How To Come Up With Good Business Ideas

In business, good ideas are gold and will benefit all aspects in an organization. Renovation, uniforms, your staff’s manner of service—these are just some of the things you have to know how to execute well.

Idea generation is one of the keys in outperforming your competitors. Here are some tips to get you thinking:

Develop your observation skills. New ideas need not be pulled out of thin air. You may be spending too much time thinking and generating ideas from scratch—time that could have been spent on more pressing business concerns. In generating ideas, observation is a concept that cannot be overstressed. As a business owner and innovator, you should know how to observe the phenomena happening within your line of vision and within earshot. Why are there next it is gone. There is so much to learn from the environment you are in and it is best to find a way to record them. Try carrying a notebook around with you. When inspiration strikes, immediately write your ideas down for future review.

Keep moving. Maybe being in a certain place will give you some ideas you want to use for your business. However, simply copying every detail from that venue will keep you from producing original ideas. This is why you have to keep moving and searching for different sources of ideas. Integrate your inspiration from different places. Mix and match ideas gathered from one place to another.

Ask for a second opinion. Two heads are better than one. Raw ideas from a source may sound so good that you want to immediately implement them. But how sure are you that these will work? Some ideas might seem incredibly appealing that you lose track of the cons. This is the reason why you should always ask for a second opinion from people who can supply you with good ones—someone from the same industry, an expert in the field, or the most well-versed in your own organization.

Integrate. No matter how good your idea seems on paper, you will only know how well it will fare for your company when you actually apply them. Good ideas are only useful when they bring good results. And for them to produce good results, or any result for that matter, you have to integrate them into your business. If they do not work out, pull them out. If they do work out, then you may have carved a new niche for your business.

*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin. CC-4, Sunday, December 7, 2014. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.