How to be a Risky Entrepreneur and Still Come out Ahead

As a risky entrepreneur you depend upon ability, courage, and a reliance on quick action and flexibility to “get in” and “get out” of new venture deals. For this reason, risky entrepreneurs may prove to be unreliable long-term partners in the new venture arena. But you do show a high desire to be involved in entrepreneurship, and are ready to take action to make this a reality. You would rather “plunge in” than miss a great opportunity. And it’s quite possible that you have resources (such as cash, contacts, technology, potential investor, etc.) and know-how...which makes you an entrepreneurial “player”. What makes you a risky entrepreneur, however, is your reliance on intuition and guesswork to risk resources for a return that is not certain. You just lack an understanding of the highly-sophisticated process of starting a successful new business venture. Risky entrepreneurs are especially vulnerable to blind spots (basically “disguised information” that is often “fed” to them to keep them under-informed so that they won’t bail out at the first sign of trouble). This may result in a series of “thinking errors”, for which risky entrepreneurs compensate through intuition, instinct or their knowledge of human nature. The basic gambling instincts are hard to eliminate. But gaining specific knowledge and experience critical to starting a business and obtain venture capital should reduce a risky entrepreneur’s blind spots and effectively channel their venturing energy. Depending upon a certain amount of guesswork is a part of your entrepreneurial profile. Consequently, you need to be aware that the odds go against risky entrepreneurs who attempt a new business in “uncharted waters”. You also tend to be overconfident of your venturing ability. So, carefully consider the risks associated with not “sticking to your knitting”. In other words, play to your strengths (ability, courage, quick action, flexibility, know-how, and availability of resources) in a relatively safe business opportunity. If you think you might want to participate in future new venture opportunities, you should prepare now by enhancing your disce ment capabilities. Begin by finding expert help to increase the odds of success. An expert guide can help you to develop a list of key questions to ask, reports to request, and patterns to recognize when looking at a new business venture. This will dramatically decrease your need to guess (gamble). Your objective should be to gain maximum exposure to existing principles of new venture success. Look to those who have expertise in venture evaluation including venture capitalists, expert venturers (you’ll find them by contacting your local or regional venture group), institutional experts (contact local colleges or reputable training companies), or leaders of thriving business ventures (with a track record of success). Over the long term, input from these specialists should help to moderate the “peaks” and “valleys” related to the risky entrepreneur’s “blind spots” as they evaluate new venture opportunities. SOURCES: Dr. Ronald K. Mitchell, CPA, Ph.D and Howard Mitchell