7 Tips for Thinking Up Creative Ideas

Techniques to help you come up with creative ideas for your business.

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

What are some of the ways you use to help you come up with ideas?

Have you ever used any of these?

Funny ideas

Sometimes thinking up a silly or funny idea may just trigger one which is actually sensible and which may turn into a genuinely good business opportunity.

Opposite ideas

Look at your customers or potential customers and try to think of the worst possible things your business could do for them.

Lateral thinking

Take a look at other sectors or industries or other countries and cultures.

Examine them for ideas and see how they could be adapted for your own business.

Alter your routine

Surprise your brain by doing something different. Our brains are basically lazy so it is good to do something different from time to time.

So if you always stop for a cappuccino at Starbucks in the morning why not alter your routine and have, say, a tea somewhere else instead?

Start from a different place

Your brain will continually try to make obvious conclusions, so try coming at things from a different place.

If you sell your knowledge as ebooks try to imagine how you could sell it in an alternative way — for example in comic book format.

Share your ideas

For sure, don’t spread them around like confetti but don’t keep them all under your hat either.

Sometimes it is helpful to share them with comparative strangers who won’t know you and judge you. Their input could be very useful. Just don't share them with your competitors though!

Don’t immediately judge

When you come up with an idea, don’t jump straight to judging it.

Put it in a mental sack with other ideas and keep adding more. Then tip them all out and pick through them to find the viable ones.

And finally…

When you are having fun thinking up lateral, funny, opposite ideas remember that things like executing and timing matter almost as much as coming up with a good idea in the first place.

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