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INTRODUCTIONxvi

however, unless and until it has been implemented into a fully formed
product or service which generates new value.

But it doesn’t need to be like that.

It is within everybody’s power to take that first idea and to follow
systematically a structured and creative process to challenge and
develop the idea and thereby transform it into a viable business
opportunity.

Having the initial idea is a vital first step, but it is only the first step in
converting your creativity into a business. It is important not to rush
into action with the first apparently feasible business idea you have.
Instead, you should follow a process of developing, enhancing and
reshaping your initial idea into a real-life business opportunity which
will work.

Your original business idea represents only a very first piece of the
entrepreneurial jigsaw puzzle. It may turn out to be the piece at the
centre which defines the entire puzzle. It is much more likely to be a
useful starting point which ends up off-centre or it may turn out to be a
bland background piece which is impossible to use until later. It is also
possible that you eventually discover that the first jigsaw piece belongs
to a quite different puzzle to the one you thought you were working on.

This book shows you how to develop the germ of an initial idea into a
viable business opportunity by following a systematic idea
development process. This process moves from seeking and shaping
opportunities, generating ideas, evaluating and selecting ideas through
to planning for implementation.

We show how creativity is an important element of all steps of the
process. Creativity is not restricted to the supposed ‘Eureka’ moment of
creating the idea but informs every single step within the process.

We also demonstrate how you can develop your innate creativity,
combining analytical thinking with imagination and insight to produce
alternative views on situations, together with multiple solutions for
capitalising on them, in order to transform your initial idea into a
viable business opportunity.

The relentless pressure for the rapidly supplied ‘single correct answer’
imposed by society in general and by work in particular crushes
individual creativity. Conscious that the best way to get a good idea is