Monday, April 21, 2008

More than a great idea

Have you ever wondered why Pizza Hut doesn't expand into the 'take-n-bake' aspect of the pizza business? Papa Murphys has found a way to not only enter a very mature and relatively saturated industry, but also a way to THRIVE in it! Instead of delivering pizzas (while trying to keep them warm from the oven), Papa Murphys prepares fresh pizzas in a Subway-line fashion and has you pick them up. So, it would seem logical to me that instead of expanding into the pasta delivery market (like they recently announced), Pizza Hut might instead exploit their delivery system to this fast-growing market. Really, how nice would it be to have a fresh ready-to-bake pizza from Pizza Hut delivered to your door?

I have asked a few people and they fully agree that it would be a great idea. So, what is holding me back? To be quite frank, it is near impossible for me to sell the idea to Pizza Hut. Why? Because you cannot simply patent ideas such as this.

Thus, the remaining option to take advantage of my idea would be to start my own business. It wouldn't be quite as good as Pizza Hut leveraging their name to enter this portion of the industry, but I have yet to see a replica of Papa Murphy's pop up that offers delivery. Here again, however, is a dead end. You see, entrepreneurship requires more than a great idea. It also requires the motivation as well as the capacity to exploit the idea. In terms of motivation, I need to be willing to take on the risks of entrepreneurship and devote the time necessary. For capacity, I need to have the money, equipment, network, industry knowledge, credit, and much more.

Unfortunately, I am a bit lacking on the motivation side as the pizza industry is not an area that I am passionate enough about in order to give up how I currently spend my time. But, perhaps the next idea I come across just might...

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