As an old angel investor in new businesses, I quickly learned to look for certain personality traits that constitute a mindset of perseverance and determination to get things done, versus a passionate dreamer and thinker who could talk well but not deliver a return on my investment. I offer my insights here for those of you who really want to build a successful business.
Not all of us are cut out to be business owners and drive solutions to the many challenges facing every business today, even though we may be unhappy with our current business roles and leadership. I challenge you to do your own self-assessment against the following attributes before you strike out on your own, especially with someone else's money:
1. Move quickly from an idea to a documented plan.
Business professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs who claim to have the most ideas are generally not so adept at starting and growing businesses. I look for people who show me they have a very specific plan, are proceeding through implementation, and building a support team along the way.
I find that a written business plan really has the most value to the founder since most mere humans can't build and communicate a complete plan in their heads. The costs for items overlooked or forgotten can be huge and will jeopardize your funding.
2. Stay focused on a meaningful business objective.
Trying to make the world a better place may be laudable, but does not always sustain a business. A business must have customers willing and able to spend money. You need to produce a product or service that satisfies a current need, and is competitive with other alternatives in the marketplace.
In addition, it is also important to align your business objectives with your own personal priorities and interests. The reality is that if you build a business you love, you may make big money, but if you start a business you hate, just to get rich, you will probably fail.
3. Be ready and willing to take the required risks to win.
Willingness to seek out and take smart risks, rather than any risk or no risk, is the mark of a top business owner. Taking risks requires making decisions and initiating action, rather than ignoring challenges or dodging decisions. In business today, making slow or no decisions leads to early failure.
4. Be able to communicate your value-add to constituents.
Your team as well as your customers need to understand your value proposition. Keep it simple enough to fit in a single sentence, without acronyms or technical jargon, or a need for abstract or complicated explanations. Make this a key part of your pitch to investors and customers.
5. Put faith in your confidence and determination.
Positive and energetic business owners can accomplish the impossible - pulling success from the clutches of defeat. It has to start with faith in yourself, but a business requires a team, so don't forget team building of the same attributes in your team, and providing the leadership they all need.
6. Really listen to customers, team members, and advisors.
Asking questions and listening to feedback is much more effective in growing a business than talking and selling yourself. Great business owners have a mindset and develop a team culture of focusing on key issues they can control, rather than being distracted by external events.
7. See change as an opportunity rather than a problem.
Change is normal and required in every business, so I look for owners who have overcome their own fear of change, and reward rather than penalize team members who argue for change or fixes. You must look at all change experiments as learning opportunities and competitive advantages.
8. Attack a challenge based more on data than emotion.
Business problems cannot be solved by wishful thinking or ego, so you need to demonstrate your ability to find the root cause of problems, think innovatively about alternatives, and use real data and advisors to create and execute a real plan to resolve tough challenges in a timely manner.
Of course, every business professional may choose to improve his fit for business ownership and leadership by adopting a mindset of adapting to the set of skills, rules, and emotional balance principles outlined here. I love to see and mentor people who are looking to learn and change their own approach to get the satisfaction and success they want in their careers.
BY MARTIN ZWILLING, FOUNDER AND CEO, STARTUP PROFESSIONALS@STARTUPPRO
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