“Ideas are shit, execution is the game.” – Gary Vaynerchuk
“Ideas are worthless. Don’t let anyone make you think otherwise” – Binary
“Having an idea is kind of worthless on it’s own. It’s a mistake lots of people make, they don’t realize that ideas are ten a penny. What matters is being able to execute an idea.” — TheAnimus
People are even posting on Reddit about it:
And this random guy from Twitter.
However, I believe those mindsets to be wrong. Spending time on your business idea is important.
Many great entrepreneurs discount the actual idea behind the business, when they should be encouraging new entrepreneurs to spend more time on their idea.
The fact is, starting a business is really hard. And if you don’t have an idea you think will hold-up in the market, are passionate about, and actually have the ability to launch it, you’ll fail. I guarantee it.
But why?
Well let’s break it down if you didn’t spend any time evaluating yourself or your business idea.
You’ll fail when things get tough in business
When you avoid spending time thinking and developing a business idea that fits you, as well as the market, you won’t have any passion about the company you are creating. That is because you didn’t spend time to evaluate what areas in the market actually interest you.
Instead, you went with the first idea that came to your mind, and now your running a laundromat business, and hating your life because you’re not passionate about cleaning clothes.
If you make sure you are passionate about the problems you are solving and company you are building, then it will allow you to get through the hard times rather than calling it quits.
No differentiation
99% of the business ideas that you will think of involve entering a market where there is already competition. So how will you compete against these other companies? If you enter the market with established brands and no differentiation, potential customers will look at your company and wonder why they would go to you, when they are comfortable with their current solution.
Differentiating your business ideas is hard, but it is necessary to at least try in the beginning before you launch. Even though you may even pivot from your differentiation later after executing, it will give you a much stronger chance of surviving to keep running your company initially.
No improvements can be made
In many industries there are a lot of products and services that need significant improvements, however, the industry may be left that way due to old standards. Think of the gas car industry right now. It is being disrupted by Tesla and other electric car manufactures on the basis that there can be huge improvements made to the car in terms of how environmentally friendly and cost-effective it is. As well as convenient with the automated driving.
If Elon Musk simply entered the car market without spending time developing his idea on how he wanted the future car to be and look, he wouldn’t be where he is today. His business idea wasn’t shit. Although someone else probably thought of it, it was still a good idea and his vision differentiated it well with how nice the car looked and how well the battery works.
Where Gary is Right
However, I can’t say Mr. Vaynerchuk is completely wrong on this one. Execution is still the holy grail in becoming a successful entrepreneur. Without executing on your ideas successfully, you will never be able to have a great company. Similarly, many entrepreneurs out there have attempted executing on the same business ideas with the same business models and have had wildly different results. One will be a huge success, the other will lose millions. So, execution is extremely important, even more important than the idea.
But execution isn’t easy. And if you didn’t think of a business idea you were passionate about in the beginning, you’ll quit when things get tough.
Ultimately, your business idea is important and a strong execution is important too. If spend time working on your idea so you are passionate about the problem you are solving, you’ll execute the idea way better because you actually care.
There are many other great entrepreneurs such as the founders of Snapchat, Uber, and Amazon who believe that ideas are important too.
This person from twitter agrees with me though…
And this other person from reddit too.
"Ideas are worthless, execution is everything" from startups
There are other entrepreneurs out there that believe your business idea is important. You don’t always have to listen to Gary or Mr. Stach from Twitter.
My version of this quote now is:
“Ideas are important, execution is more important.”
What do you think about business ideas? Do you think they are important? Leave a comment and let me know if you think the business idea is important or if you believe in Gary’s mindset.
If you need help creating and developing your business idea, head over the the exercises section or the business ideas section to get started.