We all have ideas to start a business.

Having an idea is important to start a business but an idea on it’s own is not enough.

Often people have brilliant skills or products and they want to turn that into a business. Having a product, idea or talent is not enough to starting a business.

Many businesses that collapse, don’t do so because they have lousy ideas, they do so because they struggled to build a business.

I have seen so many people who can cook better chicken than Nandos but they are not making money like Nandos. They have the skill and the product but they don’t have the business.

I have seen so many people who make amazing dresses than a lot of retails clothing stores, but they are not making money like retail stores.

Having an idea, skill or product is different from running a business.

A business entails more than just a skill or product. Michael E Gerber in his book E-Myth Revisited talks about building systems and processes in your business  in order to have a growing and sustainable business.

The entrepreneur builds the enterprise. The technician builds the jobs. – Michael E Gerber.

A business is about systems and processes, applied consistently, over time.

Just having the skills makes you a technician, using that skill to build an enterprise makes you an entrepreneur.

The formula is fairly straightforward:

Business = Idea + Product + Systems and Processes + Consistently + Time.

McDonalds is a business that runs with a product, through systems and processes that are applied consistently everyday.

If you have an idea or product but you don’t have a business, focus on building a business or consider partnering with someone who has business acumen and both of you can build a business together. Ideas are not enough.

Building a business takes time, there is no shortcut. It is a step by step process that should not be short-circuited. You will have to patient.

There are no quick wins in business, it takes years to become an overnight success. – Richard Branson.