FM Walsh & Associates Inc.

The best part of working with entrepreneurs is their energy and their ideas. Great entrepreneurs are like idea machines – constantly coming up with new ideas for business, new ideas for marketing, new ideas for customers and products.

And sometimes the worst part of working with entrepreneurs is all their ideas. It is what I call the “shiny penny syndrome”. They come up with a strategy for business development, they start work on it and then they get distracted by another idea and head off in a new direction. This is a killer for business. Yes, you do need to come up with new creative ideas to keep your business fresh and growing, but you also need to keep focused on your priorities, otherwise time slips by and you are not where you would like to be.

Having too many ideas can be costly. Successful entrepreneurs have developed the ability to take all these ideas, identify the best ones and then actually make the best ones happen. Many great business ideas have languished on the sidelines because no one gets around to taking action - there’s just too much other stuff to get done.

So if you are overwhelmed with ideas, here’s what you do. Grab a notebook, label it Ideas, and start writing down every brilliant idea you come up with. Carry it around with you so it’s there when inspiration strikes.

Once a month, review all your ideas and decide which ones are action-worthy. Which ones will contribute significantly to the growth of your business? Be very picky – only choose the ones that are going to have a big impact.

Then, for each of those ideas, outline all the action steps that have to happen to make this idea come to life. Be thorough. Write down everything that needs to be done – research, design, resources you need, meetings, promotions, etc. Now assign a deadline for each action step and decide who is responsible for getting it done.

Using this simple system keeps you focused on where you really want to use your resources and stops your great ideas from being derailed.