Are Ideas Worthless?

There is a theory that says ideas are worthless. That the only currency in the entrepreneur?s world is execution.

Is there something to this? Are ideas actually free? In a sense, I think they are.

The fact that you are reading this blog (and hopefully had a look at the bzplnr website) suggests that you have had at least one idea for a new business venture.

How much did that idea cost you? Did you have to pay money for it? Did it consume a significant amount of time that would have otherwise been spent doing other things, i.e. did it have an opportunity cost? Did you have to expend energy having that ideas? To all of these, the answer is almost certainly ‘no’.

So ideas are free in the sense of ‘free beer’. But are they free in the sense of ‘free speech’? I think less so.

As a rule, first time entrepreneurs tend to hold on so tight to their idea for fear that someone else will steal it, implement it and profit from it, and by extension, at our expense!

But where’s the evidence for that? Would you do that? I wouldn’t. I have a very general arc plotted out for my business ambitions – bzplnr and several other extensions and complementary services in addition. I’ve invested too much time in my own ideas to deviate from them now.

If someone told me of a great idea to create a fantastic new pencil sharpener that would sell millions, I still wouldn’t copy it. Why not? Well, I know nothing about: pencil sharpeners; the stationery industry; the players within that industry; the customers of that industry; manufacturing; marketing of stationery and so on.

Almost all of the business ideas I have are only likely to have a shot at success if it is an industry and product and market that I know and understand.

In my opinion, then, the best thing you can do with ideas is to share them as freely as possible. Get feedback from others. Ask for their opinions – would they use it? What is it missing? What would they do if they were in your shoes? How much would they pay to use it? All very useful market research.

Just to put some skin in the game, here’s an idea that I have been toying with for a while. A series of sensors, LED tracks and panels in parking garages that read your car license plate and leads you, via messages on LED panels and floor-based running lights (as they have on an aeroplane), directly to a vacant parking spot. It saves you time and stress in looking for a parking space and increases the occupancy rates of each individual parking space for the parking garage owner.

But are ideas worthless? No, I do not believe they are.

Even if an idea is deemed unworthy of investment or time to implement, it may still have value as being a starting point for other, better ideas that follow. It may still inspire you to believe that you can be an entrepreneur; that you can run your own business; that you can be creative and think beyond that realms of your day to day existence.

To be inspired is a wonderful thing. Surely that could never be worthless.

Do you share your ideas? If not, why not? If you do, have you gotten any value from doing so?