
#STARTUP COMPANY TYCOON PROFESSIONAL#
For example, Mothers Work-which sells maternity clothing to professional women-took off only when its founder revised her strategy from mail order (which generated low profits owing to stiff competition) to retail stores.

Can I do it? Do you have the right talent? Reliable sources of capital?.How will I get there? Is your strategy sound? Does it clarify what your company will and won’t do? Will it generate sufficient profits and growth?.Where do I want to go? Consider your goals for the business: Do you want the rush that rapid growth delivers? A chance to experiment with new technology? Capital gains from selling a successful company?.
#STARTUP COMPANY TYCOON HOW TO#
How to chart a successful course for your venture? Bhide recommends asking yourself these questions: A decision that’s right for one venture may prove disastrous for another. Thus entrepreneurs can’t look to formulas to navigate the myriad choices arising as their enterprise evolves. Moreover, no two ventures take the same path. These include a clear strategy, the right workforce talent, and organizational controls that spur performance without stifling employees’ initiative. Why such dismal odds? Entrepreneurs-with their bias for action-often ignore ingredients essential to business success. Others fizzle after spectacular rocket starts. Of the hundreds of thousands of business ventures launched each year, many never get off the ground. They must continually acquire new skills-and continually ask themselves where they want to go and how they will get there. Entrepreneurs cannot build self-sustaining companies simply by “letting go.” While they sketch out the future, entrepreneurs must manage as if the company were about to go under. A venture may fail if its founders do not hire the best people, attract capital, invest in organizational infrastructure, and shape a culture to suit the venture’s strategy.įounders must also consider the evolution of their personal roles. Great strategies, however, don’t guarantee great execution.


Only when entrepreneurs decide what they want from their businesses can they determine what kind of company they must build, what they are willing to risk, and whether they have a well-defined strategy. They may want, for instance, to attain a certain lifestyle, experiment with technology, or build an institution that can outlive them. Why all the conflicting advice? Because in a young company, all decisions are up for grabs.īased on his observations of several hundred start-up ventures over eight years, Amar Bhidé has developed a three-step sequence of questions that all entrepreneurs must ask themselves in order to establish priorities among the vast array of opportunities and problems they face: What are my goals? Do I have the right strategy? Can I execute the strategy?īefore entrepreneurs can set goals for a business, they must articulate their personal goals. Those are some of the suggestions that entrepreneurs sort through as they try to get their ventures off the ground.
