How thinking 'crazy' can kickstart your startup

Hey everybody! I recently went to the second workshop on the Launch22 incubator programme and picked up some really interesting ideas that I think would be cool to share with you.

It was a great session run by Tom Previte who is also the incubator organiser. We learned clever and creative ways to generate business solutions. One of the ways Tom showed us was the Crazy 8 method.

This involved splitting up an A4 sheet of paper into 8 rectangles and sketching 8 business solutions. Oh, but you don't get the luxury of time because you have to think of one business solution per minute! Tom actually times the minutes and shouts out when the minute is over. Oh, but the good thing is that you can literally draw anything you want even if it's crazy, weird or illogical. Just draw what comes to mind!

For me, I wanted to come up with different solutions to where my best sales channels were for my beauty startup, Luckyface. So doing this exercise, I was able to come up with 8 places I could potentially sell my beauty products.

Here's my Crazy 8 example.

Sketch 1 was selling in a kiosk in a shopping centre.
Sketch 2 was selling beauty products in a vending machine.
Sketch 3 was selling in a vintage ice cream style truck
Sketch 4 was selling my products on an app where you can swipe products you like and don't like, then it recommends you a selection of products
Sketch 5 was selling in a physical shop or renting a space in a well-known shop
Sketch 6 was hosting a beauty swap
Sketch 7 was selling on facebook
Sketch 8 was selling on Instagram with links to our website

As you can see, I came up with a wide range of different business solutions from mobile ice cream trucks to vending machines to kiosks. Although it was kind of stressful having to think of a whole new idea per minute, I did really enjoy sketching out my 'Crazy 8s'. It really helped me generate some unique ideas that I wouldn't have thought of on my own.

If you're feeling a bit stuck on your business idea, here's 5 reasons why sketching a Crazy 8 could help you too:

1. It forces you to think quickly
Usually I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I always try to think of the perfect solution and think it through logically. However since Tom is timing our 1 minute per sketch, there's not much time to think too thoroughly. I felt compelled to draw something without overthinking it.

2. It forces you to give 8 solutions
Sketching Crazy 8s forces you to come up with 8 different solutions. Normally in brainstorming sessions, I wouldn't feel like I needed to come up with a specific number of solutions. But doing Crazy 8s, the whole purpose is to come up with 8 different ideas. This means in 8 minutes, I was able to generate 8 business solutions. Although not all of the ideas were good, at least it got the brain thinking of multiple solutions.

3. It makes you think outside the box
Most of the time, the brain rejects ideas because we have a filter on. Our brains tell us that our idea is too silly or doesn't make any sense i.e. a vending machine that sells beauty products?

The Crazy 8 exercise lets you remove that filter and gives those weird ideas a chance to become solutions. I enjoyed doing this exercise because it allowed me private thinking time. I also felt like it was a safe space to generate ideas.

4. It gives you visual representation of your ideas
Sketching makes you think visually and creatively. Maybe you don't have it altogether in your head yet or you don't even know how it will work in the real world. However, if you can see your idea in your mind's eye, then you can draw it. Also other people can visually see your sketches and immediately 'get' your idea.

5. It can be really good way to share ideas with your cofounder/team
Everyone has a unique way of thinking. So when it comes to generating ideas, everyone will have their own unique set of ideas/sketches. It was quite fun to compare sketches with my co-founder Diane too because we both came up with different ideas!

So that was the business solution session. Thanks for reading!