Turn a Worthless Business Idea into a Million-Dollar Startup

Everyone has ideas. I get ideas by the dozen. When I’m brushing my teeth, when I’m driving to work, when I’m at my desk reading an article. But that does not mean that all can be converted into million-dollar businesses.

Not that these cannot be converted into million-dollar businesses, but I may simply not be driven enough to see those particular ideas through to that milestone.

You may get many ideas, too. But if you don’t, don't despair. You don’t need ideas to start a business. Regardless, your business ideas are worthless. Let me explain why.

Ideas are just ideas. An idea is the seed of a successful product or service. Without proper care and maintenance, it will not bloom. Ideas require solid research of the target market, a good strategy and a sound business plan, without which, ideas cannot go much further.

Related: 4 Ways to Find Your Next Revolutionary Business Idea

If you want to start a business and make a go of it, you need more than just an idea. To begin turning startup dream into a million-dollar business, consider the following advice.

1. Settle on one business idea.
If you're mulling a number of ideas, odds are good that none of them will see the light of the day. Why do I say that? Because your approach is all wrong. Skimming through different ideas every day and figuring out whether they motivate you or whether they work won't get you anywhere.

The amount of time you’re spending on them will likely be insufficient. An you're probably not passionate about any of them. So how do you fix it? Take one idea that moves you, that you feel most passionate about and stay with it. Stay with one till you can’t go any further. Until you’ve given it your all.

Only then will you know whether or not that business idea is worth a million dollars.

2. Validate your idea.
Your idea is absolutely worthless if you keep it to yourself and do not test it with actual customers.

Writing a business plan with projections through market research is a sure-shot way to a startup doomsday. Nothing beats an actual customer using your product or service.

So how do you get to customers when you’re at the idea stage and don’t want to spend a huge sum building something they don’t want?

Build a minimum viable product or a prototype. The idea is to put out something that offers the main value of your startup or that solves the core problem of your customers.

The prototype could be a PowerPoint slide, a dialogue box or just a landing page. This is something that you can often build it in a day or a week. A prototype can be an actual functioning product with the core features offered.

Share this with your network and see the response. Are people excited to use it? Do they feel their needs or problems are resolved by using your product? Is it easy to use?

3. Execute.
There is no such thing as a million-dollar idea. Facebook was not a million- (or billion) dollar idea until it saw the light of the day, until it was executed.

Ideas evolve into products which themselves evolve over a period of time through constant customer feedback and use. You must build a prototype, beta or a minimum viable product and get it out in the hands of the customer. Let your customer decide whether the idea is of value or not.

Most people just don’t get their products out in time and spend most of their resources in trying to build that one perfect product. Save yourself some grief, time and, most of all, cash, and build on a product that your customers want.

4. Find a large market.
Don’t waste your time on an idea that does not cater to a large audience. Sure, you can start local and expand later, but is your idea solving the needs of a few hundreds? Is your idea scalable to the next hundred thousand? If not, you’re not building a business.

Validate whether the problem that you are trying to solve is truly the problem of the masses. And not just yours and a few neighbors and friends or your network.

Think big, think global, if you can.

Base your idea on a large audience and you’ve got yourself a product with the potential to grow into a larger and a more successful business.

5. Make it a must-have, not a nice-to-have.
A lot of ideas are utter nonsense. Those can surely be turned into selling products, but you won't end up building a business out of them. These are the nice-to-have ideas.

You must spend time getting to know from the market whether your idea or product is a nice-to-have or a must-have. Nice-to-have products are mostly in the novelty domain or are not compelling enough for customers to buy or own.

If you want your ideas to develop into successful products that help you create and sustain a business, then go after must-have ideas.

So, decide what is important to you: the figment of your imagination that tells you your idea is a million-dollar one or validating it to build something that can get you the actual million dollars.

