Do you have what it takes to be successful as a business owner?
That was the main question the Northwest Entrepreneur Network, a local business support nonprofit, posed in a panel discussion called “Think Tank: Are you, or should you be, an entrepreneur?” last Tuesday night, at Schaffer Auditorium on Seattle University campus.
The three panelists gathered for the occasion sure seemed like they had the right stuff.
Andy Sack (Judy’s Book, et. al), Joel Gendelman (N2uitive, et. al), and Kevin Merritt (Blist, formerly of MessageRite), all founded successful ventures, and have gotten “variable degrees of lots of money” (according to Sack).
So, what do they say are the prerequisite qualities that make successful entrepreneurs?
Words from the (business) wise
Andy Sack says, “the only way you can find out (whether you’d be successful at it or not) is, to try it.” Jumping into it, and learning it by doing it seems to be the only sure-fire way to learn.
Kevin Merritt also encouraged hopeful future entrepreneurs to “quit that day job, make the commitment.” The idea is, according to Merritt, to “make failure so painful that it can’t possibly be the outcome.”
Other tips and wisdoms to remember:
- Three skills that are extremely important: selling, telling a story, and being objective
- It’s not the idea itself that’s important: execution of the idea is. Field test your idea. Tell everyone
- What’s your motivation? Keep your eyes on the ball; try to remember “why?”
- Have someone you can call in times of trouble (and make sure it’s not your spouse)
- What pain are you solving? For whom? Keep that clear
- Have tenacity
- Business school is a waste of time if you are going to start your own company
- Business is all about relationship, network and market
- Be comfortable with uncertainty and lack of structure, but hire someone who’s not so s/he can put structure around your vision
- Raising money through investors should be the last thing on your mind
- The values you create your business around are the most important asset of your business. It is what prompts customers to choose you over others.
The conversations tended to veer toward finance—
Q: What ways can we raise money, now that the market is going haywire? A
A: There isn’t. Get your customers to pay. If you can’t get them to pay, why should anyone?
—and technology/software businesses. But I felt a lot of the wisdom shared were relevant to many of us.
In particular, finding (and keeping to) the core values, having a clear message to tell, and telling your stories well… these are what should be on every business owner’s mind.
And, they’re also the core beliefs that we build our branding process around. Nice to know the successful start-up folks agree!
DK on NWEN
Here are some other writeups Design Kompany has done on Northwest Entrepreneur Network’s seminars.
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