So perhaps a little context before I share this…

My career has taken me through several industries and roles over the years: project management, construction, business operations, hospitality, entertainment, events, ministry, education, creative work, and entrepreneurship.

Different industries. Different projects. Different people.

But there is something I have seen over and over again. People have ideas. Great ideas. Ideas for businesses. Products. Services. Books. Programs. Solutions. Better ways of doing things.

But ideas are everywhere. Buildable ideas are not.

After decades of working with businesses, managing projects, building structures, coordinating people, solving problems, and watching vision move from concept to execution, I recently created the Idea-to-Blueprint Accelerator.

As I sat preparing for our sessions and thinking through what people actually need before they begin building, I found myself reflecting on the lessons learned along the way.

Not only from what worked.

But from the things I have seen missed.

The assumptions.

The expenses no one calculated.

The ideas built before anyone tested them.

The systems purchased before the process was understood.

The businesses decorated before the foundation was clearly defined.

And the people who had a vision but had never broken that vision down into work they could actually execute.

I started writing down a few of these lessons.

One became two.

Two became five.

And eventually I had ten.

Ten concepts aspiring business owners often miss before starting a business.

So I decided to share them.

Not because I believe you need to have everything figured out before you begin.

You don’t.

And not because every business must follow the exact same blueprint.

It won’t.

But after years of building, I have learned that better questions can save you time, money, energy, and sometimes a very expensive lesson.

Over the next several posts, I want to share some of these wisdom keys with you.

And I want to begin here:

Ideas are everywhere. Buildable ideas are not.

What makes an idea good?

Is it how exciting it sounds?

Is it because your friends told you, “That’s a great idea”?

Is it because no one has ever done it exactly the way you imagined?

Or is a good idea strengthened through your commitment to developing it?

Think about the cell phone in your hand.

How many updates has it received?

Even successful products are evaluated, corrected, updated, and optimized.

So why do we expect our ideas to arrive fully developed?

Maybe your first version does not have to be your final version.

Maybe the idea you dismissed was not necessarily a bad idea.

Maybe it just needed an update.

What idea have you been sitting on?

I’d love to hear it in the comments.

And check back tomorrow for the next concept aspiring business owners often miss before they build.

Until next time, stay blessed!