Getting Started
I suppose one of the hardest aspects of becoming an entrepreneur is actually getting started. In a recent presentation to a group of engineering students, a clearly delivered message was that you can judge your suitability as an entrepreneur based on your determination to actually take a step forward in becoming one. Many people have a business idea but do not pursue it given the overwhelming feeling all the challenges present.
This section explores some of the first steps to take to become an entrepreneur as well as some of the first questions to ask yourself to be sure the direction is right for you -- hopefully you can use these materials to decide if becoming (or remaining) an entrepreneur is the right path for you as you search for your personal legend (from The Alchemist).
- Team with great people -- not all entrepreneurs are automatically suitable business leaders or CEO's (few really are). The role of CEO is often challenging and lonely, not what people expect. Professional CEO's are experienced in running the operation of a business but are not necessarily themselves the risk taker so they can manage dispassionately based on their prior experiences and skills.
You can choose to be an entrepreneur and decide that your main getting started goal is to team with great people who can run and grow your business. Consider who you might want to spend a lot of time with (more than your family), who has experience in areas you feel challenged and reflect on what role you really want to have once the business idea is moving forward. Follow your nose, the sooner you settle into the role you want, the sooner your level of contribution reaches maximum.
- Decide why you want to start your own business -- one obvious answer is to make money but we all know (or want to make sure we are heard saying) there is more to it than just the money. We're looking for independence, we like the profile being a business leader provides, we're passionate about solving a worthwhile problem, there are many reasons that come to mind. You do need to think what you want to get out of forming your own business. If your goal is to build it up and sell it you would approach how you operate it differently than if you wanted to settle into a lifestyle situation that happily can run for many years. The odds are against you forming something you make a lot of money from just as its difficult to run a profitable business for many years given how fragile the economics of many markets are. Knowing what you want as an outcome from the very start helps set the framework for how you build it and who you build it with.
- Where will the first investment dollars come from -- do you approach friends and family, use your own money and some you don't have (borrow), look to third party risk takers? If you feel uncomfortable asking anyone for money, it's hard to get going. The ideal situation is to bootstrap a business through sales revenue, but growing a business rapidly is rarely done this way. The opportunity you want to pursue may need a rapid infusion of money to maximize the opportunity in a timely fashion, this may not be for you if you can't face the concept of taking money from someone else or using your own money with such high risk. There are lots of places to get money from, so as daunting as fund raising is, innovative and confident entrepreneurs tend to find it somehow.
- Write a business plan document -- one of the real tests of an entrepreneur, can they express their ideas in a document (or presentation), do they understand the relevant business issues to address that others will want to read (or hear) about (e.g. sales and marketing plans, product roadmap, competition, market analysis, etc). Many people can't write a good resume, fewer are able to write a quality business plan. If you want to find venture capital investment, you will need a quality document as your lead collateral. Get help if you need it -- it goes a long way to proving to yourself that your idea is a viable business venture that you (or someone else) can lead.
- Is your business idea innovative -- it's increasingly the case that innovation in most industries is important to justify starting a business, but the innovation could be in the sales and marketing model, it does not always have to be in the technology itself (although that does help). If you are looking for a lifestyle business, acute differentiation may not be important, all you want is the freedom managing your own business provides. As long as you can find customers to support your needs, follow your nose. Sometimes multiple people have the same innovation in mind, but only one actually proceeds to create a successful business around it. Don't shy away by thinking someone else must also be doing this.
- Are you doing it right -- there are a lot of little details required to form a proper business. Legal issues rise to the top as do a variety of finance and accounting issues. Paying taxes, filing returns with local government, systems to track revenues, issuing pay checks, establishing a shareholder structure, deciding on pricing, hiring, choosing the proper incorporation model and on it goes. You can often find a services organization or individual that can walk you through the steps needed to get started -- it's not a point of failure to hurdle, it's a necessary element of what you become familiar with in your first steps as an entrepreneur.
There are many more good and great ideas out there in people's heads than there are businesses starting. The main difference is the willingness to take those first steps. Hopefully this section helps you consider whether or not you want to take those first steps. Hopefully InsideSpin overall helps you succeed.