For whatever the reason may be you are looking to come up with new business ideas. It may be that you are looking to escape the long arm of the 9 to 5, your are looking to generate an additional income, you need an idea that will ramp up and existing business or perhaps you are just excited to become the creator of your own destiny. Generating new business ideas can be an exciting task for some and a daunting challenge for others. If you are like me you have an extremely overactive imagination and you may plow through a handful of new ideas every week some of them are worth thinking about, some of them are just downright silly and every once and awhile there is one that makes me stop and say huh, that’s an interesting thought. So how can you become a never ending source of idea generation?
Here are a few simple exercises that I use. This is my idea of viral thinking in action.
Be aware of your surroundings and explore ways in which you might change or improve them. I have the pleasure and often the displeasure of travel to various cities throughout the US on quite a regular basis and I am constantly exposed to a variety of new surroundings. I am careful to pay close attention to even the simplest things such as the design of the furniture in each airport I visit. Often I see simple flaws that could be easily improved or design ideas that can be improved. Now I am not saying that you will be given the opportunity to re-design your local international airport, however you may pick up on an opportunity in any situation you are presented. I for one would love to see someone develop a comfortable alternative to coach class seating. (Midwest you are A Ok in my book.) Ok so perhaps you are not looking to stumble on the next big idea but perhaps you will find something in your surroundings that you can adapt to suit your own venture. Pay attention not only to the design of the world around but to the ways in which others are using simple methods to advertise and promote. In today’s fast paced world you need to constantly be open to adapting the new trends and ideas. They are there just take a look.
Secondly, open your ears to what is going on around you. What are people grumbling and griping about? Do you see something that might improve their situation? This takes a lot of effort because often times in our busy lives we have enough on our own plate much less the worries of those around us. But I assure that there are many a problem out there just wainting to be solved. Listen to what others have to say.
Brainstorm - Take some time out each day to mentally or physically brainstorm. Rehash the events of the day and pick out key events that may hold the key to your next idea. Go off on a tangent creating something totally unusual. You never know when your pet rock idea may come full circle.
Doodle, write, doodle write… Sometimes I sit for a half an hour just scribbling or writing on an envelope or scrap of paper. Ok so one of my business ventures requires me to come up with new graphics on a regular basis and oddly enough a small doodle can often times turn into a full blown piece of art. Is there something hidden in your doodles? You won’t know unless you try.
Keep a notebook. You don’t necessarily need to have an actual notebook, only a place to jot down brainstorms of simple ideas that you see hidden in your surrounds. You may be sitting in rush hour traffic when that AH HA! idea hits you and with out keeping track of them they will just slip away. This exercise applies to all of the above and is often suggested by many of the great thinkers, both past and present. Write it down, keep track of it, create a journal.
Lastly and this is something that I find very useful. While you are searching out a solution to a problem at hand don’t be afraid to let your mind wander a bit. Focusing only on the problem at hand may not always be the best solution. I can not tell you how many ideas I have generated while researching a completely unrelated topic. For example just the other day I was researching “Blog Marketing”, going through a list of other blogs digging for success stories, miracle marketing strategies, and ways to drive traffic now when an extremely unique advertising opportunity appeared to me. But that’s a future project so you’ll just have to wait.
Long story short… pay attention to the world around you, don’t be afraid to think abstractly and keep a journal of all of your ideas crazy and otherwise.
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