How to Decide When to Shelf a Business Idea

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No entrepreneur hits a home run on their first attempt. You'll struggle to find an entrepreneur that hasn't gone through dozens of business ideas before they settled on the one(s) that went to plan. So what happens to the rest of the ideas and how do you decide when to cut them off?

I probably have one big business idea a month these days. I desperately want to do all of them, but I would never make any money if I stretch myself that thin. Bear in mind: I'm still at the stage where I'd like to make businesses that I can run from almost much anywhere, and I would be able to manage pretty much by myself.

These are the questions I ask myself before I take any beyond the confines of my Dropbox:

What are the Startup Costs?

How much is this thing going to cost to get off the ground? I'm talking everything; it's easy to just look at the material costs and think that’s all there is to it. There's the branding to make things look good, the marketing to make people see, and the advertising to maintain growth.

I'm never going to have a firm budget on how much I need to invest initially (because good ideas are worth throwing everything at) but I will put a limit when I'm more confident that the money could be used for another business idea with a quicker return.

I park business ideas that are too expensive for right now. But you ever know when things might change.

How Competitive is it?

How many people are doing something similar? Is the idea unique enough that it will stand out within the market? It all has to be taken into account because even if your twist is good, someone could try to outdo you at your own game.

I'm trying to branch out into things with higher barriers to entry. The more barriers, the fewer people participate and the easier it is to carve out a bigger chunk of the market.

Some competition is always good, because it usually means there is opportunity to make money. None means you better be good at seeing into the future.

How Much Time Will it Take to Get Started?

My hourly rate goes up every month. My knowledge and experience is ever-expanding. While that's great if I can make it translate into money for my businesses that are already growing, it's a disadvantage for any new ones. They need to prove that they will be worth more than that. Quickly.

While some of my projects create passive income, others require regular maintenance. I can't switch off or outsource all of the tasks, so I can't dedicate all of my time to something brand new right now. If I need to take time from other businesses, it has to be special.

If my new idea needs a website, that's a couple of hours. Minor. If I need to learn a brand new business model – and it's going to take a couple of months to get proficient at it – I don't know if I can commit. How long will it take to make £1,000 profit a month? Once I know, I can work from there.

Can I Outsource Most of This Eventually?

It's good practice to make process documents for every task that you have to repeat. It acts a reminder of how to do things properly, and as the foundation for delegation. To grow a business, it's usually worth paying others to do the things you're overqualified for. Learn it yourself properly and then bring others into the game.

Delegate 2K18. If you're competent, come my way. I've got a knack for finding business ideas with tasks that I find monotonous, but others enjoy doing, so are willing to get paid very little for. If I can't offload some of my work to anyone else, I would struggle to fit everything in.

Is there Longevity in the Idea?

One side is if this business idea has viability for several years to come. I'm not investing all of this mental energy for a summer project. I need to know if it will have legs for a while – whether the customers will always be there or not.

The other side is whether I would enjoy it in the long-term. I can't tell what my head is going to be saying in a year, but I know whether I'm really feeling it now. If I'm not 1000% sold now, I won't be in a few months when I think I've got something even better up my sleeve.

Would I Be Proud if it Went to Plan?

There are a few things I’ve done that I can never reveal to the world. Only one other person will be aware that they even happened. I’m at the stage where I want to shout about the things I’m doing to someone, so I can’t do things on the down low any more. Well – I’ll try not to anyway.