7 Tips on Idea Generation

Bernard Leong

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Tip 1:Ideas are cheap and don’t get too hung over by them.

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Tip 2:An idea may not be an invention &

An invention may not be a good business.

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Tip 3:Break the whole process with a time limit

and be disciplined about time.

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Tip 4:Generate as many ideas as possible and forget about constraints first.

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Tip 5:Select the best 3 ideas from the list and

get the best one by elimination & debate.

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Tip 6:With the best idea, start imposing constraints by asking the

following questions:

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5 Simple Questions:

• What is the product/service/idea involving the industry?

• Who are the paying and non-paying customers?

• How do you market the product?

• How do you charge for the product?

• When do you know that the product fails?

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Tip 7:Once you have worked that out, test the idea by creating

the prototype and take it to market.

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You will fail if ...

• you keep harping on whether you get the grants.

• you don’t even think about creating a prototype to test the market.

• you don’t listen to feedback when you let the market respond to you.

• you should quit and start again if the idea really have no market traction.

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Lastly ...the aim of a business is to generate revenues and deliver

customer value.Execution is key.

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References

• SGEntrepreneurs: http://www.sgentrepreneurs.com

• SPRING: http://www.spring.gov.sg

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