New ideas are exciting. When you run your own business, they’re a necessity – you need to be bursting with ideas on new products and services you could offer, new ways to market your business, and ideas on how you want to make an impact in your sector.
But there’s such a thing as too many ideas.
Trying to do too many things at once can mean you lose focus and end up providing a worse quality service than if you stuck to one main offering. Especially in the age of social media, we’re constantly seeing what our peers are doing, and it can make us feel like we should be doing that too.
- “I need my own podcast.”
- “I want to start offering online courses and webinars.”
- “Why haven’t I written a book yet?!”
Sound familiar?
When you’re buzzing with ideas and want to do EVERYTHING, how can you decide which ideas to choose, and which to lose?
Save your genius ideas for later
Remember, you don’t have to do everything right this second. You might be too busy to start an online course this month, but next year you might have some extra time on your hands.
When a brainwave strikes, WRITE IT DOWN. We can’t always choose when we’re feeling creative, so make the most of it and note down everything that’s in your head.
Save it on your computer in a dedicated folder, and next time things are quieter with your business, dip in and see which new project you want to take forward. This also makes it easier to shelve your idea for the time being – it’s not a goodbye forever, it’s a see you later.
Ask for advice
If you’ve got two very different ideas for your next product or service and don’t know which to choose, consider doing some market research. Even a very basic poll on your Instagram stories asking your potential clients what they’re looking for can be insightful.
At the end of the day, you need people to be willing to pay for what you’re offering, so it makes sense to leave the choice up to your future customers. If you’re obsessed with an idea but your audience just doesn’t get it, it’s probably not worth pursuing.
Think short-, medium- and long-term
Forget for a minute about what you really want to do, and think about what makes sense for your business right NOW.
You want your own podcast, but maybe it makes more sense for you to invest in your written content first, to build your reach and establish yourself as an authority ready to get that podcast up and running next year.
Take a look at your goals, both for the coming months and for the next year and beyond, and decide what’s the most strategic decision. After all, idea overwhelm is a quality problem, and 100x better than not having any ideas at all!
Use it to your advantage, and save your shelved ideas for later. You never know when the right time for your new idea will strike – and you’ll be totally ready to hit the ground running.
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