Fried Chicken (Max's style)

 Ingredients:    
3 chicken leg quarters  
1 tsp. of grated garlic 
1/2 tsp. of grated ginger 
salt  
pepper (I used white but black is okay)  
about 2 c. of vegetable oil for frying


Instructions:     

1. Rinse the chicken and pat dry with paper towels.Place the chicken in a container. Add the garlic, ginger, 1 and 1/2 tsps. of salt and 1/2 tsp. of pepper. Rub the seasonings and spices into the chicken well. Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least an hour.
2. Prepare the steamer. Cut a piece of baking paper to fit snugly into your steamer basket. Cut out holes on the paper. The paper ensures that the chicken won’t stick on the basket; the holes ensure that condensation falls back into the water beneath the basket.
3. Steam the chicken for 30 minutes. Remove the steamer basket from the pan. Sprinkle with more salt and pepper. After five minutes, turn the chicken over and sprinkle the other side with salt and pepper as well. Leave for another ten minutes to allow the juices inside the meat to settle. That’s what makes the fried chicken moist after twice frying. If you skip the resting part, all the juices will just ooze out into the cooking oil.

Heat the cooking oil. Fry the chicken, two to three minutes per side, just until lightly browned. Drain on paper towels and allow to rest for ten minutes. Same principle as before.

9. Reheat the cooking oil. Fry the chicken a second time, two to three minutes per side again, until the skins are golden brown.
10. Serve with rice. Or enjoy the chicken by themselves.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s), excluding marinating and resting between frying
Cooking time: 45 minute(s)

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Total Time: 48 minutes
Yield: 42 nuggets
Serving Size: 5 nuggets

Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
3/4 teaspoon of parsley flakes
3/4 teaspoon of oregano
1/4 (heaping) teaspoon of onion powder
1/4 (heaping) teaspoon of pepper
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups of canola oil

Instructions:

Heat oil in a heavy-duty skillet or saucepan on medium-high heat. Set a candy thermometer in place.
While oil is heating, cut chicken breasts into cubes, then place in a food processor. Process chicken into a fine paste. Transfer processed chicken to a bowl. Combine salt, parsley, oregano, onion powder, and pepper, and sprinkle over chicken. Combine well.
Whisk eggs together in a small bowl. Combine the flour and salt and put it on a plate.
Measure chicken paste out with a cookie scoop and roll into 42 balls.
Roll ball in flour, then coat with egg, and then coat in flour again. Use your fingers to press the ball down to make a nugget.
Once oil reaches 350-365 F place as many nuggets as possible in the oil, and fry until the bottoms are golden, turn and fry until the other side is golden, about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove to a towel-lined plate (to catch any excess oil).

Spicy Buffalo Cauliflower 'Wings'

Ingredients: 
1 cup water or soy milk
1 cup flour
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into pieces
1 cup buffalo or hot sauce
1 Tbsp. olive oil or melted vegan margarine

Preheat the oven to 450°F.
Combine the water or soy milk, flour, and garlic powder in a bowl and stir until well combined.
Coat the cauliflower pieces with the flour mixture and place in a shallow baking dish. Bake for 18 minutes.
While the cauliflower is baking, combine your buffalo sauce and olive oil or margarine in a small bowl.
Pour the hot sauce mixture over the baked cauliflower and continue baking for an additional 5 to 8 minutes.
Serve alongside vegan blue cheese dressing and celery sticks.

Chinese Dumplings/Potstickers

Pork filling
1 lb ground pork
4 large napa cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried – rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, minced
1/4 cup ginger root, minced
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp corn starch

OR

Shrimp filling
1/2 lb raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and coarsely chopped
1/2 lb ground pork
3 stalks green onions, minced
1/4 cup ginger root, minced
1 cup water chestnuts, minced
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp corn starch

Dough
Note: you will want to double this for the amount of filling listed – I just tend to use leftover pork filling for soup meatballs. A single batch will yield about 40 dumplings depending on size.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup warm water
flour for worksurface

Dipping sauce
2 parts soy sauce
1 part vinegar (red wine or black)
a few drops of sesame oil
chili garlic paste (optional)
minced ginger (optional)
minced garlic (optional)
minced green onion (optional)
sugar (optional)

Combine all filling ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly (I mix by clean hand). Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Make the dough, Method 1: Place the flour in the work bowl of a food processor with the dough blade. Run the processor and pour the warm water in until incorporated. Pour the contents into a sturdy bowl or onto a work surface and knead until uniform and smooth. The dough should be firm and silky to the touch and not sticky.[Note: it’s better to have a moist dough and have to incorporate more flour than to have a dry and pilling dough and have to incorporate more water).

