All the hours at home recently and spending more time in my garden than usual, has led me to think about the parallels between the growing process of a plant and that of a new business idea or invention. Both take an awful lot of work, in terms of time and energy. In addition, if you don’t plant them in the right location, then neither will flourish.
In design and development the engineering design stage focuses on how to grow an idea from the basic seed that someone has planted. The sowing of the seed, or taking the idea to the next level, can be likened to detailing the concept and producing appropriate cad drawings.
As we all know, plants attract pests, so in order to get through this stage, some troubleshooting or extra prototyping might be required to adapt or make changes, to ensure survival. Before any harvesting can take place an idea will need time to grow, for example you may need to continually fertilise the soil, thus impacting on preset budgets. Finally, to protect and nurture any concept, it is essential that patents and IP have been addressed and secured.
Like with any seed planted, if successful over time then you can reap the fruits of your labour, but be prepared to manage the growing cycle again with another product, or manufacturing cycle etc.
