Being an Entrepreneur with a lot of Ideas

As an entrepreneur full of ideas, you likely have experience in a particular field or industry (zone of activity) and can generally tell if a new business venture is “on” or “off” course. You also understand the entrepreneurial success script (the common patterns for achieving success in a new venture). But the entrepreneurs with too many ideas often lack the momentum (desire PLUS resources) to get a new venture off the ground. Basically, they can “talk” a great line, but may find it difficult to “deliver” under the pressures and requirements of starting and launching a new business and raising venture capital. Consequently, you are great in a social setting or planning situation where results or action are not the main objective. In fact, you’re a wealth of new ideas, many of them excellent—but in need of a “doer”. And interestingly, for this reason many an entrepreneur with ideas complains of having their ideas “stolen” by other entrepreneurs. But in truth, those ideas may have simply “found a better home”. What You Should Do Your greatest value at present, perhaps, would be as an entrepreneurial catalyst in an existing business. Here you can make a significant contribution by bringing your excellent ideas to the team. But if your desire is to move out of thinking of ideas and plunge into new venturing, the surest way to make the transition is to develop an action orientation (in other words, become a “doer”). So if you want to get off the sideline, you have your choice. You can either refine your abilities by reducing your venturing limitations, or you can re-evaluate your risk aversion and get involved in venturing. The venturing limitations that you need to overcome are likely a lack of resources (cash, contacts, infrastructure, technology, potential investors etc.) and perhaps your personal preferences and connections that are not closely associated with the entrepreneurial community. And your risk aversion stems from your preference to be thoroughly informed, as well as to get through life financially in one piece, rather tha “making it big”. Note that preliminary studies show a correlation between venturing ability and venturing willingness (eager to be involved in business venturing and ready to take action to make it happen). So whichever end of the “candle” you decide to burn, should positively affect the other and you should have a good possibility of becoming an EXPERT ENTREPRENEUR type. So if your first choice is to refine your ability, you may wish to start positioning yourself for a new venture—looking for proprietary technology or other valuable, rare, inimitable, resources which could be of significant worth in a venture. If instead you choose to re-evaluate your risk aversion, then you should reassess your true need for information (try not to study something to death), identify assets which you could lose if necessary and still sleep at night. And you should raise your own belief in yourself (such that you can trust your own fairly-well-developed knowledge structure to lead to sound new venture decisions). Participation on a venture team might be a way to start. This all boils down to pushing yourself to enhance your accountability, and to set new venture milestones for yourself. SOURCES: Dr. Ronald K. Mitchell, CPA, Ph.D and Howard Mitchell