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Wayne: Today, we’re going to talk about that situation where you’ve got all these business ideas and you don’t really know which one to do, and we’re going to hopefully help kind of guide you through that decision making process.
Cem: I know, for me, this is like a huge issue. I used to go to so many life seminars and talks to decide, “Okay, which one am I actually going to go after,” and I think often the idea … I still come out and be like, “I don’t know which one to do.” Until you actually just decide, “You know what, I’m just going to give whichever one I’m feeling the most energy for, just give that a go and go all in in it,” because you’re going to go a lot further just actually focusing on one thing rather than jumping in and out of each one. I know sometimes you won’t even get it off the ground if you’re only giving it like minimal attention.
Cem: It’s even for me right now like managing my business, managing the podcast, managing lots of stuff, there is always one that is a priority and the others are going to fall by the side ways, and they are the ones that when I look at them, I say, “Well, that ain’t improving. That isn’t going any further. That hasn’t changed in the last however long.” Because there is not the focus on it, and so what you need to do is just look at that list of ideas, which one gets you excited, which one do you feel you have energy for, which one the one that keeps coming to the top of your mind and saying, “Ah, if only I just could do this one.” Just go for it. It might not even be initially you think you’re going to do it for like, I don’t know, a month. You’re not sure if it’s working out. You’ve just got to keep going because the more time, the more energy you put into something, the more feedback you’re going to get from it, and I think that’s what happens in business. I think when you put energy and focus and you know what you want into something, it’s like you’re rewarded and you’re given like a little hook that kind of motivates you at the point where you think, “Is this really the thing?”
Cem: I know people that are sitting on ideas they’ve had for years that they wanted to do and they’re still telling me about it and that could be like three or four years ago. It’s like, “Well, if you just took three months out of your life and actually put everything into you, you would’ve known there and then if it was going to change your life potentially.”
Wayne: Yeah, and I think also, and I know Gary researches on this a lot. If you’ve got all of these ideas, don’t use the abundance of ideas that you have as an excuse for not executing on any of them. I always think of Netflix on this one. If you think of where Netflix is now and how of a big deal Netflix is, Netflix started out as essentially an online version of Blockbusters where they would send you a DVD in the post and you would send it back a few days later. That’s how Netflix began. Now whether or not Netflix had the idea of being it’s own film studio is another question entirely, but let’s assume that that was their big vision to begin with. Obviously they didn’t jump straight in and go like, “We’re a film studio now.” They started by sending DVDs and stuff to people, and that’s where you can get to. But you have to decide on what idea to execute on. Now, obviously with Netflix, they decided to go with the rental thing, and that then built the capital for them to then create this film studio idea. But if they could’ve done it the other way around. But they had all these multiple ideas, clearly, on things that they could do around film, and they just executed on one of them.
Wayne: You never really know where a certain idea is going to ultimately take you. For example, we didn’t think when we did the podcast that we were going to be going into universities and talking to students and doing things like that and running workshops and helping people with their business ideas and things like that. That was never anything that we had even considered was going to be a possibility. All we decided to do was take our conversations, record them, and put them out on the internet. But it is a challenge, right?
Wayne: I don’t want to dismiss the challenge of having all these ideas, but I think you’re right, Cem, and it’s something that I battle with a lot as well with everything I do. I’ve got my theater company. I’ve got the podcast. I’ve got my podcast business that I am setting up at the minute. I have my acting stuff. I also have I sit on a trade union committee, which does take up a bit of my time as well. And I’ve got all these things running around. It’s like, “Okay, well, I’ve got to try and focus on one,” and sometimes like my theater company hasn’t done anything in over 12 months, and that’s kind of sat by the waist side for the time being, and you never really know when that’s going to come up. But it’s not a priority right now.
Wayne: So I think you just kind of have to go with … In many ways, just go with your gut. What is exciting you at that point and just go with that. I don’t think there really is a right answer to which one to go for, but if you don’t go all in, then, as Cem says, it will just stagnate.
