3 Brainstorming Techniques to Fuel Your Next Idea

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What’s happened since “brainstorming” was coined some 70 years ago is a little like the process of brainstorming itself. Because it was such an interesting concept, brainstorming has spawned variations that seek to improve upon the original idea. That’s similar to its own process: <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/do-you-have-a-good-idea-avoid-the-8-things-that-can-kill-it/">One good idea</a> begets another and so on.



While there are some ground rules that may be useful (like the father of brainstorming <a href="https://www.imagethink.net/the-four-rules-of-brainstorming/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Alex Osborn’s four tenets</a>), there is no single right way for a group to collaboratively generate ideas. Consider these techniques, and feel free to adapt them for use with your team. (And, as always, share your good ideas with us!)



<h2 id="h-1-brainwriting">1. Brainwriting</h2>



Like brainstorming, has the goal of generating lots of ideas in a short time. But unlike brainstorming, it's done via writing, not speaking. Some groups have participants quickly and anonymously write one idea on a card. Everybody's ideas are taped to a wall, and the group votes on the ones that look most promising for further exploration.



A variation of brainwriting is called the 6-3-5 method. Six participants sit in a group with a facilitator. Each participant produces three ideas every five minutes, writes them on a worksheet and passes them to the participant to their right, and so on. Each person who receives the worksheet is to read what others have written, which provides the impetus for that person <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/10-easy-ways-to-start-something-great/">generating additional ideas</a>. Six rounds in 30 minutes is supposed to generate 108 new ideas.



<h2 id="h-2-mind-mapping">2. Mind mapping&nbsp;</h2>



This entails making a diagram with a central concept drawn as an image on the center of a blank page or whiteboard. Participants use images, symbols and words in varying colors branching out from—but still connected to—the central image. Tangential ideas may be denoted as “twigs” radiating from these branches.



In a group setting, mind mapping can <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/8-tips-to-improve-team-collaboration/">improve collaboration sessions</a> by helping people visualize concepts and connections, which enables them to follow conversations and contribute more effectively.



<h2 id="h-3-brainswarming">3. Brainswarming&nbsp;</h2>



This aims to get input from a variety of participants, regardless of the way they think or <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/how-to-connect-with-different-personality-types/">their personality types</a>. Unlike brainstorming, in which talkative people may drown out shy individuals, brainswarming, which was developed by psychologist Tony McCaffrey, is conducted with written notes. It is designed to get even better ideas, and more of them, than brainstorming.



McCaffrey has <a href="https://mie.umass.edu/news/mccaffey-produces-brainswarming-video" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">explained the brainswarming process</a> this way: Write the goal at the top of the diagram and a few known resources at the bottom. Instruct participants not to talk, but to communicate with Post-it notes and lines connecting them on the diagram. Some people will start by refining the goal, while others will analyze how the designated resources could be used or will add more resources. At some point, the notes and lines will connect, indicating that the two groups are finding ways to use the resources to <a href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/6-creative-ways-to-solve-a-problem/">solve the problem</a>.



This article was published in September 2014 and has been updated. Photo by GaudiLab/Shutterstock

Brainstorming is such an interesting concept, it has spawned variations that seek to improve upon the original idea. That’s a little like the process of brainstorming itself: One good idea begets another and so on.

Brainstorming is such an interesting concept, it has spawned variations that seek to improve upon the original idea. That’s a little like the process of brainstorming itself: One good idea begets another and so on. | SUCCESS

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3 Brainstorming Techniques to Fuel Your Next Idea | SUCCESS

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Changing your mindset and inviting good things into your life can start with the words “I am,” Joel Osteen writes. But it’s the words that follow—positive or negative—that can bring consequences or blessings, says the best-selling author and pastor. “Whatever follows the words ‘I am’ will always come looking for you,” he says.

