6 Steps To Turn Your Idea Into A Start-up

The key difference between an entrepreneur and someone who's destined to have a boss for the rest of their career is the ability to take an idea and action it.

- Charmaine Lambert

Sitting around the table and brainstorming the next big thing is possibly the most exhilarating part of starting a business, and it's the first step towards securing seed funding for your business and seeing your new logo on the door.

“Taking an idea and bringing it to life can be a challenging, often frustrating process. The start-up stage is a process that can yield incredible personal and professional results - but with the jubilation comes the struggle. As the custodians of a physical space that supports start-ups and original thinkers, we see the ups and downs daily, but the reassuring thing is that none of our members would have it any other way!” says Charmaine Lambert from Absa innovation lab, WorkInProgress.

She shares her six key insights on getting an idea out of the starting blocks:

1 Research

Take the time to conduct research - whether anecdotal, web-based or survey-based is critical to getting started. Additionally, understanding the market, your competitors and the challenges and opportunities that your fledgling company will face, will stand you in good stead. During the research process, lookout specifically for information on ventures similar to yours that failed – and use the lessons from those failures to inform your process.

2 Secure your Intellectual Property (IP)