Stop waiting for that big idea to arrive. Get out there and find the sweet spot between your goals, competencies and market opportunities. You will then be able to work on stuff that you are good at, that is in demand and which has meaning to you. That has the sound of a winning combination.
7. Look for purpose
• What is it, that gets you going?
• What is the big picture that you would want to achieve?
• You need a sense of direction to navigate your actions.
10. Do your homework: knowledge is power
• Education makes for more successful
entrepreneurs
• Read purposefully and apply your knowledge
• Spend time talking to real people who know about
your problem
• Look for disconfirming evidence
11. Disconfirming evidence
will help you establish that the choice to start this
particular business is a good one….
…by proving that your are probably not wrong.
Helps to challenge your own assumptions.
13. Explain your idea
• to a lot of people: fellow students, fellow
entrepreneurs, fellow experts, complete
outsiders, possible financiers.
Make them understand:
- What you bring to the table
- That your idea is a good one
- You are capable of actually creating it
- People will start using it
14. Start relating
• Go to meetups, pitch nights, open coffees, start-up
events, etcetera.
- Build a network of strong/weak ties
- Find a mentor
15. Mercator Launch - Where ideas take off!
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Editor's Notes
This is a mild form of procrastiation. The main barrier that is being raised is the greatness of the idea.
Equivalent to: I will fall in love and settle down, after I have met mr/ms Right.
If you want to be an entrepreneur, then be an entrepreneur. Why wait for lightning to strike if you can have a go at it once you have left the room?
So the question then becomes: what does it take to be an entrepreneur?
Is it guts, money, tenacity, luck and superb skills? Or is it something completely different?
Don’t get full of yourself. You will only be instrumental in pushing the success of the start-up.
You will need to show that you have thought through your idea on the long term. This means that you are aware of the larger implications of what you are trying to achieve, the role it will play in people’s lives, the opportunity to change society, the value it will bring to users.
If you only look at the sales/goals/profit for the next months, you will lose out on future opportunities.
So it is time to define the ‘sweet spot’.
Should you want to look for a ‘big idea’ the sweet spot it the place to start. The things you are good at, the things you find important and the demand from the market all come together. This is a win-win-win situation. So you as a person may benefit, as well as your customers who are happy to buy a new product/service, and you as an entrepreneur may be able to make an income.
Everyone brings their own experience, expertise and life-story to the field. The big idea is that you stay close to yourself and start applying what you know, what you like, what you are good at. So that you know what you want to do, why you want to do it and why now is the right time to do it.
The entrepreneurial jouney is a personal journey. Probably it will be your journey
There is no need to strive for high earning, high growth businesses, if that is not where your heart is.
Marleen and Jandaan wanted to slow down in life and founded a business model that helps them to achieve this. So purpose and competencies will help you to find your bid idea.
You will need to be your own fiercest critic in order to prevent you getting into some sort of tunnelvision. Be harsh on your self and challenge all underlying assumptions.
Your idea is awesome, but it would be truly awesome, if you were able to realize it. So the question is: What do you need to build it? Tech know-how, finances, great team, whatever prerequisites you can think of.
These prerequisites are barriers that stand in the way of you and your dream. Order them in order of importance. If you cannot disprove each of those barriers, consider your idea failed.
But there is a lesson learned, any learning will add to knowledge and experience helping you to improve on the next opportunity
Or tweak and iterate your idea and move on. Get a better sense of direction and improve on every learning you make. Learning is what shapes entrepreneurs.