The New Business Road Test

good luck can help a new venture, but those best prepared to take advantage of good luck are those whose leading-edge information connections enable them to respond to market changes quickly and adroitly.

The new business road test: stage five – the mission, aspirations and risk propensity test What’s your entrepreneurial mission? To serve a particular market? To change a particular industry? To market a particular product? Is the passion really there? What level of aspirations do you have for your entrepreneurial dream? To work for yourself? To bui

Without a clear mission, your entrepreneurial efforts will be fragmented, lacking in purpose and direction. Without understanding your own aspirations, you’ll be unable to articulate to others whose support you will need – for money, time, love and much more – why they should support you.

it makes sense to assess the attractiveness of your opportunity before you embark on a start-up and before writing a business plan or pitching for funding. But the moment when a new venture comes into being is often unclear. When does research and analysis end and selling begin? The essential idea underlying today’s lean start-up thinking is that d

For most entrepreneurs, in their initial enquiries about assessing an opportunity, there are numerous managerial questions to be answered. How large is the market? How fast is it likely to grow? What segments are most attractive? Is the industry attractive? Who are the key competitors, and what competitive advantages might they have and not have if

A customer-driven feasibility study together with a credible and focused plan for answering unanswered questions is likely to be of far more value in many situations than a lovingly crafted – but hopelessly naïve and unfounded – business plan.

What do we mean by ‘benefits’? Benefits are the often-measurable end-use consequences of using the product – the pain relief – as opposed to some physical attributes of the product itself.

A mission that determines what kind of business to build or what kinds of markets to serve; A set of personal aspirations that guides the level of achievement to be sought; Some level of risk propensity that indicates what sort of risks are to be taken and what sort of sacrifices are to be made in pursuit of the dream.

Often the key for lifestyle entrepreneurs or those of modest aspirations is to fly below the competitors’ radar, serving niche markets having unique needs that an attentive entrepreneur can understand and appreciate. In such niches an entrepreneur’s ability to tailor what’s offered and serve customers exceptionally well can build loyalty that’s dif