fbpx

Confused Entrepreneur? Prioritize Small Business Ideas in 3 Easy Steps

Break free from mental clutter and transition from confusion to clarity in three simple steps.

What do you do when you have tons of business ideas, but little time? How do you cope with the desire to execute when faced with the lack of funding, expertise or focus? When do you know which business ideas are viable and which ones are not for you?

If you are ready to break free from mental clutter and transition from confusion to clarity, here are three simple steps to move from busyness to effectiveness:

 

1. Create a company mission statement.

If you don’t have a mission statement, today is the day to create one. Your mission statement, a clear and concise declaration of purpose, is essential.

In retrospect, when I first became an entrepreneur I was not at all interested in creating a mission statement! Why? Because I didn’t see the immediate value. But as I transitioned from a startup newbie to a successful business woman, I learned why other successful people thought it was so valuable.

Essentially when opportunities, ideas and confusion abounds your mission statement will act as a compass and a litmus test to ensure that your daily activities are aligned with your core business.

[hr]

Your mission statement will help you decipher whether or not opportunities or ideas will produce real results for your business.

[hr]

In a 2006 Harvard case study, Oprah Winfrey suggests, “I’ve already done the work of creating a team of people who understand not to propose a show idea to me unless there is an intention behind the idea. Tell me what the intention is first so that we know that the intention is in line with [Harpo’s] mission. It’s a broad mission, to transform the way people see themselves, to uplift, to enlighten, to encourage, to entertain. So you get a really broad canvas in which to do that, but whatever show idea you’re bringing me has to fit into that category.”

Without a cohesive understanding of your mission, you’ll spend time, energy and resources on ideas that will not produce results. A mission statement will keep you from saying “Yes” to everything that crosses your desk and help you focus on ideas that are directly aligned with your business.

Need inspiration? Take a look at Ben & Jerry’s and Starbuck’s mission statement.

 

2. Gather your business ideas and enter the war room.

Do all of your wonderful business ideas exist in our head? If so, that is not their final destination. When you upload a great idea, download it from your imaginative state to a piece of paper.

Sound to simple to be true? Consider this: there is power in writing things down. Personal development author Henrick Edberg explains, “A written goal brings clarity and focus. It gives you a direction. And by rewriting your goals you not only reaffirm what your goals are. You may also find new insights that bring more clarity and focus to your goal and life.”

Next, armed with your business ideas in hand, enter the war room. What is a war room exactly? In  layman’s terms it is a command center — a place that is used to provide centralized command to determine the best course of action.

Your war room could be a conference room, a co-working space, a coffee house or a virtual Google hangout. Wherever you convene, engage the brightest minds in your business and hash out your ideas. If you’re a solopreneur gather your mastermind group — trusted peers and like-minded entrepreneurs — to talk shop.

 

© YFS Magazine. All Rights Reserved. Copying prohibited. All material is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this material is prohibited. Sharing of this material under Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International terms, listed here, is permitted.

   

In this article