Thinker not Doer!

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mortgageqs

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I've been working as a sole trader doing IT Consulting for just over 2 years. I have lots of ideas for new businesses (some of them web based) but after the initial momentum I get bogged down with everyday work and cant get back into the "zone".

I'm thinking that maybe I should find someone (either on a consulting / mentor or employee) basis to help me take these ideas to the next level. I'm not good with "boring" stuff but I know some of these ideas could take off.

I'm not sure what kind of person I should be looking for to help me - Any tips?
 
The devil is in the detail. An Entrepreneur is not someone who comes up with good ideas but someone who materialises them. My tip; get good with the "boring stuff".
 
Suggest you get better at networking and see who is out there. I know of a number of people who would get behind a good idea and work to make it a reality. There are lots of conferences coming up (the BizSpark one on 24th Feb and that other one in the Digital Hub in March, just to name two in the next few weeks) and there are lots of other regular meetings (such as the open coffee meetings) that happen where you can meet other people and get an idea of who is who. I'm not suggesting that you hawk your idea at these places, but just meet people who can point you to talking to others that you can build a relationship with.

You also need to be realistic about the loss of control involved if you do ask someone else into the "inner circle" to make something happen. Likely you will have to take a back seat and let them run with it - the risk/reward needs to work both ways.
 
mortgage qs, in the nicest way possible, it sounds like the problem here is laziness. if you're genuinely excited by your ideas then even the "boring" stuff should tickle you pink.

you'll take a lot more pride in your ideas if you're the person who brings them to life. that's the best advice i can give. once you make one work, there'll be no stopping you so adopt the "if it is to be, then it's up to me" attitude.....
 
Thanks for the replies!

I know where you're coming from billythefish but the root of my "issue" is that I have add (that's adhd without the hyper!), impulsivity and distractability (both over 90%) have been diagnosed as my problem. On the upside creativity and "outside the box" thinking are my forte! Many people find it hard to understand the whole adhd thing, even if they do it's generally deemed to be a "kid's problem".

I battled for a long time with thinking it was laziness! Now I understand that I need to play to my strengths and get help with what I'm weak at.

I agree too with Purple about the devil in the detail....I just want to outsource / employ someone to do the nitty gritty. I get overwhelmed by the "boring" stuff, my brain shuts down, I get disheartened and lose momentum.

Getting the ideas from my head to a state in which they can be recognised as genuine business ventures is what I need the help with. Are there people like "business planners" that can be employed?
 
What about selling patents?

I know this would require a certain amount of attention to detail, but much of it could be taken up by a patent lawyer.

I don't think entrepreneurs or venture capitalists will be interested in you. They look for doers.
 
there are many business coaches out there that should be able to help you get from the idea in your head to a plan of action on paper. maybe if you follow watersprite's suggestion of networking and finding someone who can be the braun to match your brains you might strike gold.

I'd give a lot of thought to just employing someone. You want someone involved in these ideas who is as excited about them as you and has an interest in their success and not just punching a clock. so if you do employ someone, make sure it's in their financial interest to succeed.

although, i just think you need to be involved at ground level even if it's just in the initial stages.
 
tyrekicker said:
What about selling patents?

I know this would require a certain amount of attention to detail, but much of it could be taken up by a patent lawyer.

I don't think entrepreneurs or venture capitalists will be interested in you. They look for doers.
Click to expand...

Thanks tyrekicker maybe I haven't explained myself properly (my detail thing again!)

I want to have overall responsibility for these business ideas myself, I just want to employ a person, persons or team who can help me to get the ideas off the ground. They do what they are good at in terms of attention to detail, planning etc and I do what I'm good at eg new ideas, new approaches, ongoing growth etc.
 
Hmm ... as a matter of interest, how much are you willing to pay ? How can you ensure that this helper doesn't patent your idea for himself ?

(sounds like laziness to me)
 
I'm willing to pay a fair rate which relfects what the consultant / employee can contribute but until I figure out what kind of person I'm looking for I can't say how much that will be.

 
Hi mortgageqs, perhaps you could get in contact with ? I've never used it myself but perhaps they could point you in the right direction?

With your ADD problem, you will have find ways of communicating your ideas clearly no matter what approach you take.

People send and receive messages on different levels - some by writing, some are visual, some by speaking in person. Find ways that best suit you to express your ideas so that they are understood.
 
I had a similar problem, I am good at what I do and not so good at the nitty gritty daily running of a business. I hired an office manager and the differance it has made is huge. Now I have a good team with everybody working to their strenghts. One good thing about the big R, is that there are very good people out there that are availible for work.

I am not big into patnerships and my team are all employees.
 
Thanks DavyJones, that's exactly the kind of setup I want!

I appreciate the posters who say that if you do it all from scratch yourself that you have "ownership" of the success.

My only problem with that is that there will be no success in the near future if I'm left to tackle it on my own. I would prefer to pay people for their strengths now than spend years trying to improve my weaknesses!
 
My manager knows very little about the job we do, but knows lots about running a business, VAT returns, wages, taxes, advertising,website update, invoicing, the list is endless really.

The organisation skills they have are quite impressive. When I have an idea, we discuss and they will get the information to me on how to make it happen. Then I can make an informed decision.

You probably need someone who is strong at admin and not a person with the same skillset as yourself, then there is little chance of them stealing an idea etc
 
OP, I'll say again that you have to be realistic about what you would have to pay someone to bring your ideas to fruition. An idea unexploited is worth precisely zero. I work in the tech industry and meet loads of people who have great ideas but can do nothing about them (for a variety of reasons, including some similar to yours). They believe that they (and their ideas) are the top dog in the entire scenario and that they can employ "pencil pushers" (or the like) merely to make it all happen. This is never the case. There are numerous core skills that are necessary to monitise a particular idea (what those are depends on the idea, the business strategy and the ultimate end goal). Each of those skills is equally important.
 
Let us know how this worked out if you have a chance, its an interesting situation.
Would suggest having a conversation with IBR. They're strategy consultants but will stand over their own analysis and will manage implementation and the 'doing'.
I know one of the guys involved, so would be biased for me to recommend them, but their easy people to chat ideas with, at least.

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