Business Ideas

I am one that's pretty excited about almost all business opportunities and given that I have owned a couple of companies of my own too, I tend to be the target for advice with my friends who are considering about starting a business.

The conversation usually starts with, "which idea should I go with?" or "What do you think about this, this, and that..." I think it's become quite apparent that for the former question, I have become accustomed to answering with, "pick what's the simplest..." and the latter, my answer is usually based on "whether or not an idea is simple enough." So why do I stress that?

I stress simplicity because almost all complex products are slow money makers and often times have much greater risk and more barriers to conquer before the company can even start attaining a small amount of positive cash flow. Therefore, unless you are already a fortune 500 company CEO and have all the network and funding you will ever need, a simple idea is what anyone should bank on to "make their first million." Look at the million dollar homepages out there! Look at your 25 year old next door neighbor that does "paid by the click" internet marketing and generates about $3-4 million each year. They all respectively bank on a simple idea.

Furthermore, a simple idea is a pitch that will spread quicker. The faster your customer base can understand your pitch, the faster and easier it is for you to make the sale. In fact, it may even come in handy when it comes to looking for funding. I just caught a WSJ article from my business partner and friend in LA with a quote that really caught my eyes:

"If it takes us more than five minutes to understand what the product is, we are not going to fund it," George Zachary, Partner | Charles River Ventures