How to choose between two (or more) business ideas
I have the privilege of working with highly creative founders.
Many of whom have many ideas, passions, and interests.
And they want to do them all.
And they come to me to help them figure out how.
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The desire to do it all.
When they share their ideas, they’re excited.
And I get excited when I hear them. Because they’re GOOD, and they’re interesting.
So, we get to work. And the first thing I do is put on the brakes.
Why?
Because they can quite possibly do them all. They just can’t do them all right now.
Not surprisingly, my approach is usually met with some degree of disappointment.
Which I understand. But…
Part of what drove them to seek me out was being in some version of stuck — overwhelmed — going in circles.
And they want to move out of this uncomfortable, unproductive state.
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The work.
The first thing we do is slow things way down. Take a breath. See what we have to work with.
We use a process to unpack their ideas and priorities, a version of which I’m sharing here in case this is resonating.
Note that before you start this process, you should have a good sense of your WHY because you’ll want to test each idea against it.
If you missed the email on the importance of knowing your WHY, you’ll find the post here.
Take a notebook and pen, or sit at your laptop, and for each idea / interest / passion - write in detail:
what the idea is
what you offer
who it’s for
why you’re doing it
the revenue opportunity
Get it all down. If you have 3 ideas or 5. No matter how similar or different they are.
Once that’s done, read over what you’ve written.
Look for what jumps out to you as being an obvious through-line.
Also, be on the lookout for more subtle patterns.
And test each against your WHY.
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What they (and you’ll) discover.
There are 3 outcomes that I’ve seen from this process:
1. You find that there’s a cohesive story or theme that binds your ideas or various areas of interest together in a compelling way, so they can be executed at the same time.
2. It’s a matter of timing. There’s more than one viable business idea, but they’re not obviously, immediately connected. One business idea logically comes first. The other stays on hold for now and is brought online when the time is right.
3. You find that one or more of your passions are not a part of your business. You’ll pursue them as interests / side projects / hobbies. And this is okay!
One note here, in case it’s going through your mind…
I am not a big fan of launching separate businesses at the same time. This is something I’ve heard from solopreneurs I’ve worked with and from those who have advised them.
The reason is pretty simple — most solo founders are overwhelmed by all of the activities and tasks it takes to launch or level up one business (marketing, sales, operations).
Doing this for more than one business at the same time waters down your branding and diverts your attention and time.
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If you’re bucking against this approach.
Think about it this way…
What can you accomplish and make manifest in 3 or 5 years?
From my vantage point, it’s A LOT. I’ve seen it happen.
Want out of stuck — overwhelm — going in circles?