In <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0892969962/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;creativeASIN=0892969962&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;tag=sm0fe-20&amp;linkId=UFLWR2KGG2GTFGD4">The Power of I Am</a>, Osteen&nbsp;discourages even offhand remarks such as “I’m so clumsy” or “I am stupid.” Instead he suggests reciting positive affirmations throughout the day—for instance, “I am strong,” “I am talented” or “I am healthy”—to encourage the traits and advantages you seek, and he offers ideas for discovering those you already possess.

Osteen backs up his message with biblical passages and numerous examples of people who changed their lives for the better by following this seemingly simple advice. 
 
By Joel Osteen 
October; FaithWords; $20

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Changing your mindset and inviting good things into your life can start with the words “I am,” Joel Osteen writes. But it’s the words that follow—positive | SUCCESS

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The wind kicked up around twilight. Glancing toward the sky, they wondered whether the storm clouds would catch up to them. They wondered what else was in | SUCCESS

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We’ve Met the Enemy, and It Is Us | SUCCESS

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Torrents of rainwater rush down neighborhood streets into intersections and storm drains. A dozen or so people hurry under shared umbrellas behind a salt-and-pepper-haired man in a fleece vest. They funnel into a house along the way. The decibel level rises as they crowd into the narrow living room furnished with a couple of workstations, a purple exercise ball and a floor lamp.

Ka-chunk! Deeper inside the house, a foosball hits its target. The man in the vest raises his arms and shouts triumphantly, unintelligibly, above clapping and laughter.

So goes another day in the life of Case, the 56-year-old investor, philanthropist, and the co-founder and former CEO and chairman of America Online.

On this October morning, Case leads this entourage comprised mostly of journalists on his “Rise of the Rest” road trip. They’re in Kansas City’s Startup Village, a collection of modest houses built in the 1930s and ’40s that straddle the Missouri-Kansas state line. The first neighborhood in the country to get superfast Google Fiber broadband, Startup Village is home to some 80 entrepreneurs working on almost 30 businesses.

At another house, Case chats by video conference with the homeowner, Colorado-based entrepreneur and venture capitalist Brad Feld, but their connection is faulty. “We’ve got Google Fiber here,” Case tells Feld, “but in Boulder, I think you’ve got dial-up!”

“I’m connected to you guys by AOL,” Feld deadpans.

The room erupts in laughter. “Burn down the house, burn down the house! Where are the matches?!” Case chants. “All right, that was a good one.”

“You have to realize he’s naturally introverted,” Ted Leonsis says about his longtime friend Steve Case. “But when he’s with entrepreneurs, he’s an extrovert.”

Leonsis served as a senior executive at AOL with Case, and is an investor and co-founder with him in the $450 million Revolution Growth Fund.

Case’s efforts to support entrepreneurs probably stem from a sense of social responsibility, Leonsis says, as well as legacy. “But I think intrinsically he’s an entrepreneur, and the best times of his life growing up were when he was starting businesses and in the early days of AOL. And the people he admires and likes—the energy he gets is from entrepreneurs.”

Case took the Rise of the Rest Tour to nine cities last year to focus attention on entrepreneurial activity and its impact on regional economies in “the rest” of the country—outside Silicon Valley and other tech meccas. At each stop, he visited startups and incubators, held “fireside chats” with community members, led <a title="The 8 Most Important Basics of an Elevator Pitch | SUCCESS.com" href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/the-8-most-important-basics-of-an-elevator-pitch" target="_blank" rel="noopener">business pitch</a> competitions and awarded $100,000 to each winner.

Case hits the road again in May for his 2015 Rise of the Rest tour through Richmond, Va.; Raleigh/Durham, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; Atlanta and New Orleans.

“I enjoy it, and I think it’s fun,” he says. “But the reason I do this is because I want to do everything I can to make sure we remain the most innovative, entrepreneurial nation. We’ve had a great run the last 250 years. We’ve gone from startup ourselves as a country to being the leader of the world. But we’ve seen a globalization of entrepreneurship, and other countries are stepping up their games.

“To be successful, we have to do that all the way across this country. We can’t just focus on what’s happening in California, New York and Massachusetts. Great things are happening in those states, but great things are happening in the 47 other states. Yet 80 percent of venture capital goes to three states. I think there’s a mismatch there that we need to address.”

