Life is always full of changes. Some are radical and some are barely noticeable. Nevertheless change comes. Just when we get our minds made up, overcome fear and brace ourselves to take the leap–new ideas and upgraded plans come and take their place–and that can be frightening, but it also runs the risk of making us stagnant. My Mom taught me plenty of lessons that I can use in business. I talk about it a bit in this vid, but one of the best lessons I’ve ever learned in business is: INCUBATION.
When I think of incubation I think of an egg and how the incubation period is critical to its hatching. This past summer for instance, I watched the geese lay dozens of eggs and “wait” for them to become living, breathing birds. They didn’t lay the eggs and expect a baby goose to spontaneously appear. It was necessary for the baby goose embryo to fully mature before it was ready to peck its way out of the shell and be seen by the world.
Incubation also means to maintain (something, such as an embryo or a chemically active system) under conditions favorable for hatching, development, or reaction–according to Merriam Webster. When I was young in business I would just jump on an idea, buy the domain and start building it without the incubation period. What I normally ended up with was a string of half completed ideas that weren’t launched because I had eagerly moved on to the next shiny object without creating a solid plan for the former ones. Incubation is necessary, but it should be mandatory so that it can help you flesh it all out and produce the best extension of you possible.
During the incubation period you’ll find that sometimes you can combine multiple ideas into one single venture and sometimes during that same incubation period you will find that you have a product that stands alone and can eventually create spin off products or services down the line. You won’t know until you wait. Give the idea time to come together, add a little research and when you do you’ll discover that you have something AMAZING with your name all over it.
Midwife Tip: If you have an idea for a product or service–sit on it, pray on it and add a little research too.Â
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