Category: Planning

Practical advice on how planning can help bring your idea to business

How to get more time for your idea

 

Post it with How to Get More Time
How to get more time out of your day

 

A common cry from those that haven’t yet started to take their idea to business is that…
“I don’t have enough time to…”

And it’s not necessarily a lie or an untruth, it’s a perception that that person has and it’s as real to them as the sky is to you.

Are you Frozen in the No Time Trap

This ‘belief’ that you have no time can get in the way of a positive approach to the perception problem and leave you frozen in the no-time trap.

If all you can see is that you have no time, and you maintain that perception as a core belief, then it makes it very difficult for you to work out…

How to get MORE time

The positive approach to the perceived belief that you have no time is to turn the question on it’s head and ask yourself How can I get more time.

Staying true to the Faster Founders tagline of practical tools and motivation, let me help by bringing to the fore several practical approaches to magically creating more from the little you have.

Practical Tools to get more time

The scarce resource you are battling with is something called time. It’s true that it’s finite, there’s only so much of it at your disposal – so what you do with it is the important question.

With 24 hrs in a day and 7 days in a week you have 168 hrs available to you

Take out your sleeping hours – 8hrs a night removes 54 hrs

Take out your day job time – 37.5 hrs (7.5hrs x 5 days a week) removes another 37.5 hrs

We’re left with 76.5 hrs remaining after sleep and work

So let’s take out 1hr each night for Dinner, 1hr each morning for getting ready in the morning 1hr each day travel time and 1hr each night for putting kids to bed – a further 28 hrs gone

We STILL have 48.5hrs LEFTOVER – more than a ‘standard’ week at the day job!

Yes, I know there’s still the soap operas you watch, there’s going to the supermarket and washing and chores to be done…I get it.

But REALLY…are you telling me you can’t find a little more time to make your idea become real?? Hey, it’s your idea and your life…but if you REALLY want to make it happen please keep reading.

 

Create more Hours in your Day

So you’ve looked at your day and there’s no ‘slack’ time in it that you can plunder.

So the only answer is to create more hours – right?

Now this is not something to take lightly, and you need to have a strong belief system to pick up this option – but it has worked for thousands of people around the World already.

The Miracle Morning

The principle is called ‘The Miracle Morning’ and it’s a way for you to build a better belief in what’s possible and to buy back a couple of hours a day to work on your ideas.

The practical side of it revolves around starting your day earlier at about 05:30am, and by doing this you re-claim a couple of hours each day when you won’t be distracted and can make progress on your own ideas and agenda.

It sounds a lot worse than it is, and once you start trying it you’ll find that this is golden time for thinking and doing, that you just don’t get at any other point in the day or week.

If this is something that you think can help then click on my affiliate link and go take a look at The Miracle Morning

Make Better Use of the Hours you’ve got

So let’s just say you really are time-starved, or you really need your sleep and rest to be able to function through the day.

That’s not a problem, here are some more practical approaches that can help you maximise what you get out of every hour.

When the only option is to get more out of each hour available then there are other approaches that you can deploy to help you achieve what you need each day.

Getting Things Done (aka GTD)

The Getting Things Done method is an approach to organising your thoughts and actions into ‘lists’ that you categorise and regularly review. The big benefit is that you de-clutter your head and so can focus on the tasks that you need to when you need to, thereby making the most efficient and effective use of the limited hours you have available.

It was created by a guy called David Allen in 2002 and quickly became a top management and self-help tool. The idea has gotten a strong foothold with a lots of the technical and self-help fraternity as a practical approach to dealing with the ever-increasing work demands of our busy lives.

If GTD sounds promising for you then hop over to the link to the GTD book.

Pomodoro

The Pomodoro Technique is a pretty simple approach to helping you focus your mind on a single task at a time and apply all that intensity to the work in hand.

It comes from the Pomodoro tomato and is so called because at the heart of the technique is a timer…that is shaped like a tomato!

Yes, it’s as obvious as that – a kitchen timer. You basically set the time for 20mins before you begin your task. Be clear on what it is you will be actioning for that 20mins period and once you start the timer then nothing must distract you and you stay focussed on the task in-hand until the timer goes off.

It has proved to be a surprisingly powerful technique for many people and yet it’s so simple. If this is something you think may help you make more of every day that you have to get your idea to business then take a look at the link below.

 I have no time – I need to clone myself

Okay so we’ve hit the end of the line and the practical tools suggested so far are not suitable.

