This Is Where My Ideas Begin… And It’s Not Where You Might Think!
We have all seen the advice that dictates what we SHOULD do when starting a business idea + it goes something like this…
Write a “solid” business plan
Validate your idea in the market place and work out demand
Plan out cash flow
Manage legal requirements
Yada…yada..yada…
(Yawn!)
You’ve lost me at the first dot point and if you’re here, I’m guessing it lost you there too.
We (if I can say that) have a CREATIVE mind.
And that means we lose interest very quickly if the thing we are building stops feeling creative. We lose motivation. We lose passion. The idea fizzles and is thrown into the mental “too hard” basket. Or worse. We don’t feel “good enough” to undertake the requirements for bringing it to life in the first place, because those requirements feel above our pay grade.
Well, I am here to share a different story. I’m such a big believer in not having a list of SHOULD’s, but ideas to experiment with! And I’m hoping this story will help you bring your ideas to life in a fun, creative + motivating way!
// PLEASE NOTE:
An idea for the purpose of this blog is as follows…
An emotion —> that turns into a thought —> that you then have the desire to act on.
It can be a new business idea. An idea to create new content. Start a new project or campaign. Try something new on a platform. But, the idea itself is business related in some way :)
Now, let’s get one thing straight.
I don’t believe you have to start with a business plan. And if it doesn’t feel right, you don’t “need” to create one at all. Yep, I said it. But, what I have found to be incredibly beneficial, is to have a direction that feels right for you. One that you feel excited to walk. And the only person that can set that.. is you :)
So how do I start? Well, I start with the idea of course!
The Beginning Of My Ideas Looks Like…
THE SPARK:
I feel it’s important to mark this part of the adventure. The actual spark. The idea itself when it first hits. It’s that moment when you have a feeling, that turns into a thought, that creates a buzz within your belly (or wherever you feel the creative buzz). It sparks your curiosity. What if? I wonder? Just maybe.
This is the moment that your world changes. Because if that idea takes hold, it will be something that consumes your thoughts until it is brought to life. It is the most exciting time of an ideas life and it happens in the blink of an eye.
In this moment, instead of overthinking or letting the idea disappear, I start to recognise it as something worth exploring.
THE CAPTURE:
However that idea feels, appears, however it sounds, I feel into it and before I go too far with it just yet, I mirror it out of my head and onto a card inside my Trello board. Now it doesn’t have to be that for you. But the whole purpose of this step is to write the idea on paper/ or screen. Whatever is available in the moment.
And that is key. To write it out while I’m experiencing it. Because what you write in the moment, when you read it back will remind you of how it felt. And that is the biggest motivator of all. It sparks that creative buzz once again and ignites that desire to bring it to life.
In this moment I am stopping my idea from getting lost.
THE VISUALS:
I am a graphic designer and a photographer and so visuals play a big part in how my brain works. If I can’t see it, then I have a hard time growing it as an idea and taking action on something that doesn’t feel tangible.
So once I have the cusp of the idea written, I then go ahead and design it out VISUALLY.
I can’t help myself here. I start to build the visuals of the idea including the icons, the colours, the logos, the type, all that symbolises the idea and all so I can relate back to how the idea feels. One might call this the brand - because it is :) Or the start of.
In this moment I am creating visuals to represent what my idea looks like.
THE MAP:
Then, a tool I have found to be really helpful is Canva coupled with Trello. Canva is where I will create the visual map, adding in the chosen colours, the elements I have designed (or chosen), where I make the idea look “pretty” and inviting. And then I save that as a jpeg and take it into Trello where I map it out further adding in action steps and collating all the moving parts (think google docs links, Pinterest boards, research, etc).
In this moment I am making the idea feel real.
So is this the right way? I’m actually not the one who can answer that for you. Only you can :) But is this effective? It absolutely has been effective for me and that is what I can speak on :) So while I type this, I am actually DOING it. Not writing to you from a textbook of learnings that haven’t yet been experienced. I’m writing to you from lived experience. Tried and tested. And sharing in hope that it might ignite something in you too.
Stay tuned while I continue documenting this process as I build out my new idea the Capable Creative Co.
The world deserves to see what your dreams are really made of :) It’s time don’t you think?
Tay x
Maybe this is your reminder that your idea doesn’t need to stay in your head any longer :)
This is exactly what I do inside my 1:1 sessions. I help you take what’s inside your thoughts and turn it into something real and ready to exist in the world.
If you want to start shaping your idea into something real, I’d love to help you do that.