Make the dough, Method 2 : In a large bowl mix flour with 1/4 cup of water and stir until water is absorbed. Continue adding water one teaspoon at a time and mixing thoroughly until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. We want a firm dough that is barely sticky to the touch.

Both dough methods: Knead the dough about twenty strokes then cover with a damp towel for 15 minutes. Take the dough and form a flattened dome. Cut into strips about 1 1/2 to 2 inches wide. Shape the strips into rounded long cylinders. On a floured surface, cut the strips into 3/4 inch pieces. Press palm down on each piece to form a flat circle (you can shape the corners in with your fingers). With a rolling pin, roll out a circular wrapper from each flat disc. Take care not to roll out too thin or the dumplings will break during cooking. Leave the centers slightly thicker than the edges. Place a tablespoon of filling in the center of each wrapper and fold the dough in half, pleating the edges along one side (see images above).

To boil: Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add dumplings to pot. Boil the dumplings until they float.

To steam: Place dumplings on a single layer of napa cabbage leaves or on a well-greased surface and steam for about 6 minutes.

To pan fry (potstickers): Place dumplings in a frying pan with 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil. Heat on high and fry for a few minutes until bottoms are golden. Add 1/2 cup water and cover. Cook until the water has boiled away and then uncover and reduce heat to medium or medium low. Let the dumplings cook for another 2 minutes then remove from heat and serve.

To freeze: Assemble dumplings on a baking sheet so they are not touching. Freeze for 20-30 minutes until dumplings are no longer soft. Place in ziploc bag and freeze for up to a couple of months. Prepare per the above instructions, but allow extra time to ensure the filling is thoroughly cooked.

To serve: Serve dumplings or potstickers hot with your choice of dipping sauce combinations.

From userealbutter.com

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes

Yield: Eight 4-inch pancakes
Prep Time: 25 min
Cook Time: 10 min
An absolutely decadent morning treat...

Ingredients:

CINNAMON FILLING:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, just melted (not boiling)
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon

CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
2-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

PANCAKES:
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon canola or vegetable oil

Directions:
Prepare the cinnamon filling: In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a quart-sized heavy zip baggie and set it aside (see *Tips below).
Prepare the glaze: In a small pan, heat the butter over low heat until melted. Turn off the heat and whisk in the cream cheese until it is almost smooth. Sift the powdered sugar into the pan, stir and add in vanilla extract. Set the pan aside while you make the pancakes.
Prepare the pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the milk, egg and oil, just until the batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine).
Cook the pancakes: Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium-heat and spray with nonstick spray. Use an ice cream scoop (or 1/3 cup measuring cup) to add the batter to the pan. Use the bottom of the scoop or cup to spread the batter into a circle (about 4-inches in diameter). Reduce the heat to medium low. Snip the corner of your baggie of cinnamon filling and squeeze the filling into the open corner. When your pancake begins to form bubbles, add the filling. Starting at the center of the pancake, squeeze the filling on top of the pancake batter in a swirl (just as you see in a regular cinnamon roll). Cook the pancake 2 to 3 minutes, or until the bubbles begin popping on top of the pancake and it's golden brown on the bottom. Slide a thin, wide metal spatula underneath the pancake and gently but quickly flip it over. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until the other side is golden as well. When you flip the pancake onto a plate, you will see that the cinnamon filling has created a crater-swirl of cinnamon. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, and repeat with the remaining pancake batter and cinnamon filling. Re-warm the glaze briefly, if needed. Serve pancakes topped with a drizzle of glaze.

