The Art Of The Start: Part 1

Every entrepreneur has his or her own spark when an idea turned up on their doorstep. A lot of people usually get the idea phase, but stop short of going into the implementation or make it happen phase. Our resident contributor, Cobalt Paladin shares his perspective on how he got hold of his initial idea and decided to take the plunge as an entrepreneur.

Last year, a close friend of mine out of the blue asked me for lunch. He had been working in the same job for the past 10 years. He was feeling restless and wanted to know how to become an entrepreneur. I told him the only way I know how – by sharing my personal experiences.

The most important thing for the entrepreneurial spark to start is to have a unique idea which you passionately believe in. You do it because you believe in it; because it’ll be able to help people. Least of your goals should be making money. Making money is good but it cannot be the ultimate and only goal. The problem with using making money as THE goal is when you don’t make enough, you lose heart very quickly and it won’t sustain your motivation and passion; when you’ve made enough, there will be just a sense of emptiness because you’ll be asking yourself what’s next and is that all?

The idea is usually inspired from daily experiences. It usually is just a way to solve a common recurring problem. It can even be a new way of solving the same problem. For me, I believe the idea has to be new, unique and useful. If the idea is not different, how do you expect your new venture to stake a position in the user’s mind. If your idea is not new, not different and better, why would anyone remember or use it. They would be using what is already currently available. Till date, there is still only one Cola! (Nope, I’m not going to enter a debate which is the better cola. ;p)

Once you’ve an idea, occasionally, there may be self-doubt inflicted by yourself or close friends. You’ll be doubting yourself – you would likely think that if the idea is so wonderful, it should have been done or implemented already; if it is not already done or implemented, then the idea must have problems which you didn’t realise. Fortunately, there are many who don’t think this way, else we would not have light bulbs, electricity, flight, space shuttle and the Internet (shudder)!

When you share your idea with your close friends, invariably, many of them will dissuade you. Some of them dissuade you out of good will and concern. They don’t want to see you fail or hurt. However, ultimately, the decision lies with you. For me, I attribute my start to my stupidity and impulsiveness of youth. Probably, Sam Witwicky of Transformers movie sums up my sentiments then best, “50 years from now, when you look back at your life, don’t you want to say you had the guts to get in the car?”

Many ideas may seem far-fetch and impossible to succeed but never let that stop you. Who would think that bottled mineral water would become a multi-billion dollar business? Red Bull was rejected by focus group and the survey conclusion: it was better to give up the idea before it is started.

Also, never be too naive to think that you are the only one who would come out with the idea. There is NO monopoly of ideas. Most likely, someone else within Singapore or some parts of the world would have almost identical idea. On the week I launched my product, there were 2 similar products launched within days of each other!

I didn’t think too much before I plunged headlong into my venture. I just equipped myself with the necessary basic knowledge and tools and hit the ground running. I know there will always be problems but problems are there to be solved. I may not have the answers today but I believe I’ll have the answers tomorrow, if not, the day after. Don’t expect yourself to solve all the problems you anticipated before you start. Some of the problems you anticipated, won’t happen; some will be bigger than you expected and there will be problems which you never dreamt! Find the idea and boldly go one has gone before! Spread your wings and soar! Explore and discover new scenery and landscape!

So get in the car and enjoy the ride!

P.S.: The title of this entry was inspired by the book, The Art Of The Start by Guy Kawaski. Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not comparing myself to Guy Kawasaki, I simply chose this title because it was apt and nice. : )

Editor’s note: The article is also published in Cobalt Paladin’s personal blog.

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