It takes a lot of work to bring ideas from napkins to reality

It’s quite common to see companies looking for the perfect marketing plan, for the ideal product, or for a one-in-a-million business plan. It is a sort of quest for the Holy Grail. How many times did you hear someone tell you that they had a great idea for a fabulous product or service, one which will for sure make them rich? Quite often, however, those great plans don’t really come up as planned, or don’t even see the light of day. Why? Well, in fact, it’s easier to have great ideas than to bring them to live according to plan. Let me correct that: it’s much easier to have great ideas than to bring them to live according to plan. A great idea is something we can have at least once a month! Yes, it’s true that some great companies or products started as a quick drawing on a napkin. The problem is that it takes a lot of work to bring ideas from napkins to reality. You have to have enough stamina and focus to never let go of your objectives; be imaginative when you need to overcome the obstacles; and have a team prepared to deal with multidisciplinary issues, from finances to legal, from sales to marketing, from project management to human resources management. That demands a lot more from you than writing down a good idea on a napkin. In other words, I think great products and services are usually a mix between great ideas and great execution. My educated guess is that the mix is 5% of great ideas and 95% of a consistent, hands-on, relentless execution. Frotcom’s great idea has always been to create user-friendly effective tools for the optimization of our customers’ fleets. But this idea would be not enough, had it not been for the systematic focus and persistent effort of all stakeholders involved in the project, from the initial founders to everybody currently involved in the operations, in all the countries where the project is being delivered. That is why if I had to choose between a perfect business plan with a poor execution team and an average business plan with a perfect execution, I would surely pick the latter. Valério Marques CEO - Frotcom International