Trying to come up with some new business ideas?
If team brainstorming sessions fill you with panic, it's ok. Creativity is a process, not joojoo.
After all, 'There is no such thing as a truly original idea.' (Thank you Mark Twain.)
Anything new that we can imagine, must be borne of existing concepts. For example, a wifi-enabled elephant-shaped cheese slicer - whilst it doesn’t exist (one hopes), is still made up of our concept of wifi, a fish and a cheese slicer. So nothing is ever entirely new.
We just have to mix and match existing concepts.Heuristic Ideation Technique
There is a great ideas generation tool based on this concept - and the principle that dissimilar concepts combined are generally more creative than similar concepts combined. (eg., cheese-slicer/elephant as opposed to cheese-slicer/carrot-slicer)
It’s called the Heuristic Ideation Technique, developed by Edward Tauber, father of Brand Extension Research. And it is great for coming up with new ideas quickly. Here’s how to do it. Get your pen and paper ready!
- Create a grid, 3x3.
- Choose two areas connected to what you want to generate ideas from. In this example, I have used a charity which provides advice, funding and accessible formats for disabled people. I could choose printing equipment and advertising methods, or lollipops and chocolate bunnies, depending on my business.
- Now put the properties of one in a row along the top, and the other, down the side in the left-hand column. In this example, I have chosen their offerings and their platforms.
- Write down all the combinations; you should find at least one or two new business ideas that you hadn't thought of. Often, it's the weirdest ones that create the best ideas.
Try it out - the best thing about this tool is that it's fun, as well as effective!
... naturally, once you have your new business ideas fleshed out, I would recommend that you use a good copywriter who can help you to market them ...
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