Saturday, November 25, 2006

Burn The Boats!

Burn the boats - the often quoted words of Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortéz. Some say he never said the words. Anyway I’m no historian but you get the point. Hedged bets are the bane of any entrepreneur.

You have to commit 110%. No parachute, No back up plan. The MBA in me says do not take foolish risks. Take calculated risks. Any business journal or “beer parlor” analyst will tell you that. The problem is that conditions are never perfect. You can end up overanalyzing any business idea.

I’m not advocating staying on a narrow unyielding course. You have to be flexible. What you cannot do, is not take any action.

I am at that point right now where I am willing to get on a boat to find Aztec gold. When I get there I am more than willing to burn the boat. The problem I’m having today is that I don’t for the love of God know where to direct my boat. Where is Aztec country? Would I even know if and when I stumble on the big idea? Does it have to be a big idea? Should I just get off my soccer watching ass and go do something.

I’ve been thinking about all sorts of cockamamie ideas. Nothing I’m passionate about. Most of the ideas have been overdone. I also wonder if my partners are willing to burn their boats. There's a lot of talk about seeing how the potential venture pans out over the next 6-9 months before we commit fully. I don’t know about that approach. That sounds very much liking hedging to me. Many would say just common sense….

19 comments:

Benin said...

Like yourself, I have thought about and tried too many businesses (in the last 6 years) for me to even try to count. So far, none of them has really stuck. However, the very first business that I started or co-foundd was the opposite. In most categories that new ventures are measured in it was a success. My heart was really in it and it was all or nothing.

Whereas, the last couple of business plans have only been about
earning a quick return.

There is nothing wrong with starting and operating a business just for the financial reasons-afterall according to microeconomic theory that is the reason that business people engage in enterprise.

Let's for simplicity sake say that there are two types of entrepreneurs-idealists and realists. My false starts have taught me that I am an idealist and as such am not suited for ventures that do not match my passions. However, the entrepreneur who adopts the realist view will only take on a project if it meets their financial criteria. The problems come about when we fail to connect with ourselves; resulting in us not knowing wich style best suits our personalities.

Salt Merchant said...

I definitely think I'm an Idealist. The question then becomes do you change as you reach different stages in life. Thanks for reaching out.

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