The excitement of starting up your own business can often distort the reality of the market opportunity that you believe exists.
A few years back I convinced myself that there was an unfulfilled need to build ERP and back office technology applications that would be delivered as a service and paid for on subscription.
Hold on- isn't that where the technology industry is headed I hear you ask? In fact don't almost all technology vendors now take their products to market that way?
Yes they do. It's called cloud computing . The problem was that my idea was way before its time. The connectivity wasn't there, the software was complicated to run[ remember Citrix?] , and no one liked the idea of their data being hosted by a third party.
The result? I lost a whole bunch of money, licked my wounds and killed the idea before I made even one dollar in revenue.
It's a familiar story of course for many Entrepreneurs, and it made me think that there really are 3 key questions you should ask yourself before and whilst you are building your business. For me its like a daily checkpoint.
1. Mirror mirror on the wall who is the fairest of them all? No- its not you. Beware of 'drinking your own kool aid'. Winning Entrepreneur of the Year, Fast Track 100 growth or Red Herring can often be a poisoned chalice in my experience. Winning these awards and having a profitable and successful business can often be an ocean apart.Beware.
2. Are you giving yourself the bottom line? Did you really have a good trading month or are you comparing it against the old ' this time last year' excuse ? Do you have the best hires? Are you really CEO material? When did you last speak to your customers and find out what they really think of your product?
3. Are you listening to your Board? Many Entrepreneurs [and yes I have done it] treat their Board as nothing more than their captive audience, to ' do as they are told' . Have maybe 3 -5 on your Board maximum, but make sure you get the maximum from them. Have a Board whose opinion you value, trust, and most importantly listen to and act upon.
I now have a Chairman that I value and trust and who mentors me . We speak daily. At first it was tough because at times I felt accountable to him.
Then I realised what he was doing was making me accountable to myself.
And that is all the reality check I need.
Reflecting on past actions can help entrepreneurs avoid any mistakes they've done in the past. It's true that asking these three questions can help entrepreneurs if they're planning on staying at the game for a long time. But I have to admit, I laughed at the "Mirror Mirror" question.
Posted by: Agata Renfrew | 06/30/2011 at 08:47 PM
If a person wants to be an entrepreneur, he/she must be prepared for anything. Formulating a plan is the best way to get things started and reflecting on past mistakes really helps in the long run.
Posted by: Raela Drigger | 07/01/2011 at 06:26 PM