Transcript
Welcome to Startup Revival, the number one podcast for Christian entrepreneurs, with your hosts Matthew Bell and Rafael Simpson. The world needs more entrepreneurs. Build something.
Matthew Bell:???????????? Alright, welcome to the Startup Revival Podcast. We are so glad you joined us this week. If you didn’t join us last week, this is now a weekly podcast for the Startup Revival community and all are welcome. This is a podcast for Christian entrepreneurs. Again, all are welcome. I’m Matthew Bell with my cohost, Rafael Simpson, and we’re super-excited you joined us this week. Raf, how’d you do last week? Did you have a good week?
Rafael Simpson:????????? Had a great week. Had a great week. Just been traveling. Actually was in Toronto, which is funny: It’s the first time I actually went to Canada, which for me is a little crazy. I’m traveling almost every week and really been everywhere from the Middle East, Europe, I mean, all over the world, Israel, but never made it to Canada. So Toronto was good. It was actually a great city.
Matthew Bell:???????????? Yeah, awesome. I remember Toronto. I went in high school once. Beautiful city, clean city, kind of like New York but a lot cleaner, I’d say, and obviously a little bit different weather, climate, with those harsh winters that they get in Canada. But overall, I do enjoy that state. So, well, great. Welcome back. I count on you to give me [00:01:35] I live vicariously through you because you’re traveling a whole lot more than me these days and it’s exciting to hear the stories of your travels.
But again, guys, welcome to the podcast. We’re getting super-excited about what God?s doing and we have a growing Facebook community. So if you’re not connected with us on Facebook, join the Startup Revival Facebook group, get engaged. There’s a lot of great chatter, a lot of great resources, and a lot of things to learn from each other as well as some of the experts we?ll be bringing in. If you can go to Facebook.com/groups/startuprevival to join it, and we’d love to have you be a part of it with us.
But today, what we decided we’re going to focus on for the next series of podcasts is, we get a lot of questions both through email support as well as people dropping them in the Facebook groups and one of the common ones that’s coming up and I think it’s worth addressing over the next few weeks is very simple, simply this: ?I have an idea, what do I do next?? So that’s a really interesting one because, Raf, I know you’re the same way, but I have ideas all day long about what types of businesses I can do, what types of businesses I can start, things that I can do for the businesses I’m already currently in, and it’s a very practical question to tackle, which is, ?Once I have this idea, what do I do next??
And as Christians, we are very creative by nature. Romans 8:11 says that the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in us, and now, that’s the Spirit that created the world. So we have an incredible creative nature just as who we are as humans and we get a lot of ideas as part of that. I know that I do. Raf, I’m sure you do as well. Actually, I hear about them all the time because you text them to me.
But one of the practical things is, what do you do next after you have that idea? So we’re going to share over the next few weeks a series of things that you can do to make sure that you’re figuring out how to best take that idea forward. Some ideas are going to be viable business opportunities. Some of them are going to be throwaway ideas that may or may not go anywhere but it’s part of the creative process thinking about what to do next. So we’re going to share with you the initial first steps that we usually take individually to make sure that this idea is something worthwhile and could potentially be a viable business.
Rafael Simpson:????????? Yeah, I’m excited that we’re working this out over a couple of weeks, a couple of different podcasts, because there’s just so much here. I think often?I’ve been through the process so many times we kind of take the knowledge for granted a little bit. But it’s interesting, you kind of already summed up what you should do if you have an idea in your opening statement because what do I do, what do you do? We text or call each other. That’s probably the first initial step we take, and it’s not because I just want to talk to you, it’s usually because I’m looking for some validation of that idea and I trust your opinion. But often, people get so scared because they think it’s the one good idea that they have that they’re kind of banking on this idea and they don?t want to tell anybody. They’re afraid somebody?s going to steal that concept and run with it and make a fortune. I find that the number one mistake new entrepreneurs make, is they don?t tell enough people.
