Sales Insights You Can Use

Subscribe for weekly ideas about sales, marketing, and business growth.

Success! Now Check Your Email

To complete Subscribe, click the confirmation link in your inbox. If it doesn’t arrive within 3 minutes, check your spam folder.

Ok, Thanks
What to do with new business ideas 1 min read
Blog

What to do with new business ideas

By Greg Chambers
What to do with new business ideas Post image

It's happened again. Your partner came to work with another idea for how to find customers.

Before dismissing it with a "Yeah I'll get right on that when I finish everything else I have to to", take a minute and define a few things.

Not all ideas are good ones, but all it takes is one good one to make money, so you need a system that will help you size up every notion. Try this one on for size.

Start with the criticism Oreo cookie. Good-criticism-good.

"I like that idea, Cyd. Let's talk about this for a minute." (the good)

Now, look for a measurement. (the criticism)
"Say we did this, where would I see it?
Where are we right now?
Where will we be?
What's the value of the difference?"

"I'm not trying to discourage the idea - I want to get better at figuring out which ideas to run with." (the good)

It's a cookie. A technique that brings down the defenses, makes a point and then keeps future ideas coming.

In this case, the trick is trying to establish how success would be measured.

The cookie won't stop the ideas from being a distraction, but it will provide a "language" that can identify which ideas are worth pursuing.

Good stuff.

About the Author: Greg Chambers is Chambers Pivot Industries. Get more business development ideas from Greg on Twitter.