Question: You begin your book with the importance of conducting a self-assessment before beginning a business. How can entrepreneurs avoid losing sight of the insights they gain from this self-discovery as their businesses grow?
Answer: Ideally, the insights become embedded in their actions. That is, realizing what you care about and are good at should get you started on the entrepreneurial path. Given that success is invariably an iterative process, based on where you are rather than where you aspire to be, the ability to accurately assess your potential venture will situate you in the most fecund ground. (Pardon the flowery jargon here…) I guess what I’m saying is that the self-assessment should include a realistic stock-taking of what you know (i.e. the copper pipe market or the legal profession) as a way of spotting opportunity. It also includes what you care about, who you know, what you’re good at—but not for the sake of achieving enlightenment (which is not a bad thing of course) but as a way of forming an entrepreneurial vehicle with a realistic chance of health and success.
So get the insights right from the start. As you proceed down the path, remaining open to what you learn, you will continue to expand what you know, and continue to becoming truer to the insights. AND if you business begins to falter, it could be that you don’t have enough cash or customers (generally a bad thing.) But it could also be a function of straying from your source of value (i.e. what you know, care about, are good at, and control)—or never realized what that source of value was. So take the time to reassess.
Previous
Next