Your idea sucks, now go do it anyway*

Have you been tinkering with a business (or marketing or creative) plan lately? Chances are you already have invested a significant amount of time and vital resources on it - not to mention that you have given up some of your precious money making time that should have made a significant cash inflow for you and your business.

Business plans can be really draining - and we're not only talking about the number crunching. Think about the man-hour and the research that you've put in it so you can prove that your business can actually make money.

Business plans need to explore the possibilities, the not-so-good things, and evaluate the future of a business - even when it hasn't started yet. It singled out all factors that make an idea a good prospect - why it can make serious money from some time and how it can go down the drain even if the wheels were properly oiled. And to think that after everything you have done, a banker or even relative-slash-angel-investor, after a minute of skimming through the pages, summarized the business plan you have painstakingly put together in 3 words: It won't work.

But how many successful ventures were turned down by investors? Many. Today, these brands did not only make millions but changed the world of commerce. If you are passionate about your business and have that feeling that your idea is good enough for the world to see, you need to learn how to brush off the oh-not-so-flattering comments and just go on.

Building a business requires not only the numbers that tell you that your business has a future. For it to become a reality, you need to have faith. Not only in the numbers that make a business real, but in your idea, the passion that keeps your desire burning, and most importantly you - the owner, the creative director, and the person who believes that your business can make a valuable contribution to your customers and to the society.


Stop talking about the future
Stop studying the possibilities
Stop exploring all options
Stop weighing the odds
Stop waiting for the perfect time
Stop wishing
Let's begin

I've been meaning to share this local ad commissioned by the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI). The moment I saw this clip, I knew it is the green light that I've been needing. Like you, I have spent time drafting my business plan and thinking what makes my business truly special. And the more I see the reality, the more afraid I've been. I thought of all the possibilities. I wrote down my options. Instead of helping me get down to business, it made me afraid that the numbers and the strategies I formulated were not good enough. It belittled the value of my business. And, worse, it just made me think that I can't do it.

So I just jumped into the unknown. I began. And here I am, joining the world's bravest - and the best.

*Thanks to Jason Cohen of A Smart Bear (http://www.asmartbear.com) for the inspiration.