|
This is a popular question to ask, but it's not the best one to ask.
My preference is to ask whether there are some personality types that are counterindications for entrepreneurship. Perfectionists who can't handle uncertainty (i.e. those with Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder) would make questionable entrepreneurs of any kind, whether that's entrepreneurship based on innovation or merely small business. That said, the recent research is moving in the direction of "MADE". For example, low risk aversion has popularly been considered a necessary condition for entrepreneurship. We are starting to learn that entrepreneurial entry and success may not hinge on risk attitude but rather low risk perception. And now, a paper found here ( http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1966517 ) finds that risk averse people may be *MORE* likely to become entrepreneurs if their risk aversion leads them to diversify their knowledge and acquire broad skills and become a "Jack-of-all-trades." In a large dataset, we found that this indirect POSITIVE effect of risk aversion (on entrepreneurial entry) actually overcame the direct negative effect, for 12% of individuals. So the lesson? Next time somebody tells you that they don't want to become an entrepreneur because they're scared, don't tell them that they aren't fit to be an entrepreneur! Tell them to diversify their knowledge, and dabble around. Who knows, maybe the next time you see them, they'll surprise you.
2 Comments
Besides the obvious, the value of a business plan also comes from keeping entrepreneurial team members and partners/vendors/investors all "on the same page." But everybody involved might have different knowledge and different access to information. A business plan should (at least) be more allowed to change, as the diversity of its writers (or "ideators") increases.
The word "plan" can also mean different levels of rigidity to different people. Some people might be very focused on sticking to the plan, to the point of throwing good money after bad, while others recognize that plans are alive and bound to change, and that these changes should be reflected in an evolving document. Ideally, everyone on the management or entrepreneurial team should have the same level of sensitivity (or at least level of appreciation) to making changes. Thus, the terminology "business plan" itself is less important than the *organizational process* by which a business plan can be allowed to evolve. Using document collaboration software (where you can backtrack through the editing history). Using tracking in MS Word before finalizing changes. Naming the first final version of the Business Plan "version 1" or "version 1.01" to recognize the possibility that it might change. Such policy considerations are important to allow for changes if they are prescribed, whether or not they are made anyways. And so the term "business plan" is also less important than the *technological process* by which a business plan can be allowed to evolve. |
AuthorAssistant Professor of Entrepreneurship, Amsterdam Center for Entrepreneurship (University of Amsterdam). ArchivesCategories |
RSS Feed