You went to your friends barbecue and you noticed that your friend kept dropping food on the ground and placing the food back in the serving tray. Yuck. You first thought that’s unsanitary and do I really want to eat here now! Some people might not care. Different strokes for different folks. But you don’t see things the same way. All your life you see problems and look for solutions. You analyze things to death. You want to solve the problem not just brush it aside.

At this moment it dawns on you. A great idea. What if you have a tray attached to the barbecue that holds the food so when you take the food from the grill to the serving dish-anything that does fall-will fall into the tray. No more food on the ground. You solved a problem. Now what???

You see many people can create a useful idea. What turns the idea into a business and what idea becomes a success. Most people have ideas. Some people like myself are always thinking about an idea but how do you turn that idea into a business?

The average person comes up with an idea and nothing happens. There are many reasons for such a situation. First when you have the idea you immediately tell everyone you know. You’re looking for validation. You want to brag to others what a great idea you came up with. Some people will say that’s a great idea. Others will say what the big deal is. Why do I need that tray for my barbecue? If people don’t like food falling to the ground-well it’s free food. One person who really likes the idea may think wow-and start working on the same idea. One day you channel surfing or surfing the internet and you see the “Max Barbecue Protector®.” Exactly what your idea was 10 months ago in the backyard of your neighbor Joe. Another great idea-and nothing to show for it!

You have a busy life. You have a wife and 2 kids plus the dog. You have to work to pay the bills and who has the time to create a business. Someone that you told your idea to spoke to someone else who spoke to someone else who had all the time in the world. In fact he was young, single and unemployed. He worked daily for 2 ½ months, got a friend to invest $1,000.00 and created the Max Barbecue Protector®.

Next time you go to barbecue and see a solution to a problem do a couple of things. First don’t share it with everyone you know. Go to the internet and see if there is something similar out there. This is call research. If you need validation you can conduct a survey without explaining the exact solution. Would you buy something that kept your food from dropping on the floor? Would you pay $19.99? This is much better than diagraming the tray and how it works so the next person can use your idea. Next decide if you can commit the time necessary to make that idea successful. Facebook took years to succeed and you’re not Facebook most likely. Next decide who will produce the product for you? How much will that cost? Can I get a patent for my idea? Can I prevent others from disclosing what I told them? What will I name my product? Is that name available? How am I going to sell this product? On the internet? Through an infomercial? This is just the beginning. In Part II you will learn more about turning your idea into a successful business.

In the meantime you can download the Checklist for How to Turn Your Idea into a successful business.