ENTREPRENEUR?

Want to start a company? Now hear this:

"An Entrepreneur is a person who jumps off a cliff........building a parachute or developing an aircraft on the way down"

25% of start-ups crash in Year 1
50% are out of business by Year 5
Less than 20% survive 10 years.

Contrary to common belief, Venture Capital (VC) does NOT improve the odds of success. Only 7% of the fastest growing Entrepreneurial companies had VC.  16% of start-ups were founded on the Credit Card of the Entrepreneur.

"If opportunity does not knock, build your own door".

First create and develop your idea, be judged by strangers, then test, adjust and improve IN THE MARKET (not by your friends nor family members. They don't tell you the truth.)

Optimism and feeble planning models fail in the real world of chaos, uncertainty and naysayers.

80% of Business Plans however also fail in their objectives especially business plans developed for Banks. Don't trust them. They will give you an umbrella but will take it back as soon as you really need it. (I have been there!)
Survived, and learnt a great but nearly disastrous lesson.

Best idea:
BURN THE BUSINESS PLAN ! - by Carl J Schramm Compulsory Reading before you start your venture.

1) Most Entrepreneurs understand what they do when they start.

2) They copy ideas, modify, improve existing and successful ideas and exploit the niches that the big companies "don't want". 

3) Probability of success for Entrepreneurs increases with age and experience. There are more Entrepreneurs at 55 years than at 35 years. It is not a Law, but it has a good reason.

4) You can learn much in the first 6 - 10 years inside a large organization before starting your own company.

5) Budding Entrepreneurs have subconsciously prepared for this event a long time ago. They carry their experience and awareness of the world acquired in the corporate environment with them and are now ready. Some great examples: Steve Jobs at Atari, Wozniak at Hewlet-Packard, Elon Musk, Richard Branson and others. (do your own research)

6) Entrepreneurs with Engineering and Sciences background understand analytical thinking and improve the odds if they become Entrepreneurs in a technical / scientific field.

7) Recruit Talent, not family! Don't give away equity / ownership in the new venture before you earn ANY money. (that would be called the death-spiral by the experienced )

8) Sales are everything. Before the sales happen, the following serious action is required:

IDEA GENERATION & INNOVATION, EXCEPTIONAL AND REMARKABLE DESIGN, & SHIPPING (SALES). It goes together.

Remember: Profit is relative. CASH FLOW IS FOR REAL.

9) Make thought connections between already existing stuff, issues and problems and future answers. Innovation is an organic process where your experience and exposure helps. Experience  and Exposure is important and beneficial due to having been through a lot, learnt much during difficult situations and developed insight and wisdom.

Entrepreneurs are also strong on situational awareness, agility and resilience.

Most importantly they have a great appetite for self-learning, exploring and reading widely in many fields and disciplines.

They are curious about the world around them, they successfully synthesize diverse ideas, yet there is a healthy dose of humility and humour, but also persistent, consistent and intentional action.

It can be a long road. Stay in the Game.


Another important aspect to urgently know about and understand is "The Dip" and "Purple Cow"; two helpful thin books with much wisdom by Seth Godin