Entrepreneurs – Driving in the Dark

What does it take to succeed as an entrepreneur?

• Trusting your own instinct
• Not listening to conventional wisdom
• Strong imagination; seeing something that’s not there (yet)
• Willingness to do whatever it takes to build and sustain a new idea

Why do most entrepreneurs fail?

• Leaning too heavily on instinct and not adding in enough facts
• Not willing to learn from conventional wisdom
• Not understanding how to bridge between imagined and real
• Pushing self and resources past the limit, getting discouraged and then giving up

The answer is not to shy away from being an entrepreneur. And it is not about avoiding bold new ideas that mere mortals think are impossible. However, the odds of success can be greatly improved with just a few adjustments to the typical entrepreneur’s MO.

Here are a few important recommendations:

1. Outsource accounting – don’t hire Aunt Gertrude and don’t give this to your spouse. And above all, don’t do this yourself unless you are a trained accountant.
2. Contract with a professional business advisor – I have a list of over 100,000 well qualified business advisors and would be happy to give you a couple of names in your area.
3. Write up your plan – write up a very short plan and make the financial projections, org plans and product/service plans exhibits so you can easily update them.
4. Read these books:
   1. The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
   2. The One Page Business Plan by Jim Horan and Tom Peters
   3. Pulse: Understanding the Vital Signs of Your business by Frank Coker (me)

Keep it simple. Control your appetite. Build a team and professional resources. Exert your passion. Measure and validate plans and progress.

If you have a sloppy aim, it will take more than blind luck to hit the target. Don’t drive in the dark without headlights!!

The entrepreneur’s words of encouragement: May your peaks be higher than the depth of your valleys, and may all failures have a big ROI!

Cheers!