You Have An Idea...Use It, Before You Lose It!

After undergrad, I moved to St. Louis, Missouri to stay with a close friend who had landed a job in the city a year earlier.  She was gracious enough to let me stay with her until I could find a job and get on my feet.  She and I used to laugh and talk about the things that we wanted to do in the future - business wise.  We always had really creative ideas and we knew that one day those great ideas were going to bring in the bucks.

One day, I had this really great idea.  I had it all worked out in my mind, commercial and all.  I shared this idea with my friend when she returned home from work and I thought that she would be just excited as I was about my idea, but she laughed so hard that I thought she was going to hurt herself.  So that was that.  I never mentioned the idea again and kept other ideas to myself. 

But, guess what happened one day?  We were watching television and on comes this commercial.  What was the commercial about?  The very product that I had once discussed with my friend.  What was my idea? It was an enhancement to an existing product - adding a camera to the cell phone.  OK, laugh if you may, but someone else had this vision too and are laughing all the way to the bank.

Have you ever had an idea that you thought would enhance an existing product or service?  What did you do with that idea?  Did you write it down with hopes to use it one day?  Did you start researching the project but lost the motivation to complete it?  Maybe you ran your idea by a friend and they laughed at you.   Whatever your idea is, rest assured, someone else has probably had the same or similar idea and it truly comes down to who is going to be the one to execute the idea.  You will learn that you can't always share your ideas with everyone.  God gave Y-O-U the idea or vision and they really won't be able to see where you are headed with it. 

Todd Greene is a great example of someone who had their idea laughed at but is now laughing all the way to the bank.  Mr. Greene is the creator of a product called HeadBlade(RT).  Mr. Greene was going bald and was having problems shaving his head with a traditional razor so he created a razor that would allow users to more easily control the razor while shaving (http://www.headblade.com).  Mr. Greene ran his product ideas by some of the major companies that sold razors and related products and was turned down.  He then took matters into his own hand and used funds borrowed from family and friends to create his product.  The same companies that turned him down are now his clients.

Your idea may seem far-fetched and hard to reach, but remember that with God, all things are possible (Philippians 4:13).  Don't let fear set in, take the vision and run with it (Habakkuk 2).  Take those ideas and use them!!!!!!

LaTorya L. Nettles