Do you come up with a lot of ideas?  I bet you do.  I truly think it’s in the DNA of an entrepreneur.  We’re constantly thinking of ways to solve problems, ideas for tweaking existing solutions, and we just love creating.

The problem is that this leads to lots and lots of ideas, not all of which are worth spending time, money, and effort pursuing.  Sometimes an idea is too expensive to pursue for little return.  Other times an idea is simply not big enough to turn into anything of substance.  And sometimes an idea is just one idea too many for a plate full of them already.

Here are 3 ways to determine if your idea is crazy or not:

1. Find your stupid/crazy time

Your stupid/crazy time is a time during the day or night that any ideas you have sound stupid/crazy to you.  Mine is in the middle of the night.  Any idea I’ve ever had has usually sounded absolutely stupid to me in the middle of the night.

When I wake up in the morning, I think about my idea and if it still sounds stupid/crazy, then I know it’s probably not a good idea.  But if it sounds decent in the morning, then I know the idea isn’t totally crazy.

Find your stupid/crazy time.  Then see if your idea still sounds good immediately after that time.

2. Get an idea wrangler

I’m a firm believer that every entrepreneur needs an idea wrangler.  Somebody that you can turn to, bounce an idea off of, and get an opinion back about whether or not the idea is worth pursuing.

The job of the idea wrangler is to help you filter out the 99 crazy ideas you have for every 2-3 that are worthwhile.  Your idea wrangler could be a trusted advisor, mentor, friend, or colleague.  The key is that it needs to be somebody whose opinion and insight you value, and somebody you really trust to steer you in the right direction.  Asking a random man or woman won’t cut it.

3. See if any similar ideas exist currently

Do any ideas similar to your new idea exist right now?  If it’s a good idea, somebody may have already come up with it and tried executing it.  Even if they already have, maybe you can do it better.

If a similar idea doesn’t exist already, that doesn’t mean your idea is bad.  It just means maybe you’re the first to try it.

When a new idea comes to mind, definitely see if something similar is already out there.  This knowledge can make a big difference on whether or not you move forward with the idea, and if you do, it can change how you go about executing on your idea.

(photo credit)