The Importance of Self-Assessment and Self-Reflection

A couple of students in one of my entrepreneurship classes this fall have had surprising outcomes from their foray into this topic. Through the process of self-assessment and self-reflection they realized that entrepreneurship is just not the path they want to take in life after all. And this is good.
I never view my job as being a cheerleader. Certainly I will give them encouragement when appropriate, but my goal is never to create the most entrepreneurs I can. Rather, it is to create the highest number of successful entrepreneurs I can. And if their hearts and heads are not suited for this journey, then it is good that they find out before they start a business. It is surprising how many entrepreneurs don’t think about these issues and end up feeling trapped and unhappy.
Beyond understanding if entrepreneurship is the right path, self-assessment helps entrepreneurs better define the ideal size and scope of the business before it even begins, by integrating their personal financial, family and other personal goals into the mix.
I even find that successful entrepreneurs with multi-million dollar companies benefit from self-assessment and self-reflection. Often they have lost track of their own goals and aspirations as the business takes on a life of its own. Many talk about becoming servants of the business rather than the business serving their needs.
Here are some of the questions that I encourage all potential and all active entrepreneurs to think about from time to time.
What gets you excited, gives you energy, and motivates you to excel?
What do you like to do with your time?
What drains energy from you in your work and in your personal relationships?
How do you measure success in your personal life?
What do you consider success in your business/career?
What are your specific goals for your personal life?
What are your goals for your business/career, including income, wealth, recognition and impact on your community?
What do you want to be doing in one year? In five years? In ten years? At retirement?
I feel very strongly that examining one’s core values is essential in planning a business and consciously developing its culture as it grows. I ask entrepreneurs to list their core personal values that they intend to bring to their business (for example, treating people fairly, giving something back to the community, etc.). Where does each of these core values come from (religious faith, family, etc.)? Why is each of these important to them? How will they put them into active day-to-day?
Here are some more questions that I have folks who are planning to become entrepreneurs reflect on before getting too far into their planning.
What are the major reasons you want to start a business?
How many hours are you willing and able to put into your new venture?
How would you describe your tolerance for uncertainty and risk?
Do you easily trust other people working with you on a common activity? Why or why not?
How much financial risk are you willing to take with your new venture (personal assets, personal debt, etc.)?
Assume you decide not to start your business. A short time later, you see that someone has started the same business and is doing well. How would you feel? Why?
What are the non-financial risks for you in starting a new business?
How do you react to failure?
How do you react in times of personal stress? How do you deal with stress in your life?
How much income do you need with your current lifestyle?
How long could you survive without a paycheck?
How much money do you have available to start your business?
Which of your personal assets would you be willing to borrow against, or sell, to start your business?
Whose support (non-financial) is important for you to have before starting your business (family, spouse, etc.)?

Stay-at-Home Moms as Entrepreneurs

StartupJournal looks at the growing trend of young mothers combining a stay-at-home lifestyle with entrepreneurial endeavors.
“For many women who leave the work force to care for children, motherhood is making invention a necessity. The daily routine of child-care presents such a minefield of little problems that they turn to tinkering, and then market their brainstorms.”
I am seeing this path in more and more of the self-assessments that my students are writing about in my classes. Many are saying that entrepreneurship gives them the freedom to be at home while still pursuing their business aspirations. It will be interesting to see how well these mothers can balance parenting both a new business and young children at the same time.
Anita over at Small Business Trends had more to say about this last week when this article was at the Wall Street Journal’s main site. Check out her post and the comments it produced.

Non-Profits as Entrepreneurial Ventures

Universities across the country, as told in this story in the Chronicle of Higher Education, are beginning to train non-profit managers in business skills, particularly entrepreneurial management skills.
“Around the country, business schools are creating and expanding programs that help nonprofit managers…apply bottom-line business skills to mission-driven projects. Courses in nonprofit management and related fields like social entrepreneurship are booming.”
There are several trends behind the growth in these programs.
“Several factors account for the surge of interest from students. First, turned off by stories of corporate greed, students are eager to find ways to make a contribution to a post-9/11 world. Second, with 1.4 million nonprofit organizations in the United States competing for government and philanthropic funds, charities need skilled fund raisers and administrators. In addition, their leaders are worried that scandals like those at United Way and other charities have shaken public confidence. They want to reaffirm it.”
I am seeing growing interest in our programs here at Belmont among both MBA students and undergraduate business students. Many of these students are also strong advocates that the private sector is the best answer to many of society’s problems, rather than relying on government programs.

Top 10 Entrepreneurs of All Time

MSNBC offers its list of the “History’s 10 Greatest Entrepreneurs”. Its list:
1. King Croesus
2. Pope Sixtus IV
3. Benjamin Franklin
4. P.T. Barnum
5. Thomas Edison
6. Henry Ford
7. Benjamin Siegel
8. Ray Kroc
9. H. Ross Perot
10. Jobs & Wozniak
This list includes a few good choices, but several of their picks were included because they were really good con-men, sleazy businessmen, or even gangsters. YIKES! What were they thinking?! Let’s try a list of those who build wealth and did good deeds for society as they made their wealth.
What are your picks??
(Thanks to Erin Anderson for passing this along).

Entrepreneur Gets Out the Vote with his Employees

One entrepreneur is being a civic leader by encouraging his employees to register to vote. As reported by NFIB:
“Charlie Birney…general partner of Atlantic Golf, an Annapolis, Md.-based owner, developer and manager of three golf courses, started his own get-out-the-vote effort at work. Aptly named Drive the Vote (www.drivethevote.com), Birney’s GOTV effort, in conjunction with the Maryland Golf Course Owners Association, emphasizes voter registration, voter participation and voter awareness.”
Birney goes all out to make sure that his employees have the information they need to make an informed decision.
“(H)e has compiled information on the candidates running, personalized it for each employee and delivered it by hand. Each personalized manila folder lists the employees’ representatives in the Maryland General Assembly and their voting records, one from NFIB and the other from Maryland Business for Responsive Government.”
He encourages voting by creating a raffle that awards one paid vacation day off to one lucky employee who votes on or before election day.
Why does Birney go through all of this effort?
“‘I really think it’s every citizen’s privilege, right and responsibility to vote.'”
Well said!

Young Entrepreneurs Find Success

Entrepreneur magazine presents their annual Young Millionaires feature. What is particularly inspiring is how these young people worked to build businesses with value with a variety of products and services including manufacturing makeup and body creams, a specialty medical school, furniture retailing, comic books, wine shops, retail clothing, and a large number of profitable on-line or web related businesses.