The Starting Entrepreneur

    

    This week I was most impressed with the article, “How Entrepreneurs Craft” by Amar Bhide. The article starts out by dispelling the idea that when starting a new business, it is best to do tons of research and planning. The article states, “interviews with the founders of 100 companies on the 1989 inc. ‘500’ list of the fastest growing private companies in the United States and recent research on more than 100 other thriving ventures by my MBA students suggest that many successful entrepreneurs spend little time researching and analyzing. And those who do often have to scrap their strategies and start over. Furthermore, a 1990 National Federation of Independent Business study of 2,994 startups showed that founders who spent a long time in study, reflection, and planning were no more likely to survive their first three years than people who seized opportunities without planning. In fact, many corporations that revere comprehensive analysis develop a refined incapacity for seizing opportunities Analysis can delay entry until it’s too late or kill ideas by identifying numerous problems.” 

    Just today I was having a conversation with a friend who is just over one year into a new startup company. We had a great conversation about jumping on ideas and working hard to make your idea successful. She explained the need have great people on your side who will give you honest feedback as you are in the brainstorming phase, and to be able to make decisions quickly. We talked about Bhide’s “Three general guidelines for aspiring founders”. They are:

1. “Screen opportunities quickly to week out unpromising ventures.”

2. “Analyze ideas parsimoniously. Focus on a few important issues.”

3. “Integrate action and analysis. Don’t wait for all the answers and be ready to change course.”

    My friend agreed that one of the most important guidelines or advice that she would give was to, “get comfortable being uncomfortable” and to “be willing to constantly change”. I think that the thing that I am learning most from this week’s studies, is the importance of flexibility when starting a new business. Being able to hear others input and humbly assess what is best for the company. Not being married to an original idea and jumping on an opportunity to do something better. 

Works Cited

Bhide, A. (1994, March - April). How Entrepreneurs Craft Strategies That Work. Retrieved February 2024, from Harvard Business Review: https://services.hbsp.harvard.edu/lti/links/content-launch