So if I’ve got a new idea, whether it’s for a product, a business, a digital content site or whatever it is, it doesn?t have to be physical, it doesn?t have to be digital, just whatever it is, I’ll make sure that I call everybody that I know that will take the call from me and talk to me about the idea. And the reason being is, you’d be surprised how the way you’re thinking about it that’d be a good first step, but people can help you pivot and refine the idea to a place where you can really start to develop it. And one of the most important things to remember with concepts or just ideas in general is that it really comes down to execution. So you can’t be afraid of taking this?this first step is so important, can’t be afraid to take it.
For example, if Steve Jobs came up to you and he pitched Apple computers to you before he ever created it, were you going to run out and start Apple? Probably not. Could you have given him some feedback on what a consumer wanted for Apple? Absolutely yes. So I just tell you that don?t be scared to share your ideas straight away. Matt, I hope you agree with me and I’m not going off on a tangent here.
Matthew Bell:???????????? One hundred percent, I absolutely do agree with you, and that’s part of the process that I take personally and you are one of the key people I go to right away every time I have an idea. But what we’re really talking about is, you have this idea, you want to pursue potentially starting a business or launching a product of your own, and you don’t know what yet to do with it. The first thing you need to do with it is validate your idea. And now, we’re talking about one step in the validation process. There is a hundred different ways that you can validate, really thousands and potentially more ways that you can validate the idea.
But Raf hitting on a really important point of life as an entrepreneur is, the ideas are free. We have them all day long. I literally have hundreds of business ideas all day long. The ones that are worthwhile and the ones that I want to pursue further I might create a presentation for or I might take it to the next step in validation, but you really want to start?the first thing you should do is talk to the people who are close to you, get their honest feedback, your friends. Make sure they?re the friends who are not just going to say yes to you. Make sure they’re your friends who give you real honest feedback. Ask them what they think.
And the next step in the process could be to talk to some potential customers of who would be customers of your product. So you can do that by simply reaching out to someone on LinkedIn. You could reach out to strangers on Facebook, Facebook groups. You could join a Facebook group like Startup Revival and say, ?Hey, I have this business idea, and what do you think of it? Is this worthwhile? Would you buy it?? Start to garner that feedback, and those are going to be data points for you to understand if you have something that is worth pursuing at a very high level or if you need to go back to the drawing board and refine a little bit. So that’s a big important piece of the puzzle.
And Raf I think hit on the most important aspect of overcoming that initial stepping out as an entrepreneur, which is not to be afraid that someone?s going to steal your idea. Ideas are free. They come and go. We all have them. I give entrepreneurs free ideas. If they’re in startup mode and they want to start a business and I have a bunch of ideas, I’d say, ?Hey, you should think about trying this, doing this.? Because the reason you need to be very open and honest with people in garnering that feedback is because that’s going to give you the data points initially to help you get to that next step, and the reason that it’s not something to be concerned about of people stealing that idea is because Raf, as you put it, the effort that goes into turning an idea into an actual product and ultimately into a viable, profitable scalable business, could take two years of your time, and only you, the owner of that idea who is passionate about it and excited about it, has what it takes to get it, to push that rock up a hill and make it into something real. So don?t be afraid to share your idea with as many people as possible and to get that feedback you need to help you understand if you have something that’s worth pursuing.
Rafael Simpson:????????? Matt, I’m shocked that you actually agree with me on this one because I feel like every time you open your mouth you try to get to me sign an NDA. I’m just kidding.
Matthew Bell:???????????? For the audience who doesn?t know you as well as I do, Raf provides the comic relief in our relationship. Ever the jokester. But I agree with you, Raf, 100% on this one.
Rafael Simpson:????????? Oh, that?s great. And I just say that it comes on the execution and there are so many steps that have to be taken. Once you form your idea and you get that feedback, we’re looking forward to taking you through all the next steps and actually providing you with resources to not only help you develop it but practical tools that you can use and leverage to take your idea to that next level. And one of the things that we’re going to be talking to you about is a special platform coming up that Matt and I, it’s a little bit of our secret sauce, and it’s called Upwork. It is the most amazing platform in the world. That’s my opinion, and I’m telling you that if I had Upwork going through college I would have had straight A?s because I would have had some research analyst writing all my papers for me.
