Most entrepreneurs have an abundance of ideas but have a difficult time determining which one is worthy of their time. Who wants to pour a bunch of energy and money into a project, company, or product that may give little return on investment?

Uh, nobody.

You always give something a whirl because you think you can make it successful.

Wouldn’t it be cool to know an idea will be profitable before you begin? Can I hear a HELL YEAH?!

The most important evidence of future profitability is passion for the idea. You want to be able to dig into it and stay excited from beginning to end. If the idea will take years to implement, will you be able to remain enthused for the next five years?

Some years back, I came up with a brilliant idea for a yearlong coaching program that would only be $97 a year with huge value given to the participants. I even mapped out the plan for how that program would generate even more sales.

Yet, every time I considered the amount of time my team and I would have to put in, my passion fizzled.

After two weeks of ruminating on the idea—and never feeling 100% excited—the idea got nixed. It wasn’t good enough to make me jump out of bed in the morning.

Which is the opposite of how I felt about the Five Star Client Formula when I first had the idea. I worked on it for over nine months, and I was still in the honeymoon stage: in love, excited, and willing to talk about it for hours.

If you’re not passionate about your idea, it’ll be hard to summon your energy, generate creative solutions, and even harder to attract buyers.

Next, you need to be able to see how you’ll immediately monetize the idea after you launch it and for the long term. This also means strategizing about how this idea will fit into your entire business model.

Part of knowing how the idea fits into your business is by asking some big-vision questions:

• How will this idea impact my business?
• How will it alter my day-to-day schedule as I devote time to it?
• How much time will it really take to create and bring to market?
• What will it cost?
• Who is the ideal end user? How will I reach them? What would make them buy?
• Who will I need to help me make this the best it can be?

After you’ve figured out those comprehensive questions, check in with your emotions.

If you’re still passionate, that’s a good beginning.

Does the idea feel solid in your heart?

Can you proudly stand behind the idea if people tell you you’re crazy, silly, or that this will be too much work with very little return?

Would you fight for it?

Last, would you be willing to transform who you are in order to have it be as good as it can be?

Are you willing to stretch, get uncomfortable, and figure out solutions for things you’ve never attempted before?

If you’ve answered yes, and mean it wholeheartedly, then you just might be on to something profitable and fulfilling.

Ready, set… action!