So we can’t gain you a few extra hours through The Miracle Morning and getting up early. We can’t get you to squeeze out a little more productivity of the hours you do have through the GTD method or the Pomodoro Technique…So the  only answer we have left is to ‘clone’ you so that there’s more than one of you!!

No, I’m not talking about pinching some of your DNA and automagically re-generating another you from a test-tube. But there is a way to achieve the same effect…

Virtual Assistance (aka VA)

More and more of today’s entrepreneurs are realising that trying to do it all yourself is just too tall an ask. It increases the time needed to complete things and piles on the pressure and fatigue, increasing the risk of burnout or injury.

With the power of the internet connecting more and more people and more and more markets around the world, it is now easier than ever to find great people who can offer services to help bring your idea to reality.

Whether you need some logos created, a business plan drafted, some copywriting, widget manufacturing or some marketing work to find customers, there is someone out there that can help.

As the world has shrunk the costs of using virtual assistants (Vas) has also become a lot more reasonable. You can call on people in other countries with experience and qualifications that match your needs and possibly for a much more competitive rate than you can source locally.

Also, by working with staff from overseas you can find people who can work when you work. So if your idea is being hatched in the hours of 5pm to 9pm your local time, then maybe sourcing a VA in a different timezone would enable your idea to continue to be worked on while you sleep.

If cloning yourself is an option for developing your idea then head on over to the the Outsource and Virtual Assistant links below and check out the services and staff available.

eLance – for freelancers

Odesk – freelancers

Virtual Staff Finder

Follow @FasterFounders on Twitter


Level 2 – STARTED to take your idea to business

Green Get Started sign
You have Started already

You’ve worked through Level 1, some awareness building and you have started to transform the idea in your head into something more meaningful on paper or screen. That wasn’t too tough was it? Now onto the next level.

Next we will work to put some more detail to the activities and scope of the offering we’re looking to bring into reality.

Taking action:

  • Describe what specific actions you need to take to move forwards to the next level [task list]. Armed with the list of tasks we can start to work out the order and sequence [plan dates] – this will be our starter list which we will grow and flesh out as we proceed.

Skills needed:

  • Armed with the understanding of what Knowhow or Knowledge is needed to bring your offering to life, we will now build a [gap analysis] to show which skills we’ve got or know we can source and which skills we’ll need to get access to.

Making it:

  • We’ve got a picture now of what it is we’re looking to create, a description of what it looks like. Next we need a more detailed specification of what its lifecycle will be, how long it’s expected to last, will it be renewed every year, will it need maintenance, etc [product strategy].

Finding People/Audience:

  • Now think a little wider about the target user description and look at types of user and give it a user journey on the path of finding, buying, using and abusing your offering. And also, how many of each type there are and where you might find them [target audiences].
Action Skills
  • Task List
  • Plan Dates
  • Skills Gap Analysis
Make it Find People
– Product Strategy
  • Target User Stories
  • Target Audiences / Markets

This is the second level and we’re already shaping things up. Next we’ll look at DESIGNING your offering and provide some practical tools and motivation to get to the next level.

Related post: Level 1 – Lost in Building your Business?

Level 1 – Lost in Building your business?

Level 1 – LOST

Build you business idea
Lost in how to build your business idea

At this level you are in effect ‘lost’ you know you want to do ‘something’ but it’s not clear:

  1. What it is that you think you want to do
  2. How you’re going to do the something

If you’re lucky you may have a firm idea of what it is you want to do (that will inevitably change by the way) and some inkling of how it is that you’re going to make it happen. Hurrah, you’re one of the few to our pages with this!

The most important thing is to recognise the feelings and ‘decide’ you’re going to do something about it. You see, it’s the ‘decision’ that’s important. Without you making a real decision to get off your backside and make it happen, then you will never get past Level 1….

Level 1 – Lost – how to start building your product idea

You have worked out that you have this idea or offering that you want to create, but you’re not clear on how to start, where to go for help, what help it is you need and most of all whether the idea or offering will really be of value to others.

This is perfectly normal and lots of people start from this place.

Let’s get started with the basic blocks you need:

Taking Action:

– Describe where or what you want to get to [Goals]. By knowing where you want to get to you can plot a course from A to B. And don’t worry about getting it exactly right first time – as your understanding grows we’ll create an action plan that finesses the how.

