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Almost everyone I know has great ideas for a business, philanthropic mission, or artistic endeavour. At the same time, few of them will ever get any of those great ideas off the ground. Why is that? The reason is that we never start. If you do not start you will never finish. What are the barriers to moving forward with a great idea? There are several.

• Fear of failure
• No time
• Lack of experience
• Lack of money
• Procrastination

We will not solve all of these problems in one article but I believe that I can encourage you to get moving and get dangerous. A co-worker of mine has a fantastic saying. He says “What would happen if we were wildly successful ten times more than we ever expected”. In other words, stop fretting about “what can make me fail” and set our attitudes to dream about success. Plan for the win instead of dreading the loss. This may sound like new age principals or like a speech from a motivational speaker. Without proper thought and planning it would be. However, the proper thought and planning can take place in an evening or a weekend. Not every idea needs a long range strategic plan or a detailed market analysis. A well thought out plan of action with a vision and a goal will generally suffice.

Are you dreaming now? If so, that is wonderful. The next step is to stop dreaming and start doing. Here are three possible methods to get a specific idea off the ground.

1) Website or Software BusinessThis is probably the quickest and easiest way to start a business. To quick start a software based business write down your vision for the product you want to sell. Is it a piece of desktop software? a website? etc… Determine what makes your idea new or significantly better than what is out there today. Spend a few hours with friends hashing out the high level designs. Create a staged plan that would allow you to create a private beta release in the timespan of a weekend. Then form a small team and create the first release. Take a Friday night through Sunday weekend and dedicate it to the first release. If you form a good team there is no reason why 90% of ideas cannot make private beta in one weekend if the pre planning was completed ahead of time. I am in the early stages of planning such a weekend. In fact, I’m hoping to get a large group to do one a week for 20 weeks.

2) RestaurantStarting a restaurant is a serious commitment of time and funds. It takes a lot of planning and if you have no experience running a restaurant may even take years of planning. Most new restaurants fail to make enough money to stay alive. These land mines of peril should not stop you from moving forward with your restaurant idea. It is OK to start small and grow over time. The first step is to write down your vision for a restaurant. Find what would make your place special and better than the rest. From there, build slowly. Here are some ideas:

• Find a breakfast place and work with the owner to open one evening a week for a special themed meal. You could serve German food one week and Chinese the next. Hire a musician to play themed music.
• Talk to a dinner restaurant and work with them to open Saturday mornings for breakfast.

(In both cases above , you can run the special day but with help from an experienced restaurant owner. )

• Start a small business that makes family style meals and delivers them to local residents.
• Open a weekend side cart type place where you serve excellent soups and sandwiches

. Do this better than the typical hot dog stand. Offer more condiments. Think about extras you can give that do not cost much. Find a great sauce or salsa that people will think of when they hear your name. Play nice music. Do something that makes you stand out!

3)Mission or Philanthropic Organization Many people want to make the world a better place but lack of inertia often prevents us from beginning. Sometimes we think problems are too big for us. Some problems are too big for us right now but with training, experience, and passion you can change the world. Just like when starting a business you need to write down your vision. Determine what problem you are trying to solve and how will you solve it. Then start small. Volunteer at a local school, church, or government program. These places are full of people who want to change the world and who are looking for a vision to follow. Be helpful and build a good reputation. Keep telling people about your vision. You will find that the skills needed to full fill your vision are probably close by. You will meet people who’s skills and abilities compliment yours. From there, start a small group that moves toward your vision. Your passion and caring will draw others to your vision.