Itterate or someone will do it for you

So here’s the deal.

You may have “The next big idea.” The thing that is going to turn everything we know on its head. It could be so big that people won’t be saying they want to be the Uber of weasels speed dating. They will want to be the ‘your thing‘ of for legged romance.

You might even have a way to bring this amazing idea all the way to market.

But … (and it’s a big but)

But if you’re not willing and or able to treat that idea as the first step in a process of iteration and ongoing evaluation, don’t bother.

I can guarantee you that as soon as you get your idea going, someone out there is going to find a way to do exactly what you did a little better and a little cheaper. Your job then is to iterate on whatever your idea is quickly and as efficiently as possible.

You may think you have the advantage because the original idea was yours, but really you need to be thinking that you had the advantage. You got out there first. You used your advantage. So now what is your advantage going to be? Because it won’t take long for others to find out about your cool idea and start do to something similar. And here’s the kicker. Their ‘something similar’ will be just that. Similar but not the same, and the parts that are different are the things that are going to set them apart, and if they do it right, those are the things that are going to be better than what you did.

Your mission now is to take that original idea you had, and really really really look at how you are delivering on it. Find ways to make it a little better, a little more what your customer wants, and ultimately a little more successful.

As soon as you think you’ve got it figured, the process starts again.

Iterate, iterate, iterate.