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Case is, in fact, working on that as CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Revolution LLC. The firm has committed to invest 90 percent of its capital in businesses outside of Silicon Valley, most of them east of the Mississippi River. The first six investments from the Revolution Growth Fund have been in businesses outside traditional startup hubs. In all, Revolution Growth and Revolution Ventures, which funds earlier-stage enterprises, have backed more than 30 companies, including Sweetgreen, Bigcommerce, LivingSocial, Zipcar and Booker.

But Revolution’s investments include more than money; mentoring, partnerships and guidance are part of the package. Revolution investors serve as board members and advisers to help build and scale companies, and recruit key executives and other prominent board members. The firm’s approach is aimed at creating built-to-last rather than built-to-flip companies.

Case likes to cite an African proverb to explain his thinking: “‘If you want to go quickly, you can go alone. But if you want to go far, you must go together.’ I celebrate entrepreneurs trying to do anything anywhere, but I particularly celebrate the ones taking on big problems and doing it in a collaborative way. And I also particularly celebrate entrepreneurs in the off-the-beaten-track places, the rise-of-the-rest places. They do need more of a helping hand.”

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Increasingly, entrepreneurs do seem to be getting more support and respect, he says. “I’ve been heartened that in every city we’ve been in so far, there’s more of a sense of the <a title="Entrepreneurs Are Not Normal | SUCCESS.com" href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/entrepreneurs-are-not-normal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">central role entrepreneurs play</a> in building communities than there was five years ago,” Case says. “They’ve figured out that communities are only as strong as the economy, and the economy is not just about the current incumbent large companies, but also the small companies, some of which will become large companies.”

He cites Cincinnati’s once crime-ridden Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, which was labeled “ground zero in inner-city decline” by Reason magazine in 2001. “The entrepreneurs moved in and created a sense of vitality. And restaurants opened, and condos got built, and it’s now become the cool place,” Case says.

In Kansas City’s Startup Village, a trio of early-stage businesses was already at work in 2012 when Google announced plans to install Fiber here, which quickly attracted more entrepreneurs, ultimately reversing the neighborhood’s decline. Entrepreneurs now share refurbished houses including some that had been in foreclosure or disrepair, and neighborhood property values are on the rise.

Kansas City already was known for encouraging entrepreneurship through the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, established in the mid-1960s by the late pharmaceutical entrepreneur. Today, not only do nonprofits and governmental agencies actively support startup activity, but Kansas City-based corporations do, as well. The Sprint Accelerator powered by Techstars offers immersive, mentorship-driven programs for startups, and regularly hosts reverse-pitch sessions in which healthcare professionals outline their problems to entrepreneurs who try to come up with solutions. Digital Sandbox KC, established in 2013, also helps connect entrepreneurs with the corporate community, and has helped them raise more than $13 million to turn their ideas into working prototypes.

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Watching Case interact with entrepreneurs in Kansas City, it’s hard to imagine him taking anything but an active role with the companies he funds.

At the offices of EyeVerify, a biometric mobile-security company, he eagerly follows instructions given by founder and CEO Toby Rush, snapping a selfie of his eye to test the EyePrint ID system. “Does it matter if your eyes are bloodshot?” he asks.

Later, at MindMixer headquarters, he peppers co-founder Nick Bowden with questions about how his online civic engagement platform works. “It wasn’t like surface-level stuff,” Bowden says later. “He was genuinely interested in both Kansas City and what we’re doing. That’s always a great affirmation, but it’s also encouraging for people who may not be at our stage, just to get that kind of access.”

At Feld’s house in Startup Village, Case chats with <a title="Find New Perspective | Leap.it" href="https://leap.it/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Leap.it</a> founder and CEO Mike Farmer about his work to reinvent search by enabling users to curate searches and then share them. “You’re basically trying to undermine Google right here in Startup Village in Kansas City on Google Fiber!” Case says, his voice rising along with his excitement. “That’s kind of cheeky!” Later, Leap.it would win the $100,000 prize in the pitch contest.

