Ideas are worth 5 Paisa Each

I know not many read this blog, but still, a Happy Deepawali to all of you

Back in college Days, Just like you and everyone else, I used to get lot of ideas and I used pen it down in a small diary. We are talking about the years of 2004-06 when I must have put down over 200+ ideas which I felt can be huge (I had lot of time since I wasn’t doing that well in academics and had pretty much gave up), most of them were just instants of thoughts, like a new design of ruffle Lays Pack to Condoms for dogs (I am looking for an Angel Investor for this even now!), I still have that diary with me (I treat it as a priced possession and something which helps me to dig my mind of the past) and now looking back at it after 4 years, they all Don’t Look that Good as they looked at that Moment.

This is what Ideas are all about I guess, if you are thinking, then you will surely come up with some thought which may look like the next 100 million dollar idea (it happens with everyone as this is how our mind works) but the problem is -

1. It either has been done already and you are not aware of it – almost everything you can think of has already been invented so unless you are willing to spend 20 years of your life working in a laboratory, the chances of you coming up with something new are almost zero, most of the ideas are just merging 2 or 3 ideas or modifying a current idea to make it look better

2. Implementing it is not that easy as you think they are – yes, every idea needs money to get implemented, and some ideas will give money at the end of cycle, which means they can take lot of money without any return, making them not so very exciting for investors so unless your dad has lot of money (I don’t think most Indian dad has), you have experience and time (say 2-3 years) you probably won’t be able to successfully implement your ideas, something which probably happens with 99% startups.

3. It is not profitable – Majority of the ideas are not profitable, believe me, just because your mind says it is, doesn’t mean it will be (unless you know the target market and audience and all parameters really well but then in that case, the chances are, the idea is not unique at the first place)

4. It is not that Great as you think it is – This should be the first point actually, unless you are looking to sell the product to yourself (which I don’t think you are) you can never understand the target audience and market, you may think it may be a great idea, but in your “markets” eyes, it has no value.

So What is My Point – back in 2006-07, Seth Godin had made a post of Ideas are dime a dozen, its implementation which matters, I am also just iterating the same thing, Ideas are probably not worth that much as you think they are, you can probably spend hours thinking of ideas getting 100’s of it (I also feels the easier it is to get the idea, the easier it is to copy for others, something which you don’t want as an entrepreneur) but its implementation which matters and gives return.

PS – by the way, dog condom has already been invented