GROWING A BUSINESS AND BECOMING MORE ENTREPRENEURIAL: THE FIVE TRAITS OF SUCCESS

ARTICLE 5: GROWING A BUSINESS AND BECOMING MORE ENTREPRENEURIAL: THE FIVE TRAITS OF SUCCESS

In today's current economic environment the barriers to growth are even more apparent than normal and there is little appetite for risk taking and minimal room for mistake making. So growing a business and becoming more entrepreneurial would seem to be a very tall order indeed!

However, despite this, we are seeing some impressive players succeeding. When analyzed, they have five core traits or skills. The first is an ability to foster an entrepreneurial culture.

The culture

In a recent survey[1], we asked a group of entrepreneurs from where they expected the next major phase of growth to come. Over 30 percent said that expansion in the UK, a further 8 percent from expansion overseas. This can be seen in Figure 1.

Nearly 25 percent of respondents said they expected growth to come from entrepreneurial activities such as a new product or service. Others are harnessing new distribution channels.

In the same survey, we asked how many genuinely new ideas they had. Over 55 percent said they had between two to three ideas for their businesses. So the businesses are clearly succeeding in terms of trait no: 1. They are creating an environment within which innovation is encouraged and ideas can flourish.

An ability to model

However, it is not enough to have ideas. The second core skill is being able to filter out the ideas that are unlikely to be more than “just ideas” from those that can be developed into a profitable business. Businesses that want to grow and be more entrepreneurial must be capable of building a robust business model by which all ideas can be screened and analyzed. This ensures that the right ideas come off the drawing board and that time and resources are not wasted.

Not being blocked by the basics

Some of the main barriers to growth include lack of finance for investment, lack of business confidence or too little time in the working day. These are the basic barriers cited by almost every CEO whose business is not growing as fast as they would like.

However, successful entrepreneurs manage to sidestep or overcome them. They do this by developing a detailed business plan, having a clearly defined strategic direction, a strong team that they can delegate to and tight cash flow management. Steve Jobs is as proud of the things Apple does not do as the thing it does. A clearly defined focus ensures the business is not sidetracked and time and talent are optimized.

Interestingly – the detailed plan, a clear strategic direction, strong team and tight cash flow are all areas which instill confidence among potential investors too, thus helping our entrepreneurs tackle that other perennial barrier, a lack of finance.

Can you calculate when opportunity knocks?

It is not enough to provide an environment within which innovation is fostered. An ability to spot and respond to an opportunity is also critical if your business is to grow and be more entrepreneurial (see Figure 2).

Indeed, nearly half the respondents in our survey said the “ability to spot an opportunity” was one of the most important criteria. The other most important criterion being a willingness to take risks.

However in the successful entrepreneurial businesses, this eye for an opportunity is balanced by an ability to calculate and assess the risk. They conduct frequent and thorough risk assessments of ideas and opportunities and take appropriate action accordingly. They minimize the risks within their control, and understand the probability and impact of the risks they cannot control.

This ability to calculate and assess removes the gamble – and again makes the business and its ideas more backable when it comes to seeking finance.

Catering for Gen Y

Entrepreneurship and growth today also mean being able to tap into the next generation, their mind set, energy and drive to achieve.Fortune magazine claimed that this next generation will be the highest achieving generation in history (Hira, 2007). They will be the most technically knowledgeable people of our time. They will respond well to challenges and be motivated by success. As they will have grown up in a constantly and rapidly changing world, this will be the environment in which they will want to work. So they will often be thinking of the next idea or spotting the next opportunity. Perfect entrepreneurial material!

Companies that want to be entrepreneurial need to know how to encourage, reward and motivate this generation. But be aware that may involve an organizational re‐think to ensure the structure allows the ideas from the company's newest employees to reach the boardroom where decisions are made.

Personal

If you can tick the boxes when it comes to the above critical areas you will be well on the way to having a growing, entrepreneurial business. However, in addition to these “corporate traits or skills” there are some personal ones which the leaders driving such businesses should ideally have if business is to really fly:

• Have confidence in yourself and your business. Self belief is a great way to get others to believe in you.
• Be good with the written word and a good public speaker. This enables you to voice the strategy to your employees and the outside world to inspire people to support your vision of the business.
• Learn to think on your feet, be able to quickly assess the situation, understand the facts and make quick decisions when under pressure. This will instill confidence from all around you and inspire your team accordingly.
• Think positively as this will help engage others around you to act positively too.
• Make sure you keep on top of the numbers, analyze the business model, keep tight control of the cash flow and ensure you really understand what is going on in your business.
• Make objective decisions at all times. Although it will sometimes appear that someone is making a decision off the cuff, behind the scenes they will have assessed the situation and calculated the risks before making an informed decision based on hard facts, intuition and experience.
• Have passion in your business. It can be a hard up hill struggle if you are not truly in love with what you are doing. Many of today's successful entrepreneurs say they have got where they are today because they had passion in what they were doing, they put their heart and soul and listened to their intuition. The passion will give you the energy to persevere and follow through your plan with conviction.
• Be creative. This does not have to be in the design sense of the word, but in your thinking. Listen to your employees who are coming up with ideas and think how they might be turned into real businesses. Think creatively around the challenges to see if they can be overcome. Keep probing with questions until the right answer is found.
• Understand your limitations. You may not have all of the above traits, but if you can understand where your strengths and weaknesses lie, then the relevant expertise can be pulled in where required. Find yourself a business mentor to give you objective feedback and from whom you can learn.

Conclusion

While running a growing, successful entrepreneurial business looks like a talent you either do or do not have, the reality is there are some core aptitudes which are quite definable and which can be instilled in an organization.

They include ensuring: the culture is right, opportunities are identified and assessed, risks are always analyzed, talent is optimized and the people heading up these businesses demonstrate some of the characteristics of an entrepreneur.

This list might sound a challenge, but trust me, it is a lot easier growing a business that has these traits than trying to drive forward one that has not.

SOURCE: http://www.emeraldinsight.com.eserv.uum.edu.my/doi/full/10.1108/02580541111135526