EVALUATING THE IDEAS

One of the best skills to have as an entrepreneur is being able to evaluate ideas. Ideas are
cheap and don’t actually create any value, it’s the person that acts on an idea who starts to
create value. I often meet people who want to protect their idea more than act on them.
However, acting on any idea doesn’t provide a great recipe for success. You have to act on the
good ones which you have the skills to make into a successful enterprise.

The first principle is to write your ideas down, keeping a chronological log of your ideas. This
allows you to reflect on them, review them and refine them into something you can start to see
true value. Idea’s have their time and place. So today, you may not have the time, money or
ability to act on your idea, however in time things change and you may be well placed to make
this idea a reality.

The ability to evaluate your ideas is split into personal skills, knowledge and aptitude on the one
hand and logical, systematic evaluation on the other.
Your personal skills are constantly changing and developing, this allows you to develop as an
entrepreneur and gain new valuable skills. Practical hands-on skills are one of the most value
assets an entrepreneur has. The second most valuable skills are those of their team, the
entrepreneur’s team are core to their success and more importantly possible failure.

Knowledge for an entrepreneur is normally based around an industry sector and this asset is
the foundation to building successful businesses. Without it you have a very loose idea of what
is going on around you, you have no ability to influence or act on daily news stories or gossip.
All successful entrepreneurs spend a great amount of time developing this knowledge to a
point whereby they can plan for guaranteed success within their sector.
At this stage in an idea evaluation you have a series of soft skills, hard knowledge and a gut
feeling. These three determine if the entrepreneur can add, see and benefit from the value of
the idea.
The next is putting some form of logical plan around it which can be executed to deliver on
some form of business plan. The ability to look at an idea and develop a quick business plan and
gut feeling on the returns allows the entrepreneur to see the merits of the idea.

Prof. A. R. Somroo
Department of Education
Govt. Emerson College, Multan