As an EIT (Entrepreneur-in-Training), you need to realize that a great business idea will never just ‘fall into your lap’.  In my experience, and from speaking to successful young entrepreneurs, you must actively partake in an ideation process.

There are many places that you can look for a good idea, but some of my favorites have been included in a past post that I wrote on Entrepreneurial Resources.  Among those are:

Twitter: Following like-minded entrepreneurs who dedicate their time to reviewing and sharing entrepreneurial resources is very worthwhile.

Google Reader: It’s difficult to follow all the great entrepreneurial blogs out there but Google Reader helps me keep up to date.  It shows all new blog posts and will mark them as ‘unread’ until I read through them – great system.  Ben Yoskovitz mentions a few great ones in his recent post Check Out These Startup Blogs.

Newsletters: Check out Trendwatching and Springwise – enough said.

Magazines: Although I do a lot of online reading, I still enjoy sitting down to read a good old fashioned magazine every once in a while.  I subscribe to Inc., Fast Company, and Canadian Business.

Free E-Books: We have many free e-books in our Resources section, but there are many more available on DocStoc.com as well as Google Books.

After you’ve been inspired, there are a few options for figuring out when you should become an entrepreneur.

First, you could put some time into researching and (using some suggested entrepreneurial resources to find an idea now) plan to pursue an idea as soon as you are able.  You could use the above resources and, either individually, or as a team, review new start-up ideas periodically.  In fact, you could start finding an entrepreneurial-minded team today on Garage Entrepreneurs!

You may also keep your eyes open as you pursue other career options.  Many ideas stem from observations that entrepreneurs make in their immediate world.  Entrepreneurs build companies to exploit opportunities or fix problems that get noticed in our own lives and you will be more likely to encounter opportunities when you have a hands-on approach.

Expand your horizons and place yourself in the “idea flow” of new business ideas.  Websites like Springwise and KillerStartups review a large volume of new start-ups every week.  Get a group together and review some of these ideas today!

Passion: One common characteristic about all entrepreneurs is that they’re passionate about what they’re doing. If you’re a young entrepreneur starting (or thinking about starting) a new business, you need to be able to live it, breathe it, eat it and sleep it, EVERY DAY. Before you start off on your own, make sure you have the passion to follow your business idea through and be able to do it every day consistently.

Persuasiveness: Being passionate about your idea is one thing, being able to properly communicate that idea, and persuade others to buy into what you’re doing is another. In a new business you’ll have to be persuasive when talking to potential customers, or when dealing with suppliers, or when looking for feedback. You should always be ready and able to persuade someone that your business idea is a great one.

Patience: Whether it is waiting to hear back from a customer/client, or waiting for your new website to develop, you need to exercise patience as an entrepreneur. There were many times when I would have loved to pick up the phone and remind a customer that I’m waiting to hear back from her about a potential new deal, but exercising a little bit of patience can go a long way.

Pain Threshold: No matter what your business is, you’re going to experience a certain amount of pain as an entrepreneur. Whether it be waiting for a project to be finished that is three weeks over a deadline, or paying twice as much as you originally anticipated for a prototype, you’re going to have to have a high threshold for pain. Tough it out, it will get better.

The 4 P’s of entrepreneurship seem to come up again and again for entrepreneurs – be prepared for them when starting up your new business!

Having a great idea isn’t what makes great new businesses. No one ever got rich from a great idea; they got rich from turning that idea into a profitable business. In addition, no investor will give you money for a good idea – you’ve got to take the idea and validate it in order to make it a business that will attract investors.

Validating (or invalidating) your business idea is extremely important to you, as an entrepreneur, because it can help give you the confidence to take the entrepreneurial leap of faith and dive into this idea full-steam ahead. So many entrepreneurs can get caught spending thousands, sometimes millions of dollars and many years on a business idea without ever getting to the point of validation.

So, how can you validate your new idea and turn it into a business?

Stop a bleeding neck wound. This is an expression used by one of my business professors and extremely successful entrepreneur. Make sure that your idea is solving a real problem for your customers. What is the real pain that your customers are suffering, and how can you make it better? Years ago, I developed an advertising medium which enabled private companies to target students on university campuses. Large companies are typically blocked from advertising on university campuses (bleeding neck wound), and I came up with a way to effectively reach students.

