Sorry for the time between posts, but summer intruded and must take precedence. I will try to get back on a better schedule, but can make no promises since I still have another month or so of summer. But on to more meaty topics…
So many entrepreneurs (me included sometimes) have said that they would love to start up a new venture if only they had a great idea. But is that really the case?
While I was researching a new venture idea, I came upon the thought that there were really two kinds of risk in the entrepreneurial world. The first is Idea Risk. That is, is the idea good enough to base a viable business upon? The second is Management Risk, or can the team that the entrepreneur has assembled pull it off? Of these, Management Risk seemed to be the most likely to be able to be ameliorated through judicious use of mentors, incubators and trusted service providers. The Idea Risk seemed to be a binary decision – either it was a good idea or not. But the more that I have thought about it, the more that I find that Idea Risk has more facets.
I have a friend who, over the past year, has met with various people and has generated at least 7 or 8 actionable ideas. Not just “Oh you should start up a new-age car dealership” kind of wacky ideas. But full blown creative ideas, ideally suited to the person that he was talking with, with some sense of market potential, revenue sources… the real deal. In only one of those cases, has the person taken the idea and run with it. And she didn’t do it until she was goaded into it and provided some incentives that reduced her risk.
And therein lies the real rub. It is not the lack of ideas. There are tons of ideas out there. If you are looking for a great idea, check out this list of 999. It may not even be the quality of the idea, although the new age car dealership doesn’t rock my boat. The real reason that people don’t start ventures is the risk factor. They are worried that they will not make enough money. They are worried that their mother-in-law will not like them. They are worried that they will lose the house. They are worried that their friends will think them crazy for leaving a perfectly good job as a manager at IBM.
My advice to you is that if you want to be an entrepreneur, you have to get over the fear of what everyone else has to say. If you find an idea that you are passionate about, think Bill Gates “A computer on every desktop running Windows” or Anita Roddick‘s “To dedicate our business to the pursuit of social and environmental change.” at the Body Shop, go for it with all your heart and all your soul.
I truly believe that the key word in Idea Risk is Risk, not Idea.
I couldn’t agree more: the greatest risk, in the long tun, is the fear of idea risk itself (to paraphrase FDR). All too many success stories started with uncertainty, fear, ridicule and disbelief from friends and family. And of course the ubiquitous, “That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard of. It’ll never work”. After finally getting his light bulb to light after 2000 attempts, Thomas Edison was asked by a friend asked how it felt to finally succeed after failing 2000 times. Edison replied, “I didn’t fail 2000 times. I discovered 2000 ways not to make a light bulb.” With the rare exception of those who strike oil after drilling just 1 well, success in the entrepreneurial world required persistence and immense amounts of fortitude. And even then, it is a tough road to hoe.
I believe there are far more truly good ideas out there than there are ones that get executed and find success. Don’t let fear of fear itself hold you back from putting it on the line.