Once you have your business plan laid down, and you are ready to move on to the next few stages you’re probably going to be getting a bank account sorted, it pays to shop around so check out business banking products from KBC Ireland. You’ll need to take care of your insurances too.

But, on from that, you do get some fun stuff too. Like thinking up products and services that you want to create and sell in the future. To do that you’re going to want to have some idea generation tips to get you through.

Here are a few for you:

SCAMPER

This one can be a lot of fun. You are looking at the things you have already and amping them up. SCAMPER is an acronym, and here is the process for that:

S - Substitute
C - Combine
A - Adapt
M - Modify
P - Put to another use
E - Eliminate
R - Reverse

It was developed by Bob Eberle, and it will assist you in looking at ways you can SCAMPER a service or a product that already exists and turn it into something better.

Mind Mapping

This is a very visual tool which is actually ideal for many people to start with. The main goal or vision is going to be in the middle, and each line that comes from it will be an idea or a lead to another idea.

It will go out and out minor ideas will like to significant ideas, and you will, in the end, have something that resembles a web. Tony Buzan developed the technique of mind mapping, and it uses brainstorming (now known as thought shower), project planning, problem-solving and note-taking.

The idea is that you will write down as many ideas as you can, and from that be able to see concepts and frame information in the best way. You can, of course, eliminate things that don’t make the grade. But for the most part, you want to write as much as possible.

Reverse Thinking

This one is a lot of fun too. Whatever the problem is that you want to solve, you answer the different questions. For example, “how do I grow my readership?” would become, “how do I get no readership at all?”.

You then begin to write down everything that you would do to make sure that you had no readers, no sign-ups, and no interest. It will always be easier for people to think of negative things and answer negatively.

The great thing is, once you have a list of all of the things you should do to get ‘no readership at all,’ you reverse all of the answers. You will likely have a very well crafted list of things to do to improve your situation.

So perhaps it said, “send them out randomly with no schedule,” you could turn that into “have a reliable schedule, that people can rely on.”

Accidental Genius

Perhaps the most straightforward technique of all. You simply sit with a piece of paper, and maybe some focus music in the background, and write. Focus on the question or problem and write the train of thought as they come.

Idea generation should be light-hearted, entertaining, fun, and above all - as little pressure as possible. Letting the brain get creative is the quickest way to make links you didn’t see before.