Are you an entrepreneur?

Over the years, through experience, observation and discussion, I think I have an idea on what makes a successful entrepreneur. A successful entrepreneur has three important things: idea, vision and execution.

The most important aspect of any entrepreneurial activity is the idea. What is the idea? How is it going to serve the current market? How much demand is there for the specific idea?

Second the vision. Ideas can be great but it needs vision. What is the long term goal? How much can the idea grow? Does the idea serve a niche market or can it serve a lot of people?

Third the execution part. Having the idea is great, vision is equally important and tantamount to it is execution of that idea. Is it a pioneering idea? Can you gain a first mover advantage by executing that idea? How quick do you adapt to the changing marketplace?

Waiting to execute

 

A lot of great ideas never see the light of day. This can happen for myriad reasons. Sometimes its the management that takes too much time understanding the idea, at other times it stays in the pipeline for a perfect execution. Yet companies succeed and fail depending on the idea’s execution.

So if you are a decision maker, you have to ask yourself: Should I go ahead and launch the idea and improve it over time or Should I wait till I have perfected the strategy and execute it when its ready? I think some of the best companies know that there is never a perfect time to launch an idea. It’s much more important to adapt and tweak the idea overtime rather than wait and get surprised by the competition. Thus slow and steady does not win the race in this context.