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.

I found a great website the other day called www.PersonalMBA.com The author of this site has put together a reading list of books that he believes contains similar information to an MBA course.

The idea is that instead of spending $100K on an MBA course you could read this list of books and receive almost the same information.

Now of course there are advantages to completing a traditional MBA. These include:

1. The networking between the other students who are traditionally well connected in the business world
2. The credentials you receive on completion of the course
3. The lecturer and peer interaction you have in a class setting

Putting that aside, if you do not have the time, money or desire for the certification, this is a great way to learn more about business on your terms.

I think this list of books is very useful because:

1. It distills the best books on specific topics. When you walk into a bookstore it can be overwhelming when you approach the business book shelves. Which ones are worth the read? This list is a good starting point.
2. It gives you a goal to work towards, instead of just reading random books. I like the “The PMBA Guide to Personal Master Planning” It gives you a realistic way to plan your attack.
3. It gives you a sense that if you complete a set of books in a category then you may have a reasonably well rounded insight into the subject - as opposed to one authors opinion.

Two of my friends at work Cameron and Ulysses have taken a keen interest in this book list and we will start working though these books together.

The last few months I have been listening to audio books on my iPod while driving to work in the car.

This has had a drastic impact on the quality of my trip. It used to be chore driving to work listening to the radio or a random .NET podcast. The drive to work is now the highlight of my day.

In the last few months I have listened to:

1. “The four hour workweek” by Timothy Ferriss
2. “The 48 Laws of Power” by Robert Greene
3. “The art of war” by Sun Tzu
4. “The magic of thinking big” by David J Schwartz
5. “Getting things done” by David Allen
6. “The twelfth card” By Jeffrey Deaver

All the books are business related except “The twelfth Card” By Jeffrey Deaver - that was just for fun.

With a young family, I would never have had the time to read all these books. It took me no extra time out of my day and I have already implemented a few strategies from “Getting things done”, that have drastically improved my efficiency at work.

There is a great site called www.Audible.com which sell these audio books. My local library is also a great source to find many titles.

Some of my colleagues at work have also started and we have a had some great conversations discussing and debating many ideas from these books.

I highly recommend “The 48 laws to Power” to spice up lunchtime conversation. It is very thought provoking and controversial.

I am not happy listening to my iPod for extended periods of times in my car due to the potential for hearing loss.  am looking at purchasing a new car stereo which I can plug my iPod into so I can listen to the audio books using the car speaker.