for my idea? Are there any other companies doing the same thing? Are those companies successful? If there are companies doing the same thing where are they deficient. If there are not companies doing the same thing, why not? Will I outsource, produce, provide, contribute to the development of my product or idea? If so in what ways? If not who will do it for you?
Now the list could continue for another 100 questions, however the point is to research, research, research, the idea that you have in order to best formulate a plan to move forward. Knowing your market and your competition will be essential to your success.
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by Rich Lazzara on March 11, 2010
You can be very successful being either.
Many like to think of themselves as innovators, however if you’re honest with yourself you’ll see that the ideas you have are merely replicating or duplicating something that has already been done. Which is perfectly fine. In fact many companies have been hugely successful replicating ideas that had already been done. Apples most successful product of all time, the iPod, was not an innovation, it was actually one of the last mp3 players to the market. Facebook is another example. Companies like Friendster and MySpace were ahead of Facebook with the idea of social networks. On the other hand being an innovator certainly has its’ advantages. Just look at the Nintendo Wii success for an example.
So as your developing your ideas you can choose to innovate and develop something new or duplicate, put your own twist on something existing. What are the positives to innovating vs duplicating?
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by Rich Lazzara on March 9, 2010
Green, Yellow or Red?
Every color is clearly represented at your company. Your job is to figure out who’s which color and then navigate your ideas accordingly.
There are the Green light people whom are always open to new ideas, looking for ways to keep things evolving and moving forward. These are certainly good people to present your ideas too, however depending on there credibility they might have the reputation of saying yes to everything and be less affective at helping you move your ideas forward than others.
Then you have the Yellow light people whom are cautious about anything you bring them. The Yellow color people aren’t dangerous to you but they will question the things you bring them. These are actually very good people to bounce ideas off of because they can help prepare you for the objections you are going to see later from the Red color people.
The Red light people, just like the red stop light, seem to have an uncanny knack of putting a stop to ideas on a regular basis.
Now it would be easy to say just present your ideas to the Green light people and be done with it. The problem is that most of the time you are going to need approval or at least support from all three, Green, Yellow and Red. Just like a traffic light your ideas success will be based on getting cohesive buy in from all three. In fact if you can bring a representative from each of those three groups your idea will become more powerful than if its supported by just one faction.
Get moving now and get that project green lighted.
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