“He’s still very curious,” Leonsis says about Case. “He’ll be the first to play with the product, go to the message boards, find out what he can. He’s still young at heart. He doesn’t outsource a lot of due diligence. He does it himself.”

In addition to his work with Revolution and Rise of the Rest, Case serves as chairman of UP Global, an organization aimed at promoting entrepreneurship, and he’s worked with Republicans and Democrats on public policy initiatives as a member of the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship. He previously was a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. He’s also chairman of the Case Foundation, which he and wife Jean founded in 1997 to use entrepreneurial approaches to solving world problems.

“Something I’ve learned is that revolutions happen in evolutionary ways,” Case says. “Entrepreneurs bring urgency to solve problems but they’re also pragmatic enough to know we’re not going to change the health care system overnight, the education system overnight, the transportation system overnight. It’s going to take a partnership approach.”

This philosophy goes back to AOL’s difficult early days and years, Case says. “AOL couldn’t have been successful without partnerships. We needed partners in [personal computer] manufacturing to build modems in, partnerships with communications companies to get them to lower costs from $10 an hour to 10 cents an hour, partnerships with media companies to get them to create compelling content. There were a whole slew of partnerships, and it took a while and it took perseverance, but it was critically important.”

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Born in Honolulu to a lawyer and a teacher, the young Steve Case had no idea what entrepreneurship was. “But I know I liked the idea of starting businesses probably to make money because I thought it was fun. Lemonade stands, newspaper deliveries, selling greeting cards door to door, stocking snack machines—pretty basic stuff, but I enjoyed it.”

Case headed east to Williams College in Massachusetts and dabbled in entrepreneurship by writing concert reviews in exchange for tickets while earning his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1980. His first job was with Procter &amp; Gamble as a brands manager. In 1982 he joined Pizza Hut as manager of new product development.

But Case had a yearning the corporate world couldn’t satisfy. “In the late ’70s, I got intrigued with the idea of the Internet,” he says. “I was reading a book that talked about the notion of the electronic frontier, new ways to get information, and I was fascinated by it.”

His older brother, a venture capitalist, introduced Case to the owners of a gaming service for Atari computer users. They offered him a job in marketing, he ascended the ranks and the company morphed into America Online.

“When we started AOL 30 years ago, only 3 percent of people were online and they were only online for an hour a week,” Case says. “So it wasn’t obvious to most people that there would be a mass market for Internet. But even though we had some tough times and moments when parents and friends and others were saying ‘maybe you should give up on this dream because it doesn’t seem like it’s happening,’ I believed in the idea. I believed in the vision, if you will, of a connected society, so for me, that light at the end of the tunnel—even though sometimes it was a dim flickering light—that light never went out.”

Eventually, at its peak, over half the Internet traffic in the United States went through AOL.

&nbsp;

“I hope I can say this without getting emotional,” a young man says into the microphone at the Big Kansas City entrepreneurship conference sponsored by Silicon Prairie News. He’s addressing Case, who is holding his “fireside chat” onstage. The young man continues: “Thank you for changing the course of my life.”

It’s been a decade since Case officially parted ways with the company he built, following the disastrous merger he finalized in 2001 between AOL and media giant Time Warner, which sent share prices plummeting. He resigned as chairman in 2003 and left the board of directors in 2005.

But it’s his role in making the Internet part of everyday life that’s on the minds of those who have come to see Case in Kansas City.

Case says he’s proud and humbled by their kind sentiments. But his legacy isn’t complete.

“I hope to also contribute to making the world a better place by empowering <a title="How I Quit My Job, Traveled the World and Became an Entrepreneur—All Before I Turned 25 | SUCCESS.com" href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/blog/how-i-quit-my-job-traveled-the-world-and-became-an-entrepreneur-all-before-i-turned-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">entrepreneurs all across the globe</a>. The best hope for peace and stability in places like the Middle East, Africa and Cuba is hope and opportunity—and entrepreneurs must lead the way. And here in America we need to understand the American story is not just about the politicians that forged the democracy, but also the entrepreneurs that built the economy,” he says. “Entrepreneurs helped create the American Dream, and now, as we struggle with a growing opportunity gap, entrepreneurs can help save the American Dream."

