If you’re running a small business you will be carefully planning your every move and without large budgets your scope for risk is reduced – and this is where brainstorming can really help your business.

Brainstorming can lead you to ideas that you would never have come to just through logical thought. Once you understand the main principles of brainstorming it can be a really liberating process, no way to get it wrong, no pressure to come up with the right answer.

Two Heads are Better than One

You’ll find you can only get so far brainstorming solo, so if you have the opportunity to get together with a colleague or business peer then it is easier to bounce ideas off each other.

No Idea is Stupid

It is very easy to dismiss an idea if you don’t think it fits with your client or project but don’t veto ideas during the brainstorming process. Thinking freely is one of the key elements to brainstorming and in order for that to work there can be no judgements; it might be the genius marketing angle you were missing!

Quantity Over Quality

For many areas of business, it is best to have a few solid quality ideas but the opposite goes for brainstorming. Generate as many ideas as possible. You can refine and flesh out the best ideas later.

Visuals

Use post it notes, white boards, flip charts or a note pad. Just get the words or images down.  As you are looking at the ideas contributed so far, you may start beginning to see how they link together and in turn spark off another idea.

Build on ideas

When brainstorming as a team always keep positive, accepting others ideas and building on them will lead to the wild thinking required, be bold, be brave, but above all be positive.

Stay Focused on the topic

This may sound like a contradiction to notion of lateral, creative thinking but it is good to keep bringing yourself back to topic. You may very well have some great ideas on another subject but if not related make a note and think about those later. Once you have gathered lots of ideas it’s good to review what you have and then discuss their potential further.

You might want to look at some brainstorming techniques to help the process: https://business.tutsplus.com/articles/top-brainstorming-techniques–cms-27181

If you need help with your business or brand direction do get in touch for a chat lindsay@reddesk.co.uk