Get feedback. Getting honest feedback from industry professionals and close friends has been invaluable to our business development. Present your idea to these individuals and allow them to poke holes in it, then re-work it and make it better. Often, explaining your idea to different people helps you convert pie-in-the-sky ideas to real, tangible business concepts. If you can’t get your friends to understand your idea, it’s probably time to go back to the drawing board.

Find your metric and measure it. Your metric will depend on the type of business that you want to build. If it’s a lawn-care business it could be number of call-backs from the flyers that you delivered last week. If it’s an online business it could be site traffic. Find that key metric, measure it, and follow the trend.

Make a sale. Perhaps the best way to validate your idea is to make the first sale or get your first purchase order. The key here is that you want to spend the minimal amount of money/time possible to make that first sale, and scale up from there. If you can show a potential investor that “with only x dollars, we’ve come this far,” they’ll be more inclined to give you a bit more cash to get to the next stage.

Although validating your idea may seem intuitive, so many entrepreneurs keep working at an idea even when it has not been validated at all. Before you decide to quit school, leave your job, or devote a year to your new project, validate the idea and prepare to scale it up from there.

See the next post in the Garage Entrepreneurs Business Planning Blog Series: Prove and Get Operational.

The first (and perhaps the most important) check is the ‘gut check’: Does it match with your personal values, and does it make sense to look into this idea a bit more in-depth? To make an assessment at this stage, perform three tests:

Smell Test: Does it seem good conceptually? Have you put some time into thinking this through? Is this something that you can genuinely see working?

Fit Test: Is this something that you can devote most of your time and energy to? If it’s a great idea, but you aren’t passionate about it, how long will it be before you run out of steam? For example, in the Summer Business Ideas Post, starting a photography business could be a great idea, but I’m not personally passionate about photography- it doesn’t pass my ‘fit’ test.

Mom Test: Is this something that you will be genuinely proud of doing? In other words, could you brag to your mom or dad about what you’ve accomplished?

The ‘gut check’ is all about setting your own criteria, and comparing the business idea them. If you’ve got limited time available, maybe you can’t start the next Lululemon, but you can start a small, local clothing design company. Come up with your own criteria and apply them to other businesses in your area. Are there business that ‘fit’ with what you’d like to do?

Although the ‘gut check’ is extremely important, there are a number of more in-depth, strategic questions you should ask yourself when looking to take your idea to the next level. Although this list is not exhaustive, it could be a good way to determine if your business idea is worth taking to the next level.

Take your business idea (or one from the Summer Business Ideas Post) and rate each of the below questions from 1 to 5 (low – high):

1. Is this new? (1. Not at all – 5. Never been done)
2. Will the market buy it? (Maybe – They have already bought some!)
3. Does your customer benefit? (Maybe – Definitely improves the lives of customers)
4. What are the margins? (<15% – >50%)*more on margins in later posts*
5. Will customers buy more than once? (Once only – Yes, predictably)
6. Is there a long-term need? (It’s just a fad – Not ending any time soon)
7. Are there sufficient resources? (Very limited – Tons!)
8. Can it be copied? (Easily – I’ve taken/researched ways to prevent it)
9. Is there waste? (Very inefficient, poor management skills – Very efficient)
10. Is there supplier power? (You can only get parts from one company – Many sources)
11. Do you have the expertise? (You have no experience in the industry – You have specialized skills)

What did you score? By answering these questions, you`ll begin to see if this is a viable business idea that you might want to take to the next level. In addition, you`ll be able to see what areas you are weak in and potentially improve them. Take the time now to rate your business idea.

Perhaps the single, most important test to run the idea through is the ‘passion test’. If you are not excited about your idea, no one will be. You need to have the passion to work on this idea when you`ve heard “this isn`t going to work” a hundred times. Can you live it, breathe it, eat it, and sleep it EVERYDAY?

See the next post in this series, Validating Your Idea.

