Good business ideas are "worthless". Not so fast... (2013, financial)

[concept_fusion]

You hear it repeated by business people all the time. Good business ideas are a dime a dozen.

I BEG TO DIFFER.

1) A GOOD business idea is required for successful enterprise. A good business idea is an idea with financially makes good sense to undertake. Good business ideas aren't rare, but their value should not be discounted either.

2) A GREAT business idea is a GOOD business idea combined with something special. A GREAT business idea is something that makes good financial sense, BUT ALSO you have an UNDYING passion for. Perhaps you are a math teacher and are extremely passionate about teaching math. You devise a new cirriculum and want to sell it in a way that makes great financial sense. That's a GREAT business idea, because: 1) You're very passionate for it. 2) It makes great financial sense.

The thing about GOOD business ideas, is the people that go after them are only motivated by money. This can work sometimes, but when creating a new enterprise becomes challenging, being motivated solely by money becomes a problem.

The value of GREAT business ideas cannot be overstated. These are the ideas most likely to lead to successful enterprises. They are not "worthless". They are extremely valuable, YET the value is individualistic. Your GREAT business idea is most valuable to yourself. You shouldn't squander it, or fall into the trap of believing that business ideas are "worthless".

discuss

[jm1982]

I have thought of this too. The problem though is that an idea doesn't really have much value.

Many people thought they had GREAT business ideas , but even though those "GREAT" ideas did get turned into businesses ,they became worthless businesses.

For example the .dot com era...sure we look back on it now and laugh that these companies got so much funding..but people with money obviously thought they were great business ideas...who would spend millions on an idea that wasn't GREAT?...

Top 10 dot-com flops - CNET.com
Lot's of examples on that list of the companies , and we have similar companies around today. Trying to do similar things.

You don't hear about business ideas being sold often. This is why people say they are worthless.

If one doesn't take action to create something , there's nothing there.

Would you buy a business idea yourself?...

Another thing is that people thing you need some novel idea to make a great business. It's really in the execution .

McDonald's was not the first hamburger place in the universe..but the WAY they ran the business and systems they built led to massive success.

You see this all the time , even nowadays there are lot's of new burger chains, pizza chains,etc.

I think people think too much that they need some "genius" idea rather than how they are going to realistically execute on the idea and make a profit.

Profits make a business valuable at the end of the day

Look at the top fortune 500 companies. The only one company people really get excited about is Apple.

Fortune 500 2013: Full List - Fortune

The problem I see with the follow your passion crowd is that it creates all of these companies that are big on ideas..but don't have a real plan to make money from those ideas.

Many startups today are actually apps and 99% of apps apparently don't make money..

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...make-any-money

"for all the apps released this year, 99 percent will lose money. This, said Gartner VP Ken Dulaney, flies in the face of what you would expect. In fact, Gartner predicted that by 2018 less than 0.01 percent of consumer mobile apps will be considered a financial success."

I'm sure at least some of them are passionate about their ideas...but that doesn't put food on the table.

[doodlemagic]

your talking semantics. at the end of the day an idea is worthless without action

[ragnarkar]

Good Idea + Bad/No action = Bad
Bad/No Idea + Good Action = Bad
Good Idea + Good Action = Good

[jm1982]

Also , who is going to say or think that their idea is merely good versus GREAT?

Has anyone ever pitched investors on a business saying , this is a good/mediocre idea?

Also there have been studies done that most people think they are smarter than everyone else..

And the smarter you think you are the more inept you are..

BBC - Future - Health - The more inept you are the smarter you think you are

How much does "passion" sell for per lb?

I've never heard of someone buying an "idea" for a company...

[jdm2008]

Originally Posted by concept_fusion

You hear it repeated by business people all the time. Good business ideas are a dime a dozen.

I BEG TO DIFFER.

1) A GOOD business idea is required for successful enterprise. A good business idea is an idea with financially makes good sense to undertake. Good business ideas aren't rare, but their value should not be discounted either.

2) A GREAT business idea is a GOOD business idea combined with something special. A GREAT business idea is something that makes good financial sense, BUT ALSO you have an UNDYING passion for. Perhaps you are a math teacher and are extremely passionate about teaching math. You devise a new cirriculum and want to sell it in a way that makes great financial sense. That's a GREAT business idea, because: 1) You're very passionate for it. 2) It makes great financial sense.

The thing about GOOD business ideas, is the people that go after them are only motivated by money. This can work sometimes, but when creating a new enterprise becomes challenging, being motivated solely by money becomes a problem.

The value of GREAT business ideas cannot be overstated. These are the ideas most likely to lead to successful enterprises. They are not "worthless". They are extremely valuable, YET the value is individualistic. Your GREAT business idea is most valuable to yourself. You shouldn't squander it, or fall into the trap of believing that business ideas are "worthless".

discuss

This post is mostly reads like a pep talk. Implementation of a business idea is vastly more critical, valuable and important than the idea itself. People come up with ideas all time and very few are successfully implemented. Dime a dozen is a very accurate description.

[jm1982]

All these business ideas are viewed as great business ideas today , but if you told a roomful of people an idea for a business like apple , Facebook , etc any of these companies that are today worth billions .. People would look at you like you were insane .

Also these companies all had at least something before they got investors .. They worked out of their garages or dorms and it was Not simply an idea at that point .

Once they had something then they were able to get funding/ investors and grow the business .

Great Ideas are Worth Nothing (Without Execution) | 1000 Life Lessons