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Navigating The Transition: Executive To Entrepreneur

A highly successful Executive decides to become an Entrepreneur. For someone who has already made it to the top; and managed a large company, wouldn't starting a small company be relatively simple? Not necessarily. In fact, for many Executives from large firms, it can be quite unfamiliar territory.

When Executives choose to make this transition, they often find it surprising how challenging it can be. Yet the lure of independence, being able to build a company that fulfills on a vision, combined with the potential of wealth, can be compelling.

How can those who have risen to the top levels in the highly structured corporate world translate their skills into such an undefined, creative, and in risky environment? Unfortunately, many of the skills that got them where they are, won't get them where they need to go. Not only do they need to develop new outlooks, skill sets, and internal resources; many of the specific skills that made them soar as an executive can insure failure as an entrepreneur.

As in the corporate world, Entrepreneurs must be able to manage multiple processes, challenges, and people each day. Yet, it's quite different to execute with a staff and a budget, than alone and often with inadequate capital. In established corporations Executives are rewarded for being collaborative and gaining consensus for their decisions; Entrepreneurs cannot operate this way. Executives cannot fail often; entrepreneurs must fail often. They cannot be too risk adverse. They need to design an experiment, fail quickly, then determine a new strategy and immediately try again. They must plan their failures to learn what they need to know and discover their business secrets.

So often it is assumed that it is the idea that makes an entrepreneurial company great. Ideas, even the best ones, can sit on shelf indefinitely. It takes people;.leaders;with a willingness to risk and a good plan;to make ideas into reality.

For an Executive to succeed as an Entrepreneur, he or she must cultivate a new set of the right attitudes. They need to develop habits that support them in an environment of uncertainty. They must try to take care of themselves in spite of many demands. They must work tirelessly and maintain some semblance of balance in their lives when there's no paid vacation. They must not care about not being compensated, appreciated or acknowledged. Big salaries, bonuses, benefits aren't in the picture.

Entrepreneurial leaders need to protect their fragile young company by thinking about what could go wrong. They need to help their staff see that they can; succeed; in the face of many failures. They need to encourage everyone and yet, remain resilient. They need to be able to psychologically handle the discrepancy between where the company is; and where they want to take it. Entrepreneurial leaders have to be willing to try and fail and try again. They need to be unswervingly dedicated. Entrepreneurs need to be very focused; and to be able to keep their eye on everything that's happening around them.

Entrepreneurial effectiveness is based on resilient leadership. Executives who can learn to behave responsively in an entrepreneurial environment can become Entrepreneurial businesses require determined, capable, talented people working with focus. These individual leaders have to be both optimistic and realistic. They must be motivated, willing to work hard and to just do what it takes. Sometimes they have to make unpopular, non-collaborative decisions. And they still have to be able to work collaboratively on a team. In a small company, it can be very damaging when people pass the buck. From the CEO to the receptionist, an entrepreneurial attitude that it's up to me and everything I do matters; is essential. In an early-stage company, everyone has to wear several hats. When each individual can take responsibility for their own results, the potential for reaching milestones is remarkable.

The key is for Executives to recognize the challenges of this career shift because it is profound. If they can see the need for guidance and accept support, they are much more likely to thrive. It then becomes much easier for strong, experienced corporate leaders to learn and develop the new skills they will need. If they can quickly learn these new operating principles and strategies, they can guide their teams with in entrepreneurial success. The best advice is to have seasoned advisors and hire a good experienced;serial entrepreneur; as a coach to lead the way.

© copyright by Rebel Holiday, 2005, all rights reserved.

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Entrepreneurial Success: Lessons from Failure

In virtually every culture around the globe and at many socio-economic levels, owning a business remains a dream. And with that dream are hopes, fears, fantasies and illusions of what it is really like to start a business and run a company. Yet the promise of financial independence and the ability to be self-determining carries strong appeal. I know because I'v been an entrepreneur since I was 22 years old. I also had the opportunity of being a venture capitalist. It looks different on each side of that desk and here are some things I learned about failure that may help you succeed.

The process of beginning a business embodies the mysteries of birth and creation. How does it really begin? How do you "make" something happen? It requires a mind-set that simultaneously holds opposites of "what isn't" and "what could be" as possible realities. In the earliest stages, one has to believe fervently and work tirelessly toward something that does not yet exist.

