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soupornuts is moving!!! In order to have more control over my blog (how it looks, plugins, etc.) I have decided to move soupornuts.wordpress.com to soupornuts.com. When you come to soupornuts.com, you will see my new postings along with updated and edited versions of most of my old articles. Don’t panic if the site looks different the first couple of times you visit. I am trying different themes to see which I prefer.
I was recently discussing one of my web site ventures with a close friend of mine when he commented that “he wouldn’t know where to start”. Well, I didn’t know where to start when I started, but I knew that if I didn’t do something about my idea, it would die on the vine. But that’s a topic for another time.
I consider this friend to be well above average in both aptitude and attitude, so I knew that intellect and motivation were not the reasons for his idea block syndrome. The problem, I think is that most people don’t invest enough time in the planting, growing and harvesting of their ideas.
Where do ideas come from?
1. There is the “find a need and fill it” idea.
This is the theme we most often envision when we think of “coming up” with an idea. How many times have you seen a new product or service and asked yourself, “that’s obvious, why didn’t I see it before?” Probably because you never took the time to examine your needs. We just tend to blow them off and assume there’s nothing we can do about it or assume that somebody else could do it better or quicker than we can. All of these are false, defeatist attitudes that discount our value.
In reality, ideas are not pursued to fruition due to:
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fear of failure
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fear of success
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fear of what friends and family will think
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lack of dedication of time or effort or both
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poor self image
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lack of education (where do I start?)
2. New ideas are provided by new technologies.
As new technologies emerge and reach the marketplace, they often arrive before a market has been created for their use. Think personal computer circa 1982. Everybody thought they were great, but didn’t have the faintest idea how to put them to productive use.
Thankfully some visionaries did see the potential and they got busy creating products and services that could and would exploit the advantages of the computer.
Have an open mind and try to think in ways that are beyond or outside the norm. Read Seth Godin’s book, “Free Prize Inside” and create a “purple cow”.
3. Use an old technology in new way.
Items that have become obsolete and disposable to us, may have or may be able to be put to an alternative use for someone else. We don’t use phonographic turntables anymore, but DJ’s mix albums with them. This is putting an old technology to a new use.
The point is that if we will use our imaginations and give ourselves time, we can create and develop new business ideas. What’s your big idea?
