3. • Characteristics of a Successful Entrepreneur
• Step-by-Step Approach
– Decide if you really want to be in business
– Decide what business and where
– Decide whether to start full-time or moonlight
• Selection Strategy
• Things to Watch Out For
• Required Activities
– Comparative Evaluation
– How to Evaluate a Specific Business you have in
Mind
– "For" and "Against" List
– Get Completely Qualified
• Decision Time
4. Characteristics of a Successful
Entrepreneur.
• Guts:
o you must have an
entrepreneurial instinct.
o You must have an overwhelming
desire to have your own
business.
o You must have the guts and
dedication to be completely
devoted to your goal.
"Be able to sustain a financial commitment to whatever business you start."
5. • Brains:
o Plan to start before you start
it – Common sense combined
with appropriate experience is
the necessary brainpower.
6. • Capital:
o You will need seed money of your own plus
sufficient cash to maintain a positive cash
flow for at least One year.
(In some cases you don't need starting
capital to hire other people because you
might start by doing everything yourself)
7. Step-by-Step Approach
Decide if you really want to be in business:
You will be putting some (not all, hopefully) of your net worth at risk. You will
run the risk of becoming eccentric, meaning creating a life that is out of balance,
with working hours taking away from other pleasurable activities. There may
be levels of stress you have not experienced as an employee/employer.
Decide what business and where:
Once you have decided you have the characteristics of a successful
entrepreneur and that you definitely want to be in business, then you must
decide which business is best for you and where to locate that business.
Selection strategy is covered later on in this Session.
8. Selection Strategy
Selecting the wrong
business is the most
frequent mistake
that start-up
entrepreneurs make.
Here is a checklist to
help you select a
successful one:
9. Things to Watch Out For:
• Impatience
• Do not let overconfidence short-
circuit you from analyzing your
selection of businesses carefully.
You must not fear of hearing the
negative aspects; it is much better
to be aware of them and face them
early on.
• Be realistic. Do not become lured by
high rewards. They will come if you
choose the right business and if you
understand every aspect of the
business before you open its doors.
"To get ahead in this business you do everything to get the job done."
10. Required Activities
The most common mistake and the most costly one is not picking the right
business to begin with. This is the time for soul searching.
IF YOU HAVE NOT DECIDED ON A BUSINESS, DO THIS:
•On the top of a blank sheet of paper, write an activity you like to do (make
this the heading). Do a separate page for each activity or interest you have.
•On those same sheets list as many businesses you can think of that are
related to that activity.
•On the same sheets list all the products or services you can think of that
are related to that activity. Use your imagination and think of every
possible product or service you could do.
•Make a list of businesses that do better in bad times (one may be
appropriate for you). Some examples might be pawnshops, auto repairs
and fabric stores.
23. “Something remarkable is worth talking about...It’s
a Purple Cow… Remarkable marketing is the art of
building things worth noticing right into your product
or service.” Seth Godin
