A lot of people dream of building the next Google (my favorite example), Apple, Facebook, or any other “revolutionary” company / product / service. All of the media and press surrounding these juggernauts reinforces this zeitgeist.

As a result, many entrepreneurs believe that the only way to create and build a success company is to create an entirely new product or service category. So they bang their heads against the wall trying to dream up the Hoverboard or space travel company.

Unfortunately, the reality is that these aforementioned examples, and probably 98% of HUGE business successes, aren’t revolutionary at all. In fact, they are all evolutionary.

If you think of any “revolutionary” product or service - Excite.com (search engine), Diamond Rio (MP3 player), SixDegrees.com (social network), Diners Club (credit card) - you find a common theme among all of them: they are a footnote in the history of the product they created. Let’s look at each one:

Search Engines - Dominated by Google

MP3 Players - Dominted by the iPod (Apple)

Social Networking - Dominated by Facebook (or MySpace depending on your opinion)

Credit Cards - Dominated by Visa and Mastercard (Diners Club was acquired by MC)

None of these market leaders created the category that they dominate. All that they did was identify a growing market and make the existing product incrementally better by identifying a critical flaw in the existing product. It’s pretty rare that you will find a market innovator that’s still dominating the market.

So, what’s the moral of the story for the beginning entrepreneur?

Stop focusing on trying to create some kind of “evolutionary” product or service. Don’t waste you time trying to dream up the next superstar. Plus, just imagine how many “evolutionary” products or services are total flops in the marketplace? Way too much risk for the bootstrapping entrepreneur.

Think incremental improvements. This is where the money is. Think about the products and services in your everyday life. What sucks about them? Is there a way to make it a little better? Why is it made this way? Can you create a better product? Cheaper? Faster? Better? Easier? This approach is much less risky because you already know the product or service sells. Now it’s just a matter of making it a little better. The iPod made music transfer easy.

Now get out there and put this into action.

J

Being my own boss, a lot of people ask me for advice on starting their own gig.

It’s always the same ‘ole story - “I work too much for what I get paid. I’d rather be working for myself. I’ve got a couple of business ideas I’ve been thinking abut.” (If you’re self-employed you’ll know what I’m talkin about)

99% of the time (God Bless ‘em) these people have an idea based around a hobby or passion that they have, or an idea “they just know” will be the next Google.

The Conversation

As an entrepreneur who has fallen on his face countless (maybe hundreds of) times, I always try to be polite and say something along the lines of:

“Cool, sounds like a marketable idea. Have you tested it out yet?”

Then I get the deer-in-the-headlights look and the conversation progresses as follows:

“Uh… No…. What do mean?” they’ll say.

“Do you have any customers or made any sales yet?”

“No man, it’s just an idea right now.”

“Ok, well, when you’ve got at least one customer or sale, get back to me. Would love to help.”

Usually they will walk away pissed, confused, or defeated. But they get over it.

The Harsh Reality

What most non-entrepreneurial people don’t “get” is that the entrepreneurship process is all about TESTING. You keep “testing” ideas until you hit on something that works.

People who’ve built successful businesses didn’t have one “magical” idea that just happened to work out. Usually they’ve gotten their nose bloody trying idea after idea, until they stumble upon the homerun, or in Google’s case, the grand slam.

Just like anything in life - investing, getting laid, getting a job - it’s a numbers game. Would you ever invest in only one stock? Would you only try to pick up one girl? Apply to one job?

You Can’t Fail If You Don’t Give Up

After you encounter and learn from your failures enough times, you WILL eventually stumble on a success It’s unrealistic to set goals like becoming the next Bill Gates, Larry Page, or <Insert-Your-Young-And-Super-Successful-And-Slightly-Lucky-Entrepreneur-Here>.

You can never fail if you don’t give up. That is the key to keep shooting until you hit your target and find the idea that works.

This is why former professional athletes, military personnel, and other highly-disciplined people go on to become wildly successful in the business world. They’ve been taught to persevere and never give up.

People say Tiger Woods was born with genetic advantages. That may be true but it’s just an excuse. He also works his ass off 10x HARDER than other golfer on tour. Look at what he did at the Open. Unbelievable.

Moral of The Story

Before you get too obsessed or caught up in an idea you have, test it out first. You can test most ideas without quitting your day job.

Oh yeah, if it’s an idea that you’d have to quit your day job to test out, or get venture funding just to setup the infrastructure, then scrap it for now and work on ideas that feasible to your current position in life. We all had to start “small” to learn how to manage “big”.

You’ve got plenty of time to chase the big fish.

-j

PS - In my next installment, I’ll talk about why you are more fortunate than you think and the mental game you have to master.