Entrepreneurism: Are You Ready?

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I was asked to speak at a small business event about Entrepreneurship: Are You Ready?  My experience in working with Small Business Development organizations and projects and doing consulting and training for Woman/Minority Owned Businesses has shown me that when people talk about becoming (or being) an entrepreneur they primarily mean they want to start a business (or have one).  With that in mind I prepared a list of important questions for my audience to ask themselves.  Following are those questions along with the supplementary questions and points.

 Definition of Entrepreneur (according to Wikepedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur):  Term applied to the type of personality who is willing to take upon herself or himself a new venture or enterprise and accepts full responsibility for the outcome. 

 Here are some important questions to ask yourself whether you have a business, are starting one or are thinking about starting one.

• Why do I want to start this business? (Or why did I start it?)
• Needs to be more than: “I didn’t want to work for someone else anymore.”
• If X can do it, so can I, may or may not be true
• Remember having a passion for something is not enough
• Be careful of: “So I can be at home with my children” or “So I will have more control of my time”.

• Do I know what my product or service is (will be)?
• Be sure you are clear
• Don’t try to be too much
• Don’t group things that are different
• Too much and too different make you look as if you’re not good enough at something specific
• Can you translate your product or service into a benefit

• Who are my customers, clients, prospects?
• If this is not clear you will be wasting time, effort and money marketing and selling
• Everyone or anybody are not good answers
• Banks say this is the number one question loan seekers cannot answer
• It takes research to truly answer this

• Do I understand what makes my prospects spend money?
• Your product/service doesn’t make them spend money; their need or desire does
• It takes research to know what makes them spend money
• Not understanding this will cause you to waste a lot of time and money and possibly to fail

• Does it matter to my prospects that my business is Minority or Woman Owned?
• They must have a reason
• Typical reasons are social consciousness or money
• If they do not care, use another marketing angle
• Research is necessary to know this

• Am I prepared to spend the time and money necessary to market/sell my products and services?
• Because research is necessary, you must do it or have it done to be successful
• Marketing and sales must be done whether you like it or not
• You must do it or pay someone to do it

• Where will I get money to start/run my business?
• First, do you know how much you need?
• If you plan to start part-time or on a shoestring, be sure you can be successful
• If you go to a bank you must address the other questions in this list
• Remember that with investors of any kind you lose some control
• Passion and Good Ideas are not financed, potential profit is financed
• Do not expect to receive grants to start or run your business – they do not exist

• Do I understand the difference between should and will?
• Just because prospects, banks, investors, employees, etc. should doesn’t mean they will
• Believing that people will because they should sets you up for failure or at the least disappointment and frustration
• Research is vital to know if prospects and banks/investors will do what you think they should

• Who are my competitors and how many of them are out there?  Are they succeeding?  How many have started and closed in the last 5 years?
• Don’t start a business in a field that is already crowdedunless you have something very unique
• Don’t start a business in a field where people are not succeeding unless you know why they are not succeeding and you know (not think) you can do better
• If you do not know your competition how will you compete?
• Be sure you have enough money, time and people to compete
• Research is necessary to understand the competition

• Do I have enough time, energy and money to run a business?
• A good question is “Do I have the stomach for it”
• Another good question is “Do I have the stamina?”
• You must do the research, understand the situation and develop the plansso that you know what it will take to start and run a business
• The research will also help you put passion and expectations in perspective

• Do I have a clear understanding of the obstacles and pitfalls of starting and running my business?  Do I have a plan to deal with them?
• This is very important, but is specific to your business type and your situation
• The need for this understanding is why research is vital
• The need for planning is why you hear “Do you have a Business Plan?” all the time

• How thick is my skin? (Or how sensitive am I to these words: “NO”, “You’re too small/new”, “We already have a supplier.”)
• Can you hear these words and move on to the next loan officer or prospect?
• Can you use these words to help you decide if you need to modify, redirect or fold your tent?
• Can you take these words as opportunities and not obstacles?

• How prepared are you to follow direction and jump through hoops?
• If a prospect has a process can you accept the fact that you must follow it, will you allocate the time to do so?
• Do you understand that the directions or hoops are part of the “test”?
• Do you recognize that the directions or hoops do not have to make sense to you?
• Remember that the customer is always right