Tips:
*Quick and easy tip: Use a boxed pancake mix as the base for this recipe.
*Tips for the cinnamon filling: Before swirling, open up the baggie again and give it a good stir to re-incorporate any butter that may have separated from the sugar. You want the mixture to thicken a bit- it's best when it's similar to the squeezing texture of a tube of toothpaste, which will happen if you leave it at room temperature for several minutes. Don't try to use the filling for the pancake swirl unless it has thickened as it will be too runny to make a solid swirl.
*Keep the heat low or your pancakes might cook up too quickly. Don't flip them until you see those bubbles starting to pop on top. Flip them with a wide spatula so you can grasp the whole thing without batter and filling dripping all over the place!
*I wrote a very detailed post on how to get the cinnamon filling *just right* on myGingerbread- Cinnamon Roll Pancakes Post. Check it out before you attempt these!
*If you're trying to justify your intake of decadent cinnamon rolls, you can make this a tad bit healthier by using half whole-wheat flour and low fat cream cheese, or enjoy the pancakes without glaze.



**This post is originally from Recipe Girl*

HAM

Hamon 1-2 kilo 

2 1/2 tasang saturated salt solution (4 tasang tubig, 1 1/4 tasang pinong asin o 1 (1/2 tasang magaspang na asin. Pakuluuan ng 10-15 minuto ang mga ito. Palamigin.

PUMPING PICKLE-

2 1/2 tasang tubig
2 1/2 kutsarang asukal
2 1/2 kutsarang phosphate
5 kutsaritang curing salt
5 pirasong dinikdik na asorbic acid tablets (50mg.)
1 patak of anise
1 patak oil of cloves
2 patak maplein extract
1 kutsarang smoke flavor

DRY CURE MIXTURE-

2 1/2 kutsarang asin
1 1/2 kutsarang repinadong asukal
1/4 kutsarang phosphate
1/2 tabletang dinikdik na ascorbic acid (500 mg.)
1/16 Kutsarang Salitre

JAMON BULACAN-

1 kilo pork liempo
2 cup pinneapple juice
1 can beer

4 tbsp. sugar
2 tbsp. salt
1 tbs prague powder

Procedure:
Claean pork well. Remove skin and bone. mix last three ingredients and rub on pork. refrigerate for 3 days. Wash cured pork well before cooking. boil with pineapple juice, sugar and beer until sauce thickens.

-----------------------------------------------

Quick Cured Ham (pork)

I. Meat material:
Pork, Pigue, boneless (lein, shoulder, kasim)
1.5 kilos with skin.  1kg.= 1000 grams

II. Ingredients:

Pumping pickle solution (for 1 kg. meat) -houshold measure = 1/2 c pumping solution weight.

Weight
water chilled 1/2 cup  125 grams
Ajinomoto Ginisa flavor Mix 2 tablspoons 14 grams
Curing Salt 1 tbsp. 5 grams
sugar refined 1 tbsp. 10 grams
Phospate (increase the binding) 1 tbsp. 5 grams
Vitamin C powder 1/2 tbsp. 1 grams
Hamspice 1/2 tbsp. 7.5 grams
Isolate* 1 1/2 tbsp. 15 grams
Carageenar? -(seaweed) 1 tbsp. 5 grams

III. Dry Cure Mixture - curing, developing the flavor

Salt, refined (vacuum) (rock salt)  2 tbsp.    30 grams
Sugar 1 1/2 tbsp. 15 grams
Phosphate 1/4 tbsp. 1 gram
Vitamin C powder 1/4 tbsp. 1 gram.

IV. Cooking Ingredients:

Brown sugar  2 cups 356 grams
Pinapple Juice 1 cup 240 grams
Anisado Wine  1/2 cup 125 grams
Bay Leaf 1-2 pcs.
Clavo de Comer 3-5 pcs.
Oregano dried 3-4 strands
Cinnamon powder 1 tbsp.
7-up 1 bottle   230 grams.


*Ingredients that minimize shrinkage in ham & promotes better sliceability.
**Hamspice may be substituted in the amount of 1 tablespoon.

