First Stage of Business: Ideation

For the Makers

First Stage of Business: Ideation

The new year is here! A new year often indicates new opportunities, new challenges and new goals. For many people, it might mean finally making your dream a reality and starting your own business! If that’s you, we’re so happy you’ve come to this blog.

We’re introducing a mini-blog series focusing on the four stages of business. What are the four stages? You’ll have to come back every month and find out 😉. If you’re planning on starting a business or want to know what it takes, we’re ready to give you all the tips and tricks. Excited? So are we!

Grab your notebook — it’s time for the first stage. We start with ideation. But creating the idea isn’t where this stage ends. In fact, there are two important stages to consider.

The Two Steps within the Ideation Stage

Generation

All it takes is one idea to inspire you. This first stage is where entrepreneurs like yourself imagine what your idea could be like if it came to life. There are no bad ideas during idea generation. Write down anything and everything that comes to mind, and don’t stop until you’re satisfied. Once all the ideas are on paper, you can begin to filter out what ideas speak to you the most or what you’re most passionate about.

If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas, ask family or friends to help you! You might even end up with a great collaboration. For example, Apple may not have been a company if it weren’t for Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak working together. Another idea is to think about anytime you weren’t satisfied with a product, item or service. Why? What would you do differently?

Here, you might start to imagine what your business may entail, what your logo might look like — all the things that give us warm fuzzies in our excited bellies. But try not to get carried away too much. You need the idea first.

Opportunity Evaluation

Remember that notebook with your ideas? The opportunity evaluation stage is about asking yourself the big question: is there an opportunity with my idea? This question helps you decide what idea is worth the investment, time and energy it takes to start a business.

Here are some things to consider and ask yourself:

Seek out honest opinions about your idea and see how people react.

Does my idea fill a need in its perspective industry or solve a problem?
Imagine your business is on two scales of 10. The first scale is need. The second is demand. Where does your business land on each scale? Be honest with yourself — if the need or demand is low, you may need to re-shape your idea or consider holding off for now.
Is it one-of-a-kind?
Could you see yourself doing this for years?
How much competition do you have? Who is your competition?
Do you have the right team?
Are you passionate about this idea?
Is it financially doable?

It’s okay if your business idea doesn’t hit all the marks on the points above — after all, it is hard to think of a new idea no one else has ever had (though we wouldn’t be surprised if you had one, you genius). Even the smallest idea might be unique; for Whitney Wolfe, Founder and CEO of Bumble, it was all about women making the first move.

If you think your idea has potential, hold onto it! We’ll cover the next stage in next month’s blog. In the meantime, Head to your Flagstaff Crafted Makers Directory to see some of our successful local entrepreneurs.