So that’s one of the things we’ll get into, but it’s exciting that once you get past this first phase of developing your idea, you get to jump into the really fun stuff?fun stuff for me?which is things like developing your brand and coming up with product names and packaging and labeling. That?s a phase that I love and that part gets exciting, but you always have to revert back to that Step 1, which is tell everybody about it. Like Matt said earlier, the one thing I’ll take a step further is make sure the people you’re talking to give you really good honest feedback. The one person for sure I know that I can get honest feedback from is my wife. She also has a great, great eye for branding and products. She actually has her own furniture line and that’s beautiful stuff. But she’s brutally honest with me. So you’ve got to get yourself surrounded by people who can just be brutally honest with your ideas. It’s only going to make them better.
And the rest of the process ends up getting really exciting all the way through fundraising and everything else, and you’ll be shocked to know, all the steps that come after to see your product come to life, all stems from telling everybody you know, because telling everybody you know even leads you to potentially smart investors and money and help creating brands, logos, websites. It’s incredible what just opening your mouth, taking the first step out and telling people?and this phase seems so simple, but people are often so afraid, and I know I was in my first couple of ideas, to just like own the idea and step out and tell people that this is what you’re doing, ?and what do you think?????????? I mean, Matt, I’m not sure how you feel but I know that it can be super-nerve-wracking to go out for the first time and just own something and tell people this is what you’re doing.
Matthew Bell:???????????? Absolutely. I remember my first deal myself and I think I actually did have an NDA that I wanted to get people to sign before I even talked to them about it, but I realized very quickly that that was a waste of time and effort, for me as well as for them. So I think that the most important thing you can do is tell people about the idea. So if you have that idea and you want to know, you want that first bit of validation, go to the people who are going to give you your honest feedback. Just like Raf goes to his wife, I do the same thing. I go to my wife. After I pitch it to my wife, I’ll go to someone like Raf, someone who’s close to me who knows business who can tell me honest feedback, because we’re honest with each other just the way that your wife is honest with you. So I think that that’s a really important piece of the puzzle.
So just to sum up, the first thing is when you have that question, ?I have this idea, what do I do next?? first thing to do is start telling people about it, getting their feedback, understanding honest third-party feedback who aren’t married to the idea the way that you are so that you can take their feedback and put it into practice in your business. So that I think is first and foremost the most important thing you guys need to do. And don?t be afraid that someone?s going to steal it because the effort it takes to do that is, the short story is you’re the only one that’s going to be able to make it into reality.
So anyway, I think that we have a lot more to cover on this topic over the next few weeks, and hope you enjoyed today. Raf, anything else you want to add here as we’re wrapping up?
Rafael Simpson:????????? No, I just would say, one of the great places you can go is our Facebook page. You can email us, you can join the group and let us know what your ideas are. We’d love to give you feedback. It’s something we love to do on a daily basis anyways. I will be a little more gentle than Matt, maybe, but I’ll still tell you the truth, I promise you that.
So we look forward to seeing those ideas and we look forward to the following weeks really getting into the execution phase of the process because, ultimately, even bad ideas or decent ideas, if they’re executed on are better than great ideas that are never executed on. So that’s one thing I’ll tell you. Getting into the execution is the most important part and we look forward to really bringing some valuable knowledge your way in the coming weeks.
Matthew Bell:???????????? Absolutely. Yeah, so we’ll be happy to be a soundboard for you with your ideas as well. You can email startuprevival@gmail.com, join the Facebook group at Facebook.com/groups/startuprevival, and like the Facebook page at Facebook.com/startuprevival, and there’ll be more than enough folks in that community who can help you get started on validating your idea.
So thank you for listening. We hope you have a awesome week and we will catch up with you again next week. God bless.
That was Startup Revival, brought to you by your hosts Matt Bell and Rafael Simpson. Tune in next week to hear more stories from entrepreneurs and businesspeople to inspire, encourage and motivate you in your business journey. Have a great week.
[00:16:03]
The first thing you need to do with it is validate your idea.