Got an idea? ...is it commercially sound? & will it work for you?

If you are constantly thinking of better ways of doing something then your mind will be filled with little gems on a daily basis.

Choosing an idea to pursue passionately through the depths of hell to heavenly completion is another matter altogether...many ideas are thought of and then vapourised because for one reason or another it just wasn't going to work.

If you have watched the Dragons Den series then you will know how painful it is to watch some out of it dude/dudette being told that his/her idea is total crap and will never make any money...it is just horrible...try not to be that geezer or geezerette :-) 

First off...write a list of check points that each of your concepts and ideas must pass to reach the next stage.  The list must be well thought out and cover off not just commercially sensible checks but also personal factors ie if you can't travel much because of children or, on the extreme side,  drug convictions then don't get excited about an idea that needs you to be traveling...sounds simple?

Here is my list I wrote in 1993...I had no idea what it was that I was going to invent but I knew that if I had a yes next to each one of these criteria then I was onto a winner. 

• It must be a new idea or concept
• It must be able to be used by 90% of the population 
• It must be consumable, ie you have to keeping buying something to keep it working.
• It must be affordable to 90% of the population
• Target price point must sell for less than $USD10

I passed no less than 20 ideas past this list, a few were great ideas but most were average.  I was not deterred as I was after the holy grail of inventions.   The night I thought of the Hydropal concept (26 months later) I knew I was onto something...mainly because of my list.   In my mind I immediately went down my list ticking off each box and when they were all ticked I couldn't sleep...it was a pretty cool that still brings an involuntary smile to my face.

So make a list that's good for you..maybe with a little more detail than my original one (hey... I was only 22 then) and start to run some concepts passed it.

"No man can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come."

- Victor Hugo