Do you know someone who is always coming up with great business ideas?
Do you know someone who regularly talks about their plans to start a new business and the money they are going to make? The truth is these people do often have great ideas but unfortunately don’t do anything with them.
The problem is they never take action.
A brilliant idea is simply that – an idea. The idea alone has little value unless it is acted upon. It can be tempting to stay in the romancing stage, where we are dreaming of our great new business and how successful we will be.
Here are some thoughts to consider if you are stalling to take action. While this post was written with starting a business in mind, the below applies to any project or goal.
Work out what you want
What do you really want?
Sometimes people who are dreaming of self-employment will jump from one big idea to another. One day they will be designing a clothing line, the next month starting a finance business, the next getting involved in property development.
While working through your options is fine, eventually you will need to make a decision.
If in fact none of your ideas are what you want to be doing, you will be less inclined to do the hard work required over the long haul.
Related post – How to Achieve Your Goals – The Key to Setting Goals and Achieving Them
You want to be the Queen bee not the worker bee
Your plan is to be the boss. You want to be the one giving out the orders to your loyal hardworking staff. Of course, you plan on working hard yourself.
Depending on your type of business and financial situation, hiring staff or contractors may be further down the line than you would like.
In the meantime, you may be required to do all the work yourself. Be prepared for the hard slog. If this prospect is off-putting, you probably need to ask yourself how prepared are you to make your idea come to life?
Related post – What Sacrifices Are You Willing to Make?
Drop the excuses
‘I will start my business when I have a backer with lots of money or when I can find a partner.’ Perhaps your business idea does need large amounts of capital to get started or having a business partner is the best approach to dealing with your business model. If this is the case then seek these people out. Look into raising the money and loan options.
If all you do is hope the opportunity/money/perfect business partner will simply fall into your lap, you may be waiting a long time.
Related post – 6 Ways to Ditch Your Excuses
Do your research
Perhaps you want to start a professional business blog? You are an expert in your field and have a niche market. However, you know little about running a blog? You need to take the time to research your future business.
Whilst you would be able to pay someone to set up the blog for you, you still need to know about the complexities of how a business blog works. The blog terminology/technology alone can be a bit to get your head around if you are starting from scratch.
Unless you plan to pay someone to do the day-to-day running of your blog (this will take money so be prepared) then you had better know at least the basics if not a lot more. Not to mention doing some research into your competition. Saying I am going to start a blog without knowing anything about one, won’t get the job done.
Thinking too big picture
It’s a great idea to know where you want your new business idea to be in 5 years, to visualize the big picture. If however, you do not know the work you are required to do today or next week to get to that coveted position, you could be in trouble.
Perhaps the big picture is all you see and it’s stopping you from starting at all.
Ask a business coach or a trusted friend with business experience who is detail-oriented to assist you to break down your plan into workable pieces. Don’t let it stop you from taking action.
Don’t kid yourself or others
Deep down we know there are some things that we just don’t want to do.
Some smokers constantly say they are going to give up. The fact is many have no intention of giving up because they love to smoke. Maybe they are saying what other people want to hear. Perhaps they realize smoking is bad for their health and know they should quit but again don’t actually want to. Maybe they need help to quit but are not ready to take that first step.
Don’t go around telling people you are going to do something you never actually intend to do. All this will do is damage your credibility. By all means talk through your plans and dreams with friends, family, coaches, and mentors but don’t continue to kid yourself about what you are actually willing to follow through on.
Related post – Are You All Talk and No Action and How to Turn that Around?
Take the first step
It seems an obvious statement but start by taking one small step or one large one if that suits your fancy.
It is easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work involved in starting a new venture or taking action on your brilliant idea, particularly if it involves stepping completely out of your comfort zone.
Take the next step and the one after that
Whilst the first step is vital, truth be told it is not enough.
One dress pattern is not a clothing label. You need to keep the wheels in motion. Set due dates for actions and stick like glue to your deadlines.
Continue to take consistent, focused action.
Related post – The Importance of Hitting Deadlines
Ready? Damn, right you are! Let’s get started. What’s going to be your first step forward?
If you enjoyed this post, please share it with your friends via the social media buttons below. It might be just what someone needs to kick-start their brilliant idea!
Read Next – The Importance of Hitting Your Personal Deadlines