Turning Business Ideas into Business Reality

Unless you intend to start up as a competitor to NASA, running a business isn't rocket science. Anyone can have an idea for a new business. The entrepreneurs are those who put that idea into wheel-spinning, cash-registering action, and brilliant ideas require some brilliance in terms of planning and moving forward.

An idea is just that - an idea - and one that is in limbo until something is done with it, until it is seized and actioned. That is where goals play an important role.

The Power of Pen Plus Paper

In 1953, a group of graduates from Yale University were asked one question: ' Which of you has written specific goals?'

Just three per cent of the students answered affirmative. That three per cent had clear, written goals.

Fast-forward some 20 years to 1973. The same group of graduates were surveyed once more. That three per cent who had written clear goals had accumulated more wealth between them than the remaining 97 per cent combined!

So make sure you commit your goals to paper. Mark your intentions, hopes and ambitions and, in doing so, you've taken the first step to fulfilling them.

You need a clear vision of what success means to you in order to achieve it.

Bill Gates dreamed of a time when there was 'a computer on every desk' and Henry Ford wanted to create 'a car for the masses'. Dame Anita Roddick wanted to 'expose the lies of the beauty industry and make a difference in the world'. They all achieved those big dreams. What's your vision? Write it down now:

• I dream that one day
• Not only that. I also dream that I will

The Inspiration Game

The world can be a harsh and unforgiving place, and the business world is no different. It is ultimately your ability to stoke your engine with passion and belief that will act as the trigger to help you work, commit, make choices, overcome obstacles and persist.

As you start working for yourself you will find that inspiration will be interrupted by the daily grind and denied by the demands of your business, so take daily doses. Get your inspiration fix often and keep that engine burning.