In searching the internet there is no one-stop-shop, definitive place for young entrepreneurs to find start-up resources. At Garage Entrepreneurs we would like to help you start your first business with our Business Planning Blog Series. Starting next week we are going to show you how to take a business idea from the brainstorming stage right through to planning, marketing, and selling your goods/services for a profit! The series will take place once a week for an eight week period, just in time for you to launch a business this summer.

To get your creative juices flowing, here is a list of summer business ideas that you will be able to start after our eight-week ‘Business Planning Blog Series‘. Feel free to add any ideas that you can think of!

• eBay Store: You can sell just about anything on eBay and thousands of people report six figure incomes from selling on the world’s most popular auction site.
• Tutoring: Do you excel at a certain subject at school?  Do you have a specific skill that others would find valuable?  Offer to teach others at a premium price!
• Start a Summer Camp: A few friends of mine started a baseball camp in Toronto last summer with a ton of success.  Start-up costs of employees, some basic equipment, and basic marketing and you’re off to the races!
• Landscaping/Lawncare: For a low up-front cost you could supply landscaping services/lawncare to a group of local residents
• Assistant for Seniors: Business executives, celebrities, and politicians have personal assistants so why not senior citizens? You can offer services such as running errands, booking appointments, or just spending some time together shopping or having a coffee.
• Gaming Gym for Kids: If we want kids to be active and healthy we need to make it fun. You could start a kid’s gym that uses gaming technology like the Wii Fit to deliver fun fitness classes.
• Customer Service Auditing: Businesses need customer services auditors (also known as mystery shoppers) to help improve the customers’ experience. I had a customer experience business throughout university and I built a steady client base that allowed me to make between $100 and $200/hour; not bad for a university student!
• Anything Green: In the last couple years we have seen an explosion of “green” products and services and the industry is expected to continue its high growth rate. There are opportunities for “green” products like stationary, clothing, handbags, and packaging to name a few and services like driving, dining, and cleaning. The possibilities are endless.
• Jewelry Store: If you’re crafty and creative you may enjoy making jewelry to sell in a store or online.
• Event Planning: Event planners are needed for everything from weddings to corporate functions. You need to be well organized and energetic.
• Mobile Applications: Applications for the iPhone and BlackBerry are in-demand if you’re a programmer.
• Freelancer: Be your own boss as a freelance writer, editor, consultant, graphic designer, programmer, etc. Freelancing is a very simple way to run your own business.
• Gallery: If you love art you can sell artwork online, ask to hang it in local coffee shops, or consider starting your own art gallery.
• Online or Boutique Store with Organic Foods/Products: Sales of organic items are up. Planet Organic, an organic retailer, posted a 106% increase in sales for 2008.
• Specialty Services for Pets: People love their pets. Bank on that by opening a pet spa, selling dog clothes, or starting a food retail business that offers organic food for pets.
• Interior Decorator or Designer: If you have a knack for design, you could start an interior design business. A membership with a wholesaler will enable you to make a profit selling furniture and accessories to your clients as well.
• Specialty Dessert Store: If you love to bake you could sell baked goods or chocolates with nice packaging and offer a delivery option.
• Personal Shopping Assistant: Sometimes people need a little help putting together the perfect outfits. Some malls now offer a ‘personal shopper’ service and there are opportunities to offer your services at malls that don’t already have personal shoppers available.
• Technical Assistant: If you are tech-savvy there are opportunities to help people who aren’t. You could help people set up their electronic equipment or give computer lessons to those who are “technically challenged.”
• Catering Service: If you love food and people you can start a catering service. A niche market like organic catering or ethnic catering could give you a competitive advantage.
• Professional Critic: You can review products, businesses, or services online or for a magazine. Consult with companies and offer solutions for improvement.
• Personal Organization Service: If you keep your home spotless, you may be able to help other people do the same. You can make a profit on people’s messy lives!
• Photography: Photographers are always needed for portraits, weddings, and other events. Once you build a portfolio your business could get hired for magazines and advertisements.
• Financial Planning: If you’ve been good at handling your own finances perhaps you would be good at helping others, especially students, manage theirs. Students need help balancing expenses, student loans, income, savings, and investing.

Pick one of these and carry it through our Business Planning Blog Series starting next week.