No one stole your idea, deal with it

How many times have you heard your friends say, “we should start this business, we should start that business…”?  (or maybe it’s just my friends hehehehe)  Empty goals with no action.  So I was reading a Mashable article on a new startup that delivers your favorite toiletries to your hotel room when you travel, so that you don’t have to lug it with you in pint-size containers on your carry-on.  The first thing that popped into my mind was that “hey my friend wanted to start this business too”.

If you are a smart person, you would know by now that ideas are just ideas, in my opinion most are not unique.  If you are too afraid to go to a networking event to discuss your new business idea openly, then it wasn’t that good of an idea if it’s easy to replicate.  Alright, so what makes one business idea better than the other?  Well, it’s a combination of team (ability to execute), idea (compelling value proposition), and market (size and ability to capture a piece of it).

Okay, back to the story.  Yes, probably my friend could have started a similar “Suite Arrival“-like business, but the passion needs to be there too.  For instance, if it were me, I am not too excited to run a toiletry delivery service.  It’s a cool idea, but I am not interested in starting it up and growing it.  Nope, not me.