<a title="How To: Leave Behind Your Day Job &amp; Go Solo | SUCCESS.com" href="https://successcom.wpenginepowered.com/article/how-to-leave-behind-your-day-job-go-solo" target="_self" rel="noopener">Are you ready to lead the way as an entrepreneur? Find out how to quit your day job and go solo. </a>

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Torrents of rainwater rush down neighborhood streets into intersections and storm drains. A dozen or so people hurry under shared umbrellas behind a

Torrents of rainwater rush down neighborhood streets into intersections and storm drains. A dozen or so people hurry under shared umbrellas behind a | SUCCESS

Steve Case Hits the Road for His Rise of the Rest Tour

Steve Case Hits the Road for His Rise of the Rest Tour | SUCCESS

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Twenty years ago, someone ordered a large pepperoni pizza with mushrooms and extra cheese at Pizza Hut. Nothing unusual about that, except that the order was placed online in what&rsquo;s believed to be the first-ever e-commerce transaction. From there, the e-commerce sales industry climbed (and is still climbing) to enormous heights.E-commerce sales in the U.S. reached $263.3 billion in 2013, up almost 17 percent from the previous year, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. That figure represents 5.8 percent of total sales in the U.S. Globally, e-commerce accounts for an estimated $1.3 trillion in sales.The biggest driver of e-commerce growth is the adoption of smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.In the U.S., the manufacturing sector is the largest contributor to e-commerce sales (49.3 percent of total shipments), followed by merchant wholesalers (24.3 percent of total sales), according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Retailers generated 4.7 percent of their revenues online, while service providers&rsquo; online sales accounted for 3 percent of their revenues.&nbsp;

Twenty years ago, someone ordered a large pepperoni pizza with mushrooms and extra cheese at Pizza Hut. Nothing unusual about that, except that the order

Twenty years ago, someone ordered a large pepperoni pizza with mushrooms and extra cheese at Pizza Hut. Nothing unusual about that, except that the order | SUCCESS

