While doing research on a potential client before an initial sales meeting I found this quote on their website.

"Every time a man puts a new idea across he finds ten men who thought of it before he did – but they only thought of it."
—Anonymous

The client was creating an application to work with Microsoft Power Point and they needed a hand to meet a deadline.

The product they are building is a very unique and good idea. The owner of the business has had the self belief and discipline to turn her initial idea into a product. The path to success will be difficult but she has already a few encouraging wins.

SSW the company where I work is filled with very smart people. Being a software development company we come across many great ideas from our clients and our developers. I have enjoyed many lunch times throwing ideas around with my colleagues. Dreaming up new products or services that can make us all great riches. It has become a game and we find much joy in doing so.

The above quote inspired me because it made me realise that coming up with great ideas is not that hard or even special. Taking one of those ideas and turning it into reality is what is special and rare. I am also challenged by something I read in a book recently. It went something like this:

"Many people take a very long time to make decisions and then change their mind quickly. Successful people make decisions very quickly and very rarely change their mind."

Have you ever thought, "All I need is one good business idea and then I will be able to…" Then when you get an idea you get excited, think about it for a while, mull it over with a few friends, think some more, do a bit of research and a few days or weeks later you find all the reasons why it won’t work, or you become too busy and you somehow forget that great idea.

I am starting to believe that there are no good or bad ideas. Only ideas that get implemented or ideas that get shelved. I have worked as a business consultant and in the software development industry. In doing so I have worked with many businesses in many different industries. Some of the businesses I worked with sold services or products that I never knew existed let alone make money selling.

It is amazing to see how many different types of products and services there are in the marketplace. It is even more amazing when you see how incredibly successful some of these obscure businesses are. You name it, someone is being successful somewhere in the world selling it.

So the conclusion I draw is that it does not really matter what your idea is or how many you have. What really matters is can you take just one of those ideas and stay committed enough to it and follow it through to completion. This I am sure is one of the keys to success.

The upcoming Beijing Olympic games is a good example of this. Whenever I watch the Olympics I am amazed at some of the events that seem obscure to an Australian like me. One of those sports is handball. I never knew that handball was serious sport, but someone chose it as their sport and practiced and practiced until they made it to the Olympics. They didn’t start handball, then moved to football, then to judo and then back to handball. They most probably chose handball at a young age and then consistently worked at it until they reached their goals.

Was handball a good choice of sport? Well only the athlete could tell you that. But they were successful at it. They took an obscure sport in my world view and became outstanding at it. They made it to the Olympics. No they may not be superstars and millionaires like the soccer or golf players but they turned their passion or idea into a success.

Remember "Fortune favours the brave."

Be brave enough to take one idea and follow it through to completion.