Make a good idea a great idea

Being good at something does not automatically make a good business idea. Being personally invested, or passion as they put it, is a critical element of realising the difference between a good and great idea.

Although brainstorming sessions and research are essential for building a business idea, the “need” will usually come while you are hard at work and A: You wish there was a better way of doing it or B: The product/service doesn’t exist at all.

We often associate a good idea with complexity. Most of the time it is a simple problem that you are solving but A LOT of people have the same problem. You need to be sure that there is a market for the product/service that you are providing. After finalising your product/service, test it on strangers and ask for feedback. This is the best way to find out how your consumers perceive your product; after all, they will be using it.

Make sure you’re reachable and people know about you. There are various avenues for marketing. Make sure you have a website. If you’re not Googlable do you really exist?

Your idea has to be flexible enough to accommodate changing customer needs and must be able to evolve. Even if your idea is solving a complex problem, you must be able to explain your idea in simplistic terms so that you can get buy in from consumers, potential investors and sponsors. Geekulcha’s concept was to bring Tech Geeks together and from that, various initiatives and activities have come about because of its organic growth element.

There must be a component of uniqueness that will differentiate the idea from other similar products/services. It doesn’t not have to be extreme, most of the time, the differentiator is something small that makes you noticeable to your market.

With many of the hackathons we host, we see students coming up with good ideas but not extending the thought process to make it a great idea. Tech Geeks tend to look at only the functionality of a product and forget considerations like revenue models, self-sustainability, marketing and brand names.

Make sure that your idea makes sense from three angles:

• Your perspective in terms of what you are trying to achieve from the idea
• Business perspective regarding the financial element of the idea
• Consumer perspective relating to the market and if people need your product/service

Tech is fun to play with and with it being one of the most co-dependant industries for other trades, the playground is boundless.

Remember, sometimes a great idea isn’t new, it’s just better.