Risk Reduction Not the Other Way
The typical notion of an entrepreneur is as a risk-taker. I believe the opposite to be true. Yes, the entrepreneur makes a bet at the start of the venture, but after that, the entrepreneur actually works every day of the ventures life to reduce risk. Each day beings new opportunities and new threats. The entrepreneur must balance the short-term survival needs with the long-term hopes for exponential growth. And in doing so, ensure that risk is minimised. This is not to say that entrepreneurs are not gamblers or adventurers it is just that they make their calculations carefully, and then lay their bets. This belief comes from deep insights into the world around what is happening and what is likely to happen which help shape the vision of the entrepreneur.
Risk and entrepreneurship go hand-in-hand. Every entrepreneur believes that there is 70-90% chance of success, and yet fewer than 1 in a thousand ventures reach the pinnacle of success. The optimism of the entrepreneur is the engine that drives the team, and even as others perceive the entrepreneur to be taking risks, the captain of the ship is charting a course which actually reduces the odds of failure. The entrepreneur is constantly making calculations as the winds change sometimes, one is caught in a storm, at others times, one rides the waves.
Listening Learning from Others
Listening and learning from others is not something which comes naturally to us. It is even less natural for entrepreneurs. The typical tendency is to have a strong belief in oneself and use that to lead the venture forward. But if the entrepreneur has succeeded in attracting a good team, then there is great merit and value in listening to others and learning from their collective experiences. At times, their viewpoints are likely to differ from that of the entrepreneur and this can pose a challenge. It is times like these that can decide the fate of the venture. An entrepreneur needs to put ego aside and solicit inputs from others, even though they may be to the contrary.
At the end of the day, the final decision needs to be made by the entrepreneur. But by asking others for opinions, the entrepreneur may see aspects of the situation that otherwise may have been looked. This requires courage at times, it may even force the entrepreneur to reverse previous decisions. But, the success of the venture must be above everything else, especially personal ego. The entrepreneur is not always right in fact, most entrepreneurs will have plenty of weaknesses. By recognising these, and leveraging on the strengths of the other team members, the entrepreneur can greatly increase the chances for the ventures success.
Tomorrow: Blogging, Liking
TECH TALK An Entrepreneurs Attributes+T