Skills needed:

– What skills and capabilities will you need to bring your idea to reality and which ones don’t you have [knowledge or knowhow needed]. This might be sales skills (more on later), communications, graphic design, web sites, machining, proto-typing you name it if you think you need it.

Making it:

– Do you know what the thing you’re going to make is and some idea of how it might be made. The vision for your offering and some description of how it might be created including what resources may be needed. [Vision and Description].

 Finding People / Audience:

  • Who are the people that would be interested in your idea and offering. Can you describe how they would use it [Target User description] and hence what problem does it fix for them and what value does it add?

Summary of the practical tools you will have at Level 1:

Action Skills
  • Goals
  • Mission
 – Knowledge or Knowhow needed
Make it Find People
– Product Description
  • Target User description

Next we’ll look at the next level in building your understanding of your idea to help earn an extra income

Related:

Level 2 – STARTED to take your idea to business

Building your future is Simple but Hard – here’s how to do it

It is not easy to live with an idea in your mind that you have a passion for or believe that if only you could bring it to life your world would change. Your idea could help thousands of people, will educate others to be able to improve their lives or will sell thousands and bring you the security and freedom you want.

BUT….

To get from HERE to THERE seems insurmountable. You’ve never created a product or offering, you don’t know how to put a prototype together, or you don’t know how to research the market or build an audience. Before you know it you’ve convinced yourself that it’s not worth pursuing because of:

  • a) Someone has probably already done it,
  • b) If I start talking to people about it my idea will be stolen,
  • c) I don’t know enough to get it off the ground.
too-difficult-box
Too Difficult Box

It’s in the TOO DIFFICULT box
The reality is that if you could just ‘start’ then you could overcome the true problem, that you believe it’s too difficult to get your idea to business full stop.

Building your future is Simple but Hard
What does this mean? How can building your future be simple and yet hard? If it’s hard then it can’t be simple……can it?

SO let me begin by explaining how simple it is….

The simple part is that there are really only FOUR facets to getting you from HERE to THERE – wherever your THERE is (could be the book you want to write, teaching the world to play the flute or building a business that helps you quit your job) doesn’t really matter at this stage, it’s the same four things that I call:

The Faster Founders FOUR FORT

ACTION
Taking Action		 SKILLS
Knowing which Skills to use
MAKE IT
Building your Offering		 FIND PEOPLE
Finding your Audience

By focusing on just these four simple areas you will get yourself to THERE. By getting these four in your sights you will build your Founders Fort which is your bedrock to building your future success and freedom.

So what’s the Hard Part?
Okay, so they sound simple enough. I just need to focus on these and I’ll be on my way, so where do I start?

AHA! And here you have found the HARD part! So many have got to this point and packed up their toys and gone Home. This is the point where the ‘TOO DIFFICULT’ box appears and your idea gets stuffed into it and you get back to your humdrum life and job and continue on the hamster wheel of work not hitting the heights you know inside that you can.

So over the coming series of posts we will break down the ‘problem’ of knowing where and how to start and I will give you the tools and techniques to get you over this hurdle with the motivation to take your toys and move to the next stage of bringing your offering to those who need to use it. 

 

Getting from idea to business – how to select your offering

Perfect Match - two hearts A and B
Idea to Business | The Business chooses you.

Some say you don’t choose your business but your business chooses you…

What does this mean I hear you cry? Well how often do you listen to the stories of truly successful entrepreneurs and how their original ideas turned out to be something very different when they found success:

  • Facebook was originally FaceMash, a site to compare two photos of people and vote for who looked best )
  • YouTube started out as an on-line video dating site called TuneInHookUp

It happens all the time and this is what I am talking about.

Your future success in business is driven by a number of aspects all about YOU:

  • Your SKILLS – which of your current skills are the most relevant to get your idea to business quickly. If the skills you need aren’t there yet, then start learning
  • Your INTERESTS – if your idea isn’t something that peaks your interest then you should think long and hard before leaping in. It’s much harder to be passionate about something that isn’t REALLY interesting to you
  • Your COMMITTMENT – if you’re looking for a passive income then opening a retail store that needs you present and available day in day out is likely not for you. Match your committment to the idea you pursue to ge the most out of it

The successful business that will be borne of your idea is in there waiting to come out. Just make sure that when it comes around you’ve matched it up with your SKILLS, INTERESTS and COMMITTMENT to ensure your success – the business chooses you.

Where there is a mismatch in these factors then you may need to look more closely at the MOTIVATION section here to give you that extra boost.