How to tackle the endless stream of brilliantly useless business ideas

So, a lot of people in here suffer from that, and I say suffer, because it can really get distracting, annoying and totally screw your life. I am talking about the always shiny, new, far-better-than-what-I-do-now-for-sure business ideas.

Sticking to a business long enough for it to actually have time to grow and become a success is a real struggle for ADHD entrepreneurs. There is always something coming up that just seems to be so much better. The dopamine trap of the next new thing lures us all in.

And it does that with me. I am at a point, where it is becoming painful. I know that it does not get me any closer to success to drop everything and start a new business every four weeks (or even more often), but I still get all these ideas that scream into my face: I am so good, you have to make me happen! And of course, they don't stop screaming. For a while, I just ignored them and yes, they stop screaming at some point (usually when another, newer, shinier idea starts screaming). But they still come up and bother me.

Especially as there is this thought in the back of my mind, the WHATIF?-bat, slamming me in the face whenever I try to fight down one of these ideas.

What if, this time, this is the one-million-dollar idea.

What if, it has to be done right now, because in half a year it might be too late and someone else has done it and got the million.

What if, this is the one thing I will be able to continue, because it gets not boring like all the other things, I tried so far.

What if, this is the thing that starts earning money after a month instead of working on the project for years, not knowing if it will ever yield any results.

OK. So, now what?

I thought, why not work with my ideas, instead of against them? Let's give them the time and attention they are screaming for. But paired with an objective analysis.

So here is, how this might look like (and this is just an idea (again, ideas 🙈), it might look different for you):

Write down all business ideas you had so far (not matter if you acted on them or not). Everything that ever came to mind as "I could do this to earn some money".
Now answer a couple of questions for each of these ventures:

Would I be happy doing this ten years from now?
is it something I can easily scale up without having to work more and more?
do I have the resources that are needed, or can I easily (and cheaply) obtain these?
do I have the necessary skills, to start working on it right away?
If I do not have the skills, how long does it take to learn the skills, and am I committed enough to take that time, before actually starting the business?
has anyone else done this successfully before? Is there a strategy that I can copy, a role model to show me how to actually make this a success?
can I explain to someone else, why this business is important to me, in a way that feels authentic and meaningful? (Or in other words: Do I have a Simon-Sinek-approved elevator pitch?)

Maybe some more questions come to mind that feel more important to you, then go ahead and modify that list to your liking.

3. then count the number of "yes" checkboxes for each business idea. The more, the better. Now find similarities: where are patterns? What kind of business ideas have a high number, and what do they have in common? That are most likely the things, you could be doing long-term and be successful.

4. Any new business idea that comes up now has to go through that assessment. If the yes-count is lower than your highest current count, you can discard the idea immediately. MOST, IF NOT ALL, IDEAS THAT WILL SHOW UP IN THE NEXT TIME WILL FALL INTO THIS CATEGORY! And you can let them go with the good feeling of having saved some time, not ruminating about business FOMO. After a while, hopefully, you will be able to spot if an idea is even valid enough to be considered for more than ten seconds, just from practicing this process.

5. If the yes count is higher: Question yourself if the investment (time, effort, money) you already put in your current business is worth to be thrown away to start something new. Write down, what this investment actually is.

6. If the answer is a 100% yes: go ahead, start the new business. If there is 1% doubt: try to find out, where the doubt does come from. Maybe you need to evaluate your new idea a bit more thoroughly. If you still have doubt, don't do it. Note: this is not the doubt, if this business is going to be a success. Because, as long as you did not do it successfully, having this doubt is a normal thing. I am talking about the doubt, if this is worth throwing away your current business.

7. Never, ever, ask someone who is not a successful entrepreneur, if your business idea is a good idea. At best, they don't know, at worst, they tell you complete BS. If you need a professional opinion, ask someone who knows from first-hand experience. That doesn't mean that people who are not entrepreneurs themselves never give you good advice. But it is highly unlikely that they even understand the situation you are in, so in this crucial situation, they most likely can't help.

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