Seth Godin say’s that “you can’t have good ideas unless you’re willing to generate a lot of bad ones,” and while I’ve generated a lot of bad ones, I’ve also had a few gems. The funny thing about those “gems” is that after many false starts, I’ve come to realize that that the concept or idea doesn’t matter, it’s all about how passionately the idea is pursued that makes it worthwhile.

For example: the Snuggie.

Generally speaking the Snuggie is not a brilliant or even original idea (it’s been in SkyMall under a different name for years); basically someone marketed a bathrobe being worn backwards. But it’s a hit, people love it to love it or they love it to mock it, either way it is selling like crazy! In fact, the only reason we all know about this lackluster idea is that someone was crazy enough to wear a bathrobe backwards and passionate enough to see his idea all the way through. (The marketing and pop culture phenomenon behind it is a completely different case study).

Back to my problem: I need something to look forward to entrepreneurially. I have a few fairly well thought out ideas, one of which is a complete revamp of this site to allow for “user generated content” (kind of), another would be very legally intensive because it borders on the line of legality (though everyone I’ve pitched it to loves it), and yet another is to start my own juice bar (I’m kind of obsessed with smoothies).

While I am confident all of the ideas would work, figuring out which concept to commit myself to is another question. Revamping this site would hands down be the easiest and least capital intensive, though the revenue model is questionable. At this stage it’s probably a tossup for the most capital intensive concept between the storefront and the legally questionable concept (which would obviously require a legal team.) The most exciting idea is legally questionable (would create incredible buzz…I already own the domain), the most promising is probably revamping the site, and the juice bar probably has a chance to do the best from a cash-flow standpoint.

My problem really comes down to me being horrible at making decisions. I hate making them; in fact, I’m horrible at it, the only way I cope in day to day life is that I force myself to make a quick last second decision because I know I will be fine either way (Soup or Salad?).

Currently I’m leaning towards revamping the site due to the fact that it is the easiest to moonlight. I still have a lawyer looking into some things for me to see if the waters are navigable for the other concept, but for capital purposes at least I should be able to see a relatively quick result on the website, as opposed to the other two.

I’m sure I’ll always be keeping my eyes open at various ventures, and coming up with random ideas that would work if I was passionate and pursued them, but for now, I’ve built what I feel is a pretty good brand and I’d like to follow it down the rabbit hole to see where it takes me.

After too long, a site revamp is coming. Stay tuned, and I may just need your help.

Thanks for listening.

Related posts:

1. The Playful Entrepreneur
2. The Art of What Not to Post
3. Important Y&F Information: The Risk of the Switch

Thomas Edison is credited with creating the filament in light bulbs that made them feasible for average americans to buy (no he did not invent the lightbulb).  In order to find the correct filament he tried over 2,000 times before getting it right.  If he stopped trying after the first few times, or even the first 1,999 times it would have been deemed a failure, but he didn’t, and thus it is considered successful.

I wish I was writing this after an amazing semester for the Entrepreneur Mentor Society of Dallas-Fort Worth (EMS) so I could rave about success, hard work, and The Power of Gradual, but unfortunately this isn’t the case.  

This semester nothing happened with EMS Dallas except for a lot of talk, after all of the work I put into recruiting only 3 people signed up (ouch). Some people will call this a failure, and I will agree with them; for the time being it has been a failure.  But I know that it isn’t the end, I will try again next semester, and upon trying again this stage will no longer be considered a failure, just a set back because failing is when you quit before you give yourself the chance to succeed. 

My first attempt with EMS was not successful because I did not give myself the chance to succeed. I did not ask for help, and thus I did not succeed, however I won’t call it a failure until I quit.  Over the past few months I developed a good network and I learned some valuable lessons, primarily that I can’t do it all myself and I need to ask for help.  The next few months will be spent re-tooling the concept, and bringing on a student board with leaders at each University, for them to help recruit and share ownership in the organization.

I’m not quitting because I know there are a lot of people who I don’t want to let down, and a lot of students I don’t yet know who I have the desire to help achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.

Related posts:

1. The Playful Entrepreneur
2. The Art of What Not to Post