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.

3. Consider your stage of business development.

Not all ideas are created equal nor are they all timely.

For example, you may have ideas to build your brand, but if you are an early-stage startup you’ll need to overcome the challenge of market acceptance (i.e. getting customers in the door). Here are some examples to consider:

  • Are you concerned with cash flow? Spending $5,000 on a bright new shiny “insert opportunity here” is not wise. Always keep your goals in front of you and match new ideas with their ability to impact those goals.
  • Has someone approached you partner up? If it doesn’t help you fulfill your mission, don’t waste your time or theirs.
  • Are sales slow? Implementing a new social media initiative may not be timely. Focus on transactional marketing (instead of relationship marketing) efforts that are designed to yield conversions and sales. If you’re not pinning with a purpose to drive sales then stop the insanity! Refocus and test ideas that will remedy current pain points.

When presented with new business ideas, first ask yourself, “Is this aligned with our current business goals?” If not — back to the drawing board.

 

4. Bonus: Release consistent mind chatter.

Have you considered our internal and external ‘humanness’ that can impact business? The very things that shapes your beautiful mind can also create barriers.

The prioritization of ideas will require clarity. Yet, clarity is hard to come by when your head is full of consistent mind chatter. What’s the culprit? Glad you asked. Let’s delve deeper…

Did you know that you can only process small amounts of information at a time? It is estimated that we handle 40 million pieces of information every second, but only 40 of those make it to our conscious brains. (Let’s hope that several of those are your business ideas.)

Next, couple your information diet with the fact that “overall, people mind-wander 47% of the time.” “We have this unique ability to have our minds stray,” according to TEDx speaker Matt Killingsworth. He notes, “This ability [enabling us] to focus our attention on something other than the present is amazing — it allows us to learn and plan and reason.” This is a good thing, except when it comes to execution and iteration in business.

[hr]

Research has shown that, “mind-wandering was only helpful for problems that were already being mentally chewed on. It didn’t seem to lead to a general increase in creative problem-solving ability.”

[hr]

Lastly, your surroundings can contribute to a less than ideal mental state. Now couple your information diet, tendencies to mind wander and physical surroundings. It’s no wonder at times it is hard to put one foot in front of the other in business. But thankfully, there is a solution to cut down on mind chatter and make more progress:

  • Consume targeted information. Go on an information cleanse and only acquire knowledge that is relevant to your current business dilemma.
  • Harness mind wandering. Focus on the present. Mind drifts are important to creativity, but they can hamper your ability to execute.
  • Change your surroundings. If you are aware of the noise in your environment, get out of your office, home office, city, or country and give yourself a better environment. Whether it’s a vineyard, park, library, remote island or foreign land — find a place of peace to usher in clarity.

How do you prioritize business ideas and move from confusion to clarity? Let me know in the comments section below.

 

© 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