When we hear the word competition, we tend to think of team sports (baseball, football etc.), individual athletic events (tennis, marathons, diving, etc. ), music and dance competitions, spelling bees, and pie or hotdog eating contests. These are fun for both participants and observers looking to experience the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. In these kinds of events, winning or losing depends on a combination of talent, training, and luck.
Business idea competitions are similar in that they provide forums for engaging and energizing both participants and observers. Business ideas are different in that all contestants as well as potential investors and partners, not just the chosen few selected to receive prizes and recognition, emerge from the process as winners because of what they have learned.
Here are the kinds of benefits that competitions offer idea innovators:
- Encouragement. Opportunities for innovation are all around us, yet few people take the initiative to spend the time and effort to research and refine a business idea. Why? Because we are busy with other activities and finding time to be creative is difficult. Competitions provide a set of rules, tools, and timeframes. I was encouraged to take innovative ideas that I had in my head and do the work necessary to make them presentable and ready for competition.
- Differentiation. Many business ideas overlap with similar ideas that may have already been designed into a product or service. Preparation for a competition forces the idea owner to do research into whether similiar ideas already exist and to either articulate its uniqueness or make changes to the idea so that its differences are clear. I found that one idea that I had several years ago, a real-time home energy dashboard similar to the gas/battery/mpg display in my Prius for enabling changes in behavior, had already been invented and commercialized (I bought The Energy Detective and use it every day). As a result, I modified my idea to include capabilities not found in existing products.
- Collaboration. Participants in competitions are encouraged and in some competitions required to be part of a team. This results in individuals with ideas teaming up with other people whose insights, skills and experience complement what the individuals bring to the table. This tends to make for better ideas and teams that are capable of executing the idea in the marketplace. As the idea owner, I recruited people to join my two professional teams for the MIT competitions. This required me to articulate, defend, and modify the idea with the help of other people with different perspectives and skills.
- Access. In addition to competing for monetary awards and professional resources, all participants benefit from the attention of potential investors, partners and team members. These are necessary if an innovative idea is to ever have a chance of becoming a commercial success.
