In tough times, the best and brightest often come up with an idea that transforms their lives. I have a suggestion for picking ideas that will pay off in the immediate future. For every million dollar idea there are hundreds of under $20,000 ideas which can support an individual or a family micro-business.
Million dollar ideas are a dime a dozen. For immediate results, focus on ideas that can be developed on a shoestring or a credit card. Ideas you can finance yourself and test on a small scale are more likely to bring you income and job satisfaction
There actually are an abundance of million dollar ideas to choose from, but there is only one catch. It takes many millions of dollars to develop these ideas to a point where they can be marketed and sold. Then it takes a larger amount of money to set up a system for selling and distributing the resulting product or service.
In a past life, I was in charge of product development for a company which created
new technologies to solve long-standing problems of merchandise protection. It became very
clear to me that there is no shortage of million dollar ideas. In fact,
we had more great ideas within the company than we could implement with
the resources available to us.
The million dollar idea will make money only after these actions are done correctly:
2. A working prototype can be made which demonstrates feasibilty
3. Tooling is developed to produce the product at a cost where it can be sold profitably
4. Packaging, pricing and sales strategies are developed for identified markets.
5. Distribution channels are created
6. All of the production bugs are worked out to produce acceptable yields
7. The product hits the market while a window of opportunity still exists
8. The product sells in enough volume to recoup the investments in steps 1-7
What conclusion might you draw from this? You probably stand a far
better chance of making money with a $10,000 idea than a million dollar
idea.
As an example, there was a woman in our old neighborhood who developed a
line of specialty nut brittles. She installed a commercial kitchen
in her home and was barely able to keep up with demand. She created
a brand, Red Rocker Candies, which was practically flying off the
shelves at local stores. The crucial difference, as I see it, is that
she picked an idea she could implement herself.
Hang this up in your cubicle or workspace:
What product or service can I develop
with the resources available to me?
The answer to that could give you a new life and new challenges. There is always a window of opportunity. Develop something that people need now and start generating income.
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