V. Procedure:

1.select good quality raw meterials. Trim and weight.
2. Prepare 50 pumping pickles & dry cure mixture
3. Inject Pumping pickles into the lean portion only 1 inach apart (1/2 cup per kilo of meat)
4. Massage for even distribution of pickle.
5. Apply dry cure mixture into the fat and lean portion.
6.Cure at room temparature for 8 to 10 hrs. of rfrigeration temperature for 2-7 days.
7. Wash for 90 seconds & tie with abaca twine to form a shape or put in ham (hef) or (ref)??
8. Cook with recommended ingredients  for 1 1/2 hrs at the middle of the cooking time, invert.
9.Cool. Remove abaca twine and caramelize with brown sugar.
10. Pack & store in freezer.

Caramelization process:

1. Use blow torch.- Put brown sugar on fat portion and caramelize.
2.Use of Oven - At boiling point temperature for 20 minutes with brown sugar on the fat portion of the meat.
3. Use of Turbo - with fat sugar in top of fat. Temperature is 350 degrees fo 20 minutes until golden brown.
4.Traditional Hot - "Syense" on the top of fat portion with brown sugar.
5. Use of thick syrup to be poured on top of the top portion thick syrup is prepared by boiling 1 cup solution, 2 cups brown sugar and 1/4 cup pineapple juice, boil until it thickens, add 1/2 tbsp carageeran. dissolve in 1/4 water.
 ----------------------------------------------


Chicken Ham

I. Ingredients
Chicken, whole dressed 1 1.2 kgs./pc.


II. Pumping pickle (50 degrees salinity)
Water chilled 1/2 cup 125 grams
Ajinomoto Ginisa flavor mix 2 tbsp. 14 grams
Curing salt 1 tbsp. 5 grams.
Sugar refined 1 tbsp. 10 grams
Phosphate 1 tbsp. 5 grams
Vitamin C powder 1 tbsp. 1 gram
Hamspice 1/2 tbsp. 7.5 grams
Isolate  1 tbsp. 15 grams
Carageenman or Tsigel 1 tbsp. 5 grams

III. Dry cure mixture
Salt, refined 1 1/2 tbsp. 18 grams
Sugar, refined 4 tbsp.40 grams
Phosphate 1/2 tbsp. 3.5 grams
Vitamin C powder 1/4 tbsp. 1 gram.

III. Cooking Ingredients
2-3 cups of water to immerse Chicken Ham and add the following ingrdients.

Brown sugar 2 cups 223 grams
pineapple juice 1-2 cups 120-240 grams
Anisado wine 1/2 cup 120 grams
Laurel 5 pcs.
Clavo de Comer 2-3 pcs.
Oregano 2-3 pcs.

Dissolve first in 1/2 cup water strain before adding other ingredients: these two ingredients minimize shrinkage in ham and promotes sliceability.

Procedures:
1. Select good quality raw material. Trim clean very well and weight.
2. Prepare pumping pickle (.50 degrees salinity) and dry cure mixture.
3.Inject pumping pickle solution into the lean only. thouhout the carcass.
4. Massage for even distribution of pickles.
5. Apply dry cure mixture inside and outside the carcass.
6.Cure at room temperature for 8-10 hrs. or in refrigerator for 2-3 days. Pull out curing. Wash under running water for 90 seconds. Drain and put ham net or the abaca twigs to maintain the shape. Cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Boil at the beginning and simmer. Caramelize with brown sugar with the following methods.
-Blowtorch
-Use of hot Syanse
-Put turbo at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.
-Put inside oven at boiling temperarue for 20 minutes.
-Use of 1 thick syrup by using the following:
*1 cup cooking solution
*2 cup brown sugar
*1/2 tbsp. carageenan dissolve in 1/4 cup water

1. bring to a boil the above three ingredients, when already thicked, pour to the cool carcass.
2. Cool. Put in the refrigeration or freeze overnight.
3. Package in cling wraps. Use native basket with colored cellophane (red green or yellow) be sure the wrapped chicken ham is placed on top of a styropore plate and place on native basket and wrapper with cellophane.

V. Yeild *1.2 - 1,02 kilograms



*From Mommy's Recipe Notebook.