A business is not just an activity. Golf is an activity. A business must produce something of value. It must create something that someone, somewhere, somehow will pay to have. This sounds obvious to state, but is often overlooked: business is about creating value. And the personal satisfaction or intangible value derived by the owner is in many ways incidental. The value must manifest in terms of products and services generating revenues and profits, as well as benefits to customers and stakeholders.

Why do some businesses succeed and other seemingly similar companies often fail? The recipe for success is unknown, but the secrets are in the details. And the attitude of the entrepreneur may be the most important ingredient.

Any business is truly a series of secrets. Those secrets are discovered through a series of experiments. Sometimes entrepreneurs complain that business is difficult. One can consider it to be hard or recognize that if it were that easy or obvious, everyone would be doing and there would be very little opportunity for you. Try to keep in mind that you want to create a mindset that empowers you. The extent to which you think it is difficult, will correspond to the amount of struggle and suffering you undergo. Instead try to create an attitude of "It's just a game" or I'm curious how this can work.You will enjoy it more and probably get better results more quickly.

An experienced entrepreneur is like an experienced scientist who designs the experiments recognizing the probability of failure, and in fact, the necessity of it. The design of these experiments can have a rapid prototyping effect for failing fast and often. By performing experiments with clear measurements for monitoring empirical data can get the team closer to those secrets.

Most of us do not want to fail. Ever. From childhood, we're taught that it's bad, even shameful. This is a young conversation that needs to shift if you want to ultimately reach your vision. It doesn't empower anyone and it's not helpful.

So, you have to be willing to fail. Entrepreneurs who expect not to fail are going to be in trouble. Those who don't have an emotional context for failure and those who feel very badly when early experiments don't work out, are going to suffer a lot. And it may even jeopardize their chances of ultimate success. Not only do you need to fail fast and fail often, you don't have time to feel bad about it. You have to reframe failure so that it's not bad and it doesn't mean anything other than you are that much closer to the next secret.

How many times did Thomas Edison fail to create electric light bulb? At last, when those experiments start to succeed, it's time to capture it. Be observant enough to recognize when it's working. Then those successes must be developed into systems that produce predictable and profitable, scalable results. These results are the wins that entrepreneurs and investors alike are searching for in their ventures.

Always, the entrepreneurial team needs to be asking themselves what the most important thing to do next? Where can we get the best results? What will move us closer to our next goals?

Planning is the lifeblood of young businesses. Companies must develop plans for each and every aspect of their business, while maintaining tremendous flexibility. These plans need to be tested and assessed. You even need to plan for failure. (Not plan to fail, but plan to know when you are failing, when to stop, and what to do to get back on track.) The strategies, failures, and successes need to be continually evaluated. Assumptions need to be identified and questioned. Results need to be analyzed. That’s how companies learn and grow. That's how they uncover their business secrets.

In the process of uncovering these secrets, young companies and their leaders need to find or create a support structure. You may even fail in that. If you are failing to find support, you need to rethink your vision. Do you believe in what you are doing? Why or why not? Tell the truth. Entrepreneurs need to answer the question, Who is going to be passionate about your company and why? With so many innovative and high potential companies, entrepreneurs soon realize that their business vision has to be compelling in order to attract and keep customers. It has to be exciting enough to motivate investors. It has to be promising to attract good management. If you are not getting the support and involvement, consider restating your vision and mission. What part of you is not sure? Why are you really doing this? What difference does it make to whom? Why is it important that it succeed? Why does the world need this?

Ultimately, it's not about your secret sauce. It's about leadership. It's about you. And you are the only element in this equation that is truly within your control. While a proprietary technology or methodology is exciting, it takes more than this to make a company's vision compelling. Remember, it has to really matter to someone. And you have to be able to speak this vision as the leader. Then it takes well-defined strategies that can be executed by mature leadership to build a solid company and generate shareholder value.

Remember to look at Reality. The Real Reality, not the one you want to happen, that's called denial. You have to know that you don't know. Hypothesize and test results. Constantly create your Plan. Test the Plan. What happened? Okay, now modify the Plan. Test the Plan. Adjust and improve. Build your strategies and tactics. This is the process of developing a business and it's thrilling to see the results. Be courageous.

So what if it's never really easy. It can be the most exciting journey of your life.

© copyright by Rebel Holiday, 2005, all rights reserved worldwide.