I’ve been speaking with a number of local entrepreneurs over the past few weeks, and they all have a few things in common.  All are sharp, smart, have good taste (hey, they’re talking to me, right?), have some killer ideas, and seem to be stuck.  Taking definitive action on the ideas seems to be the next key step that is holding each of them back.

During our discussions, each idea was solid, but not necessarily reaching for the sky as in “I’m developing the next Google killer” (and that’s a good thing, in my view).  All were certainly achievable with enough effort and time, but time is the killer factor here.  Most of the ideas had very long time horizons – there was no plan to be even ‘launching’ for several months – usually 6-12 months from starting.  That’s a workable plan for some people, but in these cases, I didn’t think it was.

I began asking this simple question.  “Now that you’ve identified a target market to serve, what could you do in the next six weeks to be able to serve the people in that market in exchange for money?”  The question brings everything to a short pause.

The motivation behind the question isn’t to force people to only do something that will result in cashflow within six weeks.  Six weeks *is* a fairly short time period, but it’s also possible for many projects to be started and have revenue in that window. The idea is to get people thinking about short term goals, and to focus on small achievements, testing the marketplace, and so on.

If you have an idea that may take 8-10 weeks, that’s fine too.  Hey, it’s even fine if you have an idea that really *will* take 10 months – go for it!  But for the majority of people I talk to, they’re very likely to get lost during those 10 months, stumble around, and eventually give up on the idea altogether.

Does this approach work?  Well, it can.  I’m living proof that it can.

My own GroovyMag and JSMag ventures took longer than six weeks to start up, but they definitely weren’t 10 month ventures.  I started looking in to the idea in earnest in late June 2008, started serious planning in August 2008, and launched GroovyMag in November 2008.  That was probably 12 weeks total, but much of that time was working with others – writers, layout, etc. And at the 6 week mark it was in full swing, with a defined launch date.  During that time I wasn’t quiet about it either – I engaged the community for feedback and input, created a signup form to collect contact info on those interested in the idea, and had a ready-built customer list on day one.

Similarly, my brother recently launched a small project, and it took about two weeks from idea to cashflow.  Will this take over the world and let him retire on just this project?  Probably not, but it’s also given him a customer base of people who have an interest in that particular topic.  As that grows, he’ll have better insight as to what those customers want and need, and can serve them better with other related products.

On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve followed a couple of people working on projects over the last 12 months, and neither of them have launched yet.  They’re doing everything possible *except* putting the product out there for sale, which is a shame.  Had they started smaller, gotten better feedback from potential customers in the first few weeks, and changed course accordingly, I think both people would have had better products after all this time.

This “six week test” isn’t anything new.  Many of us have heard the phrases “release early, release often” or “ready, fire, aim” or similar ideas.  My only twist on this is phrasing the concept with a specific time limit attached.  Six weeks wasn’t an arbitrary choice, mind you.  It was longer than ‘two weeks’ (very few people can organize themselves enough to be productive in just two weeks), longer than ‘a month’ (months have different days in them), and not ‘two months’ (which often ends up being something people feel is so far in the future that they can put it off).  “Six weeks” is, to me, concrete enough for people to realize it’s a short time period, but long enough to accomplish something in.  It’s also 42 days, and we all know the benefits of 42.

What could you accomplish in the next six weeks?  Do you have an idea for a new product or service you’re thinking of putting together?  Does six weeks seem doable to you for your ideas?