The Birth of E-Commerce

The Birth of E-Commerce | SUCCESS

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Jonathan Davis survived rounds of layoffs before the end came in May 2008 when his employer went out of business. Even before receiving his pink slip, he’d gotten fed up with the insecurity, the lack of control over his life and with the work itself, selling subprime mortgages.Ellen Pfeiffer was perfectly happy working in business development for a chain of residential centers for the elderly. Then, out of the blue, her supervisor announced her position was being eliminated.Do these stories sound familiar? If you haven’t faced a layoff yourself, surely you know someone who has. Or you’ve suffered moments of uncertainty when all the scary what-ifs creep into your thoughts: What if I lost my job, my paycheck, my security, my savings, my identity… my future?Job security is a phrase our grandparents or parents understood. But in today’s economy, it’s gone the way of analog phones and eight-track tapes. Those who have retained their jobs must do more for less—shoulder more of the workload, work longer hours, forgo raises and bonuses. There is no safety net and fewer incentives for staying. For many disillusioned employees, employer-provided health insurance remained the last best reason not to leave and start their own businesses. But benefits like insurance and 401(k) accounts have bitten the dust, too.So why not strike out on your own? What have you got to lose?That’s what Davis and Pfeiffer asked themselves. Now, they realize they had everything to gain. Although Davis felt a sense of pride in not getting axed in the first rounds of layoffs, he was tired of the uncertainty. He was inspired as he watched his brother help his sister-in-law start her own business, so he started “brainstorming on paper,” jotting down interests and ideas. He was exhilarated as he allowed himself to dream about all the possibilities. Among his interests were green business and sustainable living.“I wanted to be involved in something that was giving back to the community,” he says.He tried to do research online, but found insufficient resources in his Portland, Ore., area. And that gave him a business idea: a website for environmentally conscious consumers. From that moment on, there was no stopping him. “It was like I had a fire in my gut.”Davis’s GreenPosting.org, a free directory for all things green in the Portland area, has been live since October 2008 and generates income by selling ads to businesses promoting their sustainability. And 30-year-old Davis has since developed a promising consulting business, too, helping other businesses adopt green practices and connect with each other. Pfeiffer’s inspiration for taking the leap came from a random conversation with a friend about entrepreneurship. She liked the idea of starting her own business, using her own creativity to take charge of her future. And she recognized an unmet need for concierge services like running errands and providing transportation to help elderly people live independently in their own homes.Days after attending a seminar on developing her business, she got the news that her position was being eliminated. Her supervisor offered her a lateral move within the company, but Pfeiffer said no thanks. She’d already turned the corner and was ready to chart her own success.Since that day near the end of 2008, Pfeiffer, 57, has expanded her concierge services to serve busy people of all ages. Her San Antonio, Texas-based Generations Concierge Service has 10 employees and about 100 individual clients, and works with three corporations. She markets her services to healthcare and corporate clients, and has been successful in persuading them that their employees will be more productive at work if they have help with personal needs.Successful entrepreneurs aren’t surprised to see their ranks growing.“Owning your own business puts you in control of your financial destiny,” former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach tells SUCCESS. He followed a successful NFL career by working his way from real estate agent to the helm of an international commercial real estate company.“Small-business success has no limits,” supermodel-turned-CEO Kathy Ireland tells SUCCESS, “unless you place them on yourself.” Ireland’s product marketing company, kathy ireland Worldwide, “began at my kitchen table with a few borrowed dollars,” she says, and generated an estimated $1.4 billion in retail sales in 2005.Entrepreneurs, by their very nature, can create their own success, says media mogul Ted Turner. “People who own their own businesses are their own bosses. They are independent thinkers.”Indeed, the liberty that comes with owning a business is a major draw of entrepreneurship. Business owners are able to be their own bosses, exercise creative freedom, and achieve financial independence—not only for themselves, but for their families as well. “Small businesses help enhance the lives of our citizens by improving our quality of life and creating personal wealth,” says President Barack Obama. “Small businesses will lead the way to prosperity, particularly in today’s challenging economic environment.”On a personal level, the rewards of entrepreneurship are infinite. “To take an idea and turn it into something making money—it’s really amazing,” Davis says. “I’m in charge of my own destiny completely. It’s just so rewarding to do something you’re good at that’s so appreciated,” Pfeiffer says.Former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway followed his record-setting NFL career with entrepreneurial ventures that include car dealerships, restaurants, endorsements and Internet opportunities. “The responsibility of making important decisions that impact your business is exhilarating,” Elway tells SUCCESS. “It may be one of the few things that can come close to replacing the high of throwing the game-winning touchdown in an AFC Championship game in Cleveland.If you meet the challenges and make the right decisions, and are fortunate enough to succeed, then there are few things better than enjoying the fruits of your efforts and decisions.” But what about the risks of starting a business in these unstable times? Successful entrepreneurs resoundingly agree that now isn’t just a good time—it’s the best time.