Cem: Yeah, and I think as well if you’re someone who’s in a nine to five, then you’ve got all these side ideas, sometimes just look at which ones, like which one can you go almost all in on, which is the most practical. Like you said about Netflix didn’t go straight for film studio because that takes a lot of money. But if you’re someone who’s got a nine to five and your idea is create a software business or start selling cool design t-shirts, I’d be like, “Okay. Well, the t-shirts is the most practical one and it means it’s got the least up front cost. It probably needs the least amount of my time, but at least I can get it out there and test it really quickly and then know whether that’s going to work or not.” And you can work through it. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you.
Cem: These ideas aren’t going to go, but you just use what your current situation is saying on which one you can actually give enough attention to that you’re actually going to make something of it rather than do this half ass attempt or constantly be telling people, “I’ve got this idea.”
Cem: They be like, “Well, how’s it going?”
Cem: “Well, I’ve done nothing with it.” You’ve been saying that for the last two years.
Cem: It’s like go out there, test it, crack on with it. Because I know since I’ve dropped a lot of my video work, and, again, cut down on quite a bit on the podcast, like the podcast won’t taking up too much time anyway. But my whole focus now going on my business, and that’s the thing I can see that is growing. And I think that’s a massive problem people have when they’re young and when you’ve got ideas, you’re just trying to do everything and you’re stuck, you’re worried about, “Oh, no. Which one’s going to be the right one? If I fail at it, that’s going to my only chance. I’ll never be able to do it again. I’m going to look stupid.” It’s like, no, just work on something. Put your focus into it fully and trust me, you’ll get the rewards from it.
Wayne: Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, again, don’t kind of get trapped in this, “I’ve got all these ideas thing,” is ultimately what we’re saying. Just go with something. I think there is, as Cem says, this practicality to it as well. Like what is going to cost you the most to start up is probably the one that you should probably not focus on initially. What’s the biggest risk financially is probably not the one you should begin with. That being said though, again, there is no right or wrong answer. Sometimes that is the one that you should go with because the market is so good. But you do have to do research, and I think just going in with kind of, “I have all these ideas. Which one do I want to do,” is not … It’s such a tough one, right? Because there is that element of trust your gut because if you’re not excited about it and it’s just an idea that you’ve had because it’s going to make you loads of money, then actually it probably won’t make you loads of money.
Wayne: But also, at the same time, just getting excited about something that actually there’s no market for is also going to be a huge waste of your time. But then also, by the same token, and this is where business does get complicated, there might not be a market for it yet. I mean, everybody laughed at Netflix when they started creating their own content, and now Disney are going, “Shit, we need to create our own competitor to Netflix.” They’re pulling everything off Netflix so they can have their own version, and all of the like ITV and BBC here in this country are now trying to team up together to create their competitor to Netflix. Sky’s in trouble because everybody’s gone to Netflix. So sometimes the market doesn’t know what it wants. So it’s research and gut I think combined. You need to know what excites you because otherwise you just are not going to move forward with it. But then, that being said, if you’re not move forward with it yet and the ideas been percolating around for a like five years, then are you really going to move forward with it anyways? I think is my frustration.
Cem: Yeah, I think if you’ve got ideas and you’ve not done any of them, it’s either confidence, it’s out of your ego or it’s just fear that’s being in that actually you’re safer having ideas but not actually doing anything about them, but that’s probably like a whole other can of worms that I’m not going to open just yet.
Wayne: Tough love. Tough love. So yeah, it’s a hard one to answer, but yeah. Gut and research, combine the two, and hopefully that should give you what you need.
If you want any questions answered, or if you have any ideas for anythings you’d like us to address, send us an email, Wayne@powerfulnonsense.com or Cem@powerfulnonsense.com, or you can look us up on the Twitterz @PN_Podcast, and we will take it into consideration. And also, please do leave us a nice little review on the old iTunes. It really does help get the word out there for the show. Five stars or more, greatly appreciated.