Tuesday Tips - Choosing the Right Business Idea

A Real Conversation, Not a Performance

When someone tells me they’ve been thinking about starting a business, it rarely comes out confidently. It usually arrives in a quieter, almost cautious way — like they’re testing the idea out loud for the first time and aren’t sure how it’s going to land. There’s often a small laugh, or a quick “It’s nothing really…”, as if they’re already preparing to shrink it down before anyone else can. And that’s the part I always pay attention to, because underneath that hesitation there’s usually something genuine. Something they’ve been carrying around for longer than they admit.

Ideas don’t tend to burst into the room fully formed. They drift in slowly. They sit with you while you’re doing ordinary things, nudging you at the most inconvenient moments. You might find yourself thinking about it while you’re driving, or folding laundry, or trying to fall asleep. And because it doesn’t look like a polished business yet, you convince yourself it doesn’t count. But that early, fuzzy stage — the bit where it’s more of a feeling than a plan — that’s where almost every meaningful idea begins.

Talking it through will always help

What usually helps is simply talking about it. Not pitching. Not performing. Just talking. When you describe what you’ve been noticing or imagining, you start to hear your own thoughts in a way you can’t when they’re stuck in your head. You notice which parts feel natural and which parts feel like you’re trying too hard. You see how someone reacts when you explain the problem you’ve spotted or the thing you want to help people with. Sometimes they lean in because it resonates. Sometimes they ask a question that opens up a whole new angle. Sometimes they say something that makes the whole thing click in a way it never did before.

That’s the moment where an idea starts to take shape — not because you’ve perfected it, but because you’ve allowed it to exist outside your own thoughts. Once it’s out in the open, it becomes easier to explore. You can imagine what a tiny version of it might look like. You can picture helping one person, not a whole audience. You can see how it fits into your life without needing to commit to anything dramatic.

And that’s really all you need at the beginning: a small, gentle experiment. Something light. Something that doesn’t require branding or a website or a big announcement. Just a simple way to see whether the idea has a pulse. Maybe it’s a conversation with someone who might genuinely need what you’re thinking about offering. Maybe it’s sketching out how you’d help someone in a real situation. Maybe it’s sharing a rough version of the idea with a friend and noticing which parts they naturally latch onto.

Sketch out your ideas

As you do that, the idea naturally shifts. It becomes clearer in some places and softer in others. It starts to feel more like you — not the “business version” of you, but the real you, the one who actually cares about solving a particular problem or creating a particular experience for someone. And that’s the part people often miss when they try to think their way into the perfect idea. You don’t think your way there. You discover it by moving, by talking, by testing, by letting the idea breathe a little.

If you’re not sure whether the idea you’ve got is the right one, that’s completely normal. Most people don’t know at the start. They just know something is pulling at them, and they’re curious enough to follow it a little further. That’s all choosing a business idea really is — following the thread and seeing where it leads, without putting pressure on yourself to have the whole thing mapped out.

And if you want someone to sit with you while you untangle it — someone who won’t hype you into something that doesn’t feel like you, and won’t dismiss the early, messy bits — that’s exactly what a Brew with Stu is for.

Coffee time, always

☕ Want to sense‑check your idea? Book a Brew with Stu.

Sometimes the right idea isn’t found — it’s uncovered, slowly, in conversation.

A Few Gentle Next Steps (Nothing Heavy, Just Helpful)

• Explore your idea out loud with someone who’ll listen without judgement.

• Notice which parts feel natural when you talk about them — and which parts feel forced.

• Try the smallest, simplest version of the idea with one real person.

• Pay attention to how you feel while exploring it — energised, curious, flat, unsure.

• Let the idea shift if it wants to. That’s part of the process, not a sign you’re off track.

Disclaimer

Whilst every precaution has been taken to ensure this information is accurate, I, Stuart Ashley take no responsibility for any errors contained within. Please conduct your own research before making business or financial decisions.