This week seems to be one for ideas. I’ve already come up with several cool ideas for businesses. The one I had today has me so excited I feel like cycling home right now to write up a business plan.

It feels right. It would work. It would have me using several of my passions in the one job. I could be technical, creative, and produce something that has the potential to make people’s lives more fulfilling. If I’m clever, I could involve basically everything I’m interested in through the one company!

Even if I didn’t have the resources to start this business for another 5 years, I think the opportunity would still be there then. If, in the meantime someone else tried to fill the niche I plan to fill – no worries! I honestly think I’ll do it better. I have a solid plan on how we would start small and maintain quality as we slowly increased our services.

The only thing that puts me off is the business plan. I know nothing about finance or how businesses are operated. I’m going to have to do some study.

Given I feel no need to rush, I’m going to start slowly. I’ll share my idea in more detail once I have the basics mapped out, but I’m happy to slowly educate myself, assess the resources I’ll need to make this idea come to life, and work out where I’m going to best get start-up funding. I think that in five years, I will have the recipe to be working on something fun, sustainable, ethical and educational that will appeal to a niche market already primed for this kind of material.

What’s fantastic is I also know a lot of professionals and friends with passions and skills in related areas. I have people to go to for everything – except the business management stuff. But that will come with time.

I’m thinking about this business the way I think about progressive enhancement for the web – what services can I offer on a tight budget and small staff, and how we could build on this over time.

And no it’s totally not an excuse to write the copy of an entire website like a 1920s private detective. That’s just one of the perks…

Footnote: Not that my ideas alone will be enough. I'm going to have to think about the team I'm going to build, too...