When do you start? (Richard Branson's thoughts on turning an idea to a business)

Richard Branson has been one of the many business icons I look up to. Although I don't rank them in order I can easily say he's at the top 5.

I read his article earlier today (read article here) and it inspired me to write about this too. I can somehow relate to Taylor. The UST student that asked and inspired Richard's article.

I too was an entrepreneur major. The great thing is that this course is now being offered in colleges and universities. Unlike generations before us who had to start from scratch and scratch their head in wonder of how to start. Their business plans probably look like a piece of crumpled paper with a simple sentence that they were made to write by their venture capitalist. And they probably had to stumble before they got somewhere.

Chinkee Tan said "instead of learning from your mistakes, learn from other people's mistakes." What he said makes a lot of sense. If you see that person A failed because of reason A. Please don't try and fail because of the same reason. This can be an avenue for innovation. Try doing that, create a reason A.1 and test it out ;)

Now, you might be saying "okay. I tried that I have a reason A.1 all improved and a positive winner." Let's go back to the issue at hand. When do you turn your ideas to a business?

Richard (okay Mr. Branson) ((for the sake of feeling close to him, I will now refer to Mr. Branson as Richard. It puts you in a comfortable position while writing)) had several things in mind when turning an idea to a business. I'm using his words as a guide to write this piece. I hope that the general idea is still there after writing it though.

1. Find your safe space.

Find a space you are comfortable in. Or where you normally spend alone time and think. I spend mine in the T&B (toilet and bath) cause people don't really bother you in the shower they let you use it until you're done. You can pray in there, you can think, you can even turn it into a hideout.

2. Think about what you're interested in or passionate about it.

You'll find that most people who are passionate about what they're doing are successful. Like what Blake Mycoskie said, "I feel like everytime I've made a decision at TOMS that I'm passionate about amd improves someone's life, the company grows and makes more money." Follow your passion even if you're worried about money, your passion and your determination to see the project through will guarantee that your idea is going to be a success.

3. Mum test it.

I like how Richard phrased this. (Especially cause I call my mother mum too.) Ask your mother's opinion. You know that saying "mothers know best" doesn't exist for no reason. I personally ask my mum about my ideas too. Although my mum is naturally a pessimist, she's also an idea generator and a business woman. She knows what she's talking about more often than not.

4. Calculate and involve risk.

Once you have your idea mum tested and approved, and you have your business plan ready. Get a group of friends to test out the product and/ or service you're offering. Gather feedback and tweak the product according to the info you have. If its all good and perfect, chances are your friends would ask for more. And spread the word around.

5. Gather feedback for product improvement and development.

Sometimes your customers have special requests that could branch out into a second product or a general concern that can help make the product better. Keep the communication open and listen to what your customers want. Remember that the customer is always right (even when they aren't.) If she says the soup is too salty, it is.

6. Think ahead, hire people, delegate tasks, and grow.

A good quality product will keep customers coming. Think ahead. Aim high. It always pays to be ambitious. If you're targeting 100. I urge you to add two more 00s to that figure. What have you got to lose? If you don't make 10,000 you would have reached the original goal of 100.

Hire people. There is no one man multi billion company. The bigger your company gets the more people you need to bring in.

I'll end by quoting Debbi Fields, "the key word here is 'imagined'... you have to add a zero or two to your net worth and direct your attitude and financial strategy toward getting there."