Idea or execution: which is more critical for entrepreneurship?

Entrepreneurship is exciting but, at the same time, precarious. A business requires a lot of effort and determination for it to climb the ladders of success. While establishing your brand, it’s essential to note down and understand the difference between the right idea and the right way to introduce it. 

The idea or the execution? This has been a popular area of debate in the business world. Most entrepreneurs assume that a great idea is all they need to launch their brand. But the truth is that before establishing a new business, many other factors must be considered. 

“To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions,” Stated Derek Sivers in one of his articles. This statement is the epitome of where this topic will lead. Yes, a startup is nothing without an entrepreneur’s idea, and an idea is nothing without proper execution.

Idea or execution?

Importance of a great idea and the way a business can execute it.

If you carefully analyze the two factors – idea and execution, you’ll realize that they can’t be separated. Even if an entrepreneur comes up with a unique concept, it doesn’t guarantee success. A great idea can also fail due to many extraneous factors.

An idea can fail because of:

• Operational incompetency
• Competition – direct and indirect
• Lack of solid strategies
• Failure to understand the market
• Preliminary execution plan

Entrepreneurs don’t achieve success overnight. Planning and effort are required to make a business successful. Taking small steps initially can lead to the right destination at the right time.

Ideas and execution both are important for entrepreneurship. Both factors interact with each other consistently, ensuring a smooth progression toward success. You have an idea and try to execute it with your existing knowledge; new knowledge can be added post-execution. This loop keeps repeating itself throughout the startup journey. 

Execution promotes an idea forward and makes sure that the concept is sustainable long term. An idea is just a notion or a meaningless representation of a thought. It is the execution strategy that gives the idea purpose or direction.

An entrepreneur can easily direct the products or services toward the right audience through a perfect execution plan. Establishing a proper business plan is essential for a business to be successful over the longer run.

Why are ideas important? 

Many factors contribute to a startup’s success, but the most critical aspect is the business idea. So when you plan on launching your startup, your idea comes first. 

The idea is the essence of a business; the industry is doomed to fail without the essence. The products or services revolve around the basic concept and determine the sales and profits that a company will make.

If your idea isn’t good enough, your business may struggle and eventually fail. You can’t succeed without ideas. A good range of ideas supports a brand by enabling it to expand beyond its current market position. In addition, ideas require revisions over time. Staying up to date with the recent trends and demands can help you develop ideas to help keep your business relevant.

What’s a great idea? 

What’s a great business idea? The question is simple, but the answer may not be easy. Every business operates with a specific idea in mind. A good idea needs to go through a test, which can get complicated for an entrepreneur as the process requires time and effort. On the other hand, a small idea can give birth to a significant thought to support entrepreneurs throughout their business journeys.

When thinking of an idea for a startup, the entrepreneur should focus on feasibility, scalability, and passion.

Feasibility

Coming up with ideas isn’t challenging, but developing ideas your business can implement can be tricky. If the idea you come up with isn’t viable, it’s better to work on its feasibility before moving forward.

Introducing an idea before it’s fully fleshed out can have detrimental consequences for your business. But, on the other hand, companies that take their time to implement an idea may gain a competitive advantage over those that rushed into it. This is why you must analyze the feasibility of your ideas.

Scalability

A great idea grows and evolves with the business. The idea should be such that it can cope with unexpected market situations and adjust accordingly. Promising entrepreneurs should expand on their ideas to meet demands and market needs. The competitive market won’t welcome a limited scope. Hence, it’s essential to evaluate the scalability of an idea before presenting it. 

Passion

While a great idea should be practical and realistic, it should also be something that you’re willing to work toward passionately. Startups carry many risks. Your startup may suffer if you don’t have faith in your idea or aren’t optimistic enough. Passion is required to reflect the authenticity of an idea and attract customers.

Why is execution important?

Every business is unique regarding the products it offers, its mission, vision, and even the pace at which it innovates. Similarly, a startup has a different business plan with strategies it’s waiting to implement. An entrepreneur can implement ideas through execution. Successful startups execute their ideas better than their competitors. The primary objective of every business is to improve its performance and move forward. An entrepreneur can only achieve this via efficient planning and execution tactics.

Incredible ideas and strategies are useless if a business fails to execute them well.

How to ensure successful execution? 

A successful business has a great innovative idea and knows how to execute it to the right audience at the right time. To make sure that the company successfully implements its ideas, it should: 

• Not create a vast set of goals
• Monitor execution activities
• Keep track of performance
• Implement a system of accountability

Teams will likely succeed in their execution of the ide by following the four best practices above.

Don’t create a vast set of goals

Prioritizing and focusing on one or two goals makes the process easier. However, the more there is on the plate, the messier things can get. This is why narrowing your focus to a few essential goals will smoothen the work process and promote effective communication.

Monitor execution activities

Taking on work and organizing it can help create a strategic business plan for an entrepreneur. It’s necessary to identify and monitor the impact of idea implementation activities.

Act on what’s most important, then move forward with the remaining tasks. Focusing on critical activities and monitoring them can help your business achieve its goals.

Keep track of performance

Keeping a scoreboard can benefit your business. People tend to work better with the pressure of someone keeping track of each individual’s performance.

Establishing a timeline and encouraging your team to work accordingly will create a disciplined atmosphere, helping the entrepreneur keep track of what’s working and what’s not.

Accountability

Team members should be well aware of their responsibilities. Lack of accountability may lead to a distorted strategic execution. A committed team works passionately toward a business’ goal. A good team makes work performance simpler and ensures equality within the workplace.

Therefore, a great idea with the proper execution techniques is necessary for building a successful startup. Follow the appropriate steps toward a good idea and its implementation. This will make the entrepreneur’s journey easy because the business’ growth process will be well-aligned and manageable.

Conclusion

Entrepreneurs today should focus on flexibility and creativity. Mastering the art of idea generation and execution together is critical. We can’t separate both factors as they’re tied together in an interdependent loop.

A weak idea can only succeed if it is correctly executed. Likewise, a great idea is worthless without an in-depth execution plan.

An entrepreneur may stumble down many times before he reaches the ideal goal. Follow the guidance stated in this article to understand what a great idea is and execute it successfully.