FOCUS, SIMPLIFY YOUR START-UP IDEA FOR MORE POWER: One sentence per topic does the trick

How do you focus, narrow, and simplify your start-up idea (so it excites a lot of people)?

In my prior blog I discussed what to do when your initial idea for a new enterprise is not exciting many people: the remedy is to modify it, pivot it, change it so it is much more specific. The outcome of your work should be a refined idea that is much more focused, narrow and simple. That's what excites people to say "Aha! I get it! Terrific idea!"

This is very difficult to do, even for serial entrepreneurs.

However, there is hope.

I've learned a trick from the veterans of start-ups that you can try on your idea.

Fill out the following topical outline, USING ONE SENTENCE PER TOPIC.

• START BIG:
  • What is the big opportunity you intend to exploit?
  • What is the first product are you intending to offer?
  • How many users in the world are there for your product?
• SELECT A CATEGORY:
  • What is the name of the new market category your first product will compete in?
• SHARPEN IDEAL CUSTOMER:
  • Who is your Ideal Customer?
    • Describe the demographics of users especially attracted to your product.
  • What in your first product is compelling to your Ideal Customer that noone else has?
  • How many of those Ideal Customers are there?
• GIVE YOUR BRAND MEANING:
  • When your first product is branded, what do you want it to stand for?
  • What word or two do you want people to recall when they think of your brand name?

Your responses to this question should lead you to make significant changes to your initial idea. Test the outcome of your work on the people who first found your idea uninteresting and unclear. Listen to how they respond to your refined description and repeat the process until you find people eagerly responding.

BOTTOM LINE: When you find yourself disappointed by the lack of eager responses from people to whom you describe your initial start-up idea, begin a process of refining the idea so it is increasingly focused, narrow and simple. The power lies in finding a combination of very few words that excites a lot of people. That is a challenge for even serial entrepreneurs. But when you can achieve it, you will be well on your way to building an unfair advantage.

I wish you The Best on your Adventure!