Six Things Entrepreneurs Know That Are Dead Wrong

A great article from the Forbes blog. It may just change your the way you, as an entrepreneur, think about your business.

Things Entrepreneurs Know That Are Dead Wrong
Martin Zwilling, Startup Professional's Musings
June 26, 2011

All true entrepreneurs operate off a set of tenets that are built into their psyche, or drilled into them from training and mentors. These are represented by sayings like “You never get anywhere unless you take a chance” and “Passion and persistence are the keys to success,” Unfortunately, there are still other old, reliable tenets that don’t work anymore.

In a new book by Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie from the Columbia Business School, “Designing for Growth,” the authors encourage managers to think more like designers. I assert that designers have a lot in common with entrepreneurs, since both must innovate and start a deep understanding of what their customer really wants (“customer-centered”).

In most other respects, design thinking is the opposite of business thinking. For example, businesses must deal with reality as fixed and quantifiable, whereas design deals with subjective experience and a social constructs. Entrepreneurs need to bridge both these worlds, and the authors outline key business management myths that usually limit startup thinking:

1. Myth: Think big. There are always pressures to be sure an opportunity is big enough, but most really big solutions began small and built momentum. To seize really new opportunities, it is better to start small and find a deep, underlying human need to connect with. A better maxim for entrepreneurs is: Focus on meeting genuine human needs.

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Business Week: Time to Change Course?

I will say it again, today's small businesses have a real opportunity to grow their business by thinking outside of the box; getting creative and maybe even finally forcing your business in a new direction, which you've been delaying.

Moreover, these changes can create opportunities for public relations for your business, further setting you apart from competitors. Here is a great article from Business Week Small Business.....


Is It Time for Your Business to Change Course? By Ann Field Business Week

In an economy like this, it may take more than tinkering to turn you company around. But big changes carry big risks

Kim Matheson Shedrick had spent 16 years growing New York-based Natural Resources into a 15-person, $1 million company that advises developers of high-end spas. But in late 2008 no one was building much of anything, never mind pricey spas selling hot seashell massages and lavender-oil body scrubs. Matheson Shedrick decided the time was ripe for an idea she'd been kicking around since 2001—mySpaShop.com, which would offer products and wellness advice for less affluent spa aficionados. "I looked at how I could use all the contacts I have in the industry to target the customer who can't spend $500 visiting a spa," says Matheson Shedrick, who now makes $10,000 a month through the site. She also expanded the B-to-B side of her company, charging spa owners a monthly fee for advice on how to boost revenue. She expects the new line of work to bring in about 15% of her overall sales by the end of the year.

Sometimes, when business is bad, you can't just tinker at the edges—you have to make fundamental changes to your company. That might mean selling to a new market or changing your offerings. It might mean strategic changes in distribution or marketing.

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