We hear it all the time: “the best ideas are already taken!”

Such a statement is shocking. It’s ridiculous. And it’s wrong.

The truth is, originality does not often come from concept. After all, concepts are the foundations upon which industries are built. Even if you’re inventing, you are using work that came before to produce work of your own. Imagine a world where Apple didn’t create the iPhone because Motorola had developed the idea in 1973. It’s simply not feasible.

So if original ideas do not stem from a concept, where do they come from?

VALUES

The value you put on your business, and the value you reflect to those who might buy your product.

Values are the embodiment of your ideals, and should be the reason you’re in whatever business you happen to be in.

And for values to be original, they must be inherited by a team. Branson, Gates, Huffington, and Oprah: they created empires on the foundation of not only their values, but the intertwining of ideas held by a reliable team that believed in those values.

These unique but united mindsets resulted in some of the most original and successful businesses of the century, and not because they were the first to come up with the ideas.

Keep this in your thoughts as you strive to better your business.