“Times when everyone is confused and stunned present enormous opportunity [for entrepreneurs] because no one is really doing anything,” writes Dell Inc. founder and CEO Michael Dell on his company’s blog. “So I think this is the time where the seeds of really successful businesses will be created.”Best-selling author, radio host and wealth expert Dave Ramsey puts it this way: “There’s been a lot of doom and gloom in the media this year. The truth is, many people were laid off from jobs they hated anyway. Many people, instead of sitting home and sulking, have used the opportunity to think about what they really want to do when they grow up. You have ideas—go do it!”Finance guru and best-selling author Suze Orman points out that starting a home-based business is “an incredible way—without risking any money, so to speak—to see what hidden communication talents may be uncovered that could create an independent income stream.” And when it comes to risk, successful entrepreneurs say taking a chance on yourself is a much safer bet than gambling your financial future on a corporate job.“I think a lot of people are worried about making mistakes, but if you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not taking enough risks,” says Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh. “Taking risks and making mistakes is how you grow, on both a business and personal level.”“Entrepreneurship starts with a passionate person who is willing to take a risk,” Elway says. “It doesn’t have to be a big risk, as sometimes it may be as simple as getting out of your comfort zone. Sometimes the ‘nothing to lose’ attitude can force people to pursue dormant dreams,” he says.&nbsp;Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says he took a big risk in acquiring the franchise. “I didn’t sleep for two and a half years, but it was probably the most exhilarating time of my life.… It was a gamble, but there have also been some pretty big rewards.”For wealth expert and best-selling author Robert Kiyosaki, risk is actually part of the enticement. “Just as Tiger Woods seeks the challenges a golf course offers and Lance Armstrong craves the challenges the Tour de France offers, I seek the challenges entrepreneurship offers. I seek long-term business challenges, and today’s economy is offering all of us challenges we’ve never seen before.”Mark Cuban, chairman of HDNet and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, points out that some of the best businesses are built in recessions. “Money is easy to find in boom times, which leads to far too many businesses getting out of the gate that don’t deserve to be started. When money is scarce, better ideas face less competition and better execution can lead to greater success.”Indeed, more than half of the companies on the 2009 Fortune 500 list were launched during a recession or bear market, along with nearly half of the firms on the 2008 Inc. list of fastest-growing companies, according to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.Would Davis and Pfeiffer have taken the leap if not for losing their jobs? Possibly not, although both are awfully glad they did. “Starting the business in these tough times and seeing it grow is reassuring because it’ll be poised for greater success when the economy rebounds.” Pfeiffer admits she would’ve waited until the economy improved, but she says that would’ve been a mistake. With more people downsized, those who remain employed are responsible for more of the work, so they need her services to keep their personal lives on track, she says.Davis’s young business is still growing, but “I can pay for my life,” he says. As his own boss, he sees unlimited earning potential and personal fulfillment. Sure, he puts in a lot of hours, “but it’s like that adage, ‘Do something you love, and you’ll never work a day,’ ” he says.And he has time to volunteer playing chess with kids through an after-school program, has started a nonprofit called the Bicycle Business League that promotes pedal-powered transportation. And, “when it snows on Mount Hood, I’m able to leave at 2:00 and get there in time for night skiing.”Pfeiffer also works long hours, but she’s only really given up TV, “which isn’t such a bad thing.” For anyone thinking about entrepreneurship, she offers this advice: “If there’s something you’re passionate about that you’re not doing, make every effort to attain that dream, pursue that goal. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.”To get you up and running with your new business, SUCCESS brings you <a href="https://www.successmagazine.com/stedman-graham-5-tips-for-transformation-/PARAMS/article/1083/channel/22">tips</a>, strategies, <a href="https://www.successmagazine.com/toolkit#inspiration">inspiration</a> and insights in this new <a href="https://www.successmagazine.com/toolkit" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Entrepreneurial Toolkit</a>. You'll read why <a href="https://www.successmagazine.com/the-time-to-prosper/PARAMS/article/713">now is the right time</a> to start a business and the <a href="https://www.successmagazine.com/Why-You-Should-Start-Your-Own-Business-Today/PARAMS/article/187/channel/223">personal benefits</a> of entrepreneurship. The toolkit will be an ongoing component of SUCCESS.com, offering an array of articles with time-tested principles as well as new features posted each month.

Jonathan Davis survived rounds of layoffs before the end came in May 2008 when his employer went out of business. Even before receiving his pink slip,

Jonathan Davis survived rounds of layoffs before the end came in May 2008 when his employer went out of business. Even before receiving his pink slip, | SUCCESS

Entrepreneurship: The Road to Your Future

Entrepreneurship: The Road to Your Future | SUCCESS

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