We all have ideas. Some might be good and a few brilliant. But how to go from an idea to reality?
First, you need to realize that the brilliant idea you just had already went through the minds of thousands of people, and some of those people might just be in your competition.
Don’t assume for one second that to be successful you only need what you consider might become a great idea.
Ideas are nothing more than nice thoughts but making an idea a reality is much more complex and hard-working than simply having the idea. The real word cannot be depicted as a person in a hammock, on a spring day, while listening to their favorite song. Great ideas come from work and new methodologies that can be implemented. Way before the “space run”, many had thought of going to the moon. That did not grant them a space in History or in any other monument in honor of those who worked hard to accomplish it.
But if I have an idea, a great idea, a new idea, and if no one else has done it, why can’t I do it? Never assume the idea you have has never been thought of before and that no one has tried to make it real. There are over 7 billion people on this planet; the odds of someone having/tried to make an idea equal, or very similar, to the one you have into reality are by far much higher than the odds of nobody having tried it.
This should not be a demotivating factor, quite the opposite. You must think from all perspectives and consider all hypotheses. Maybe you will understand that your idea is not as revolutionary as you might think and the path to turn it into reality is long and hard. A great idea is 99% work and 1% luck.
Please understand that a great idea is not to implement something that already exists at a global level and introduce it to a local level. It’s not an innovation and you will always be playing catch up, trying to imitate that “global” trend. Even if we work day and night, Monday to Sunday, we can’t be sure that our idea will become successful.
We can’t just work hard – we must work hard and well.
Focusing on the online e-commerce, it’s necessary for you to understand that e-commerce was not your idea. It was born decades ago, and a lot of companies have been doing it for decades. With trillions of dollars in online transitions every year, you can be sure there are many thousands of companies who don’t do anything but try to optimize processes and business models to offer better income to their customers or to themselves.
There is nothing to reinvent. Trading is something that is being done for thousands of years, and to think we have an idea that will revolutionize everything can be dangerous. Look, and you will find. If you don’t, assume you didn’t look in the right places. If you don’t find anything equal, you will find something similar. If you know for sure the idea you have is unique, know that it might be in development by some company. And if the idea is as brilliant as you think it is, please note that there are companies willing to invest millions in great ideas.
That’s why it is necessary, before opening an online business, to know the market we plan on entering. Don’t look at the big guys and think that tomorrow you are going to be like them because they took a lot of time and a lot of money to get where they are right now.
Have a plan. Know the when what and how. Don’t be afraid of small changes along the way, without ever losing focus. Have a business and action plan. Don’t be afraid of being meticulous. Consider all predicted variables and the unpredictable ones. Have your numbers always updated and understand that they don’t lie. Get ready to invest, not only at a financial level, but at a human level too. Don’t fall into the trap of considering one is more important than the other. And, above all, there is no such thing as profit without investment.