Small Business Ideas: Superpower or Curse? Maybe it's both.
A task I find comes easily to many small business owners is generating ideas. Coming up with many ideas is an area we excel. It’s how we created a business. It’s how we change things up when the market changes. It’s how we keep things interesting for ourselves. It’s how we expand.
It’s also how we get overwhelmed.
How many of us have come up with so many ideas that we now don’t know where to start? 🙋♀️. One good idea follows the next, and you end up with a paradox of choice. You have all these options to choose from, and now, instead of being empowered by these ideas, you are overwhelmed. And sometimes, frozen by indecision. In my blog about projects and feelings, I talk about some of the strategies I use to manage overwhelm.
Most importantly, get those ideas out of your head.
Capture them in an ideas bank. I believe all ideas are good and should be acknowledged. And also, not all ideas are useful (at this moment).
Once you get the ideas out of your head, you can look at them more objectively and start prioritizing.
Which ones most align with your values?
Which ones will have the biggest impact on your/ your community/ your customers?
Which ones move you closer to your goals?
Do some ideas need to come before others?
I find that often ideas build upon one another. Which means, you can start with one idea. Try it out and use some of the other ideas that you captured to expand on your starting point. It’s a great opportunity to start testing things in our business. As entrepreneurs, we know how to experiment. So prioritize those ideas and let the experiments begin.
Managing the Paradox of Choice
When you find yourself in a position where your mind is swirling with ideas, you need to harness them.
Capture those free-range ideas in a dedicated ideas bank - notebook, Notion page, note on your phone, etc.
Analyze & Prioritize. Look at all the ideas that you’ve captured with a critical eye. Just because you’ve had an idea does not mean you need to do anything with it.
Implement in small ways. Test your ideas out and build upon them. You never need to go in at 100%. There is nowhere to go from there. Try starting at 60% and modify as you go.
Don’t let those ideas freeze you with indecision. See them as the powerful advantage they are. Practice discerning which ones are most important.
Need support sorting through all your ideas? Head on over to my Work With Me page to see how I can help.
