The Future of Entrepreneurship: 10 Key Principles

By Karen Donoghue

The bursting dot.com bubble has changed the recent premise of entrepreneurship.  With more competition for fewer funding resources, the need for increased efficiency and effectiveness is vital.  To survive and thrive in this post-Internet economy, entrepreneurs need to address the conditions of the new market and relearn the original definition of “solid business practices.”

Here are ten principles that are moving today’s smartest entrepreneurs into the future:

#1: Recognize and pursue an opportunity. The entrepreneur of the future knows how to exploit good ideas and analyze, test and project them better than other people.  He will also know when to “kill” an idea early so that it doesn’t diffuse either resources or focus.

#2: Relevant know-how and experience. The entrepreneur must either have or find the relevant know-how to build a successful company.  She must have the experience and ability to make decisions without all the information and then creatively take a risk, assess an idea, move on it or kill it.

#3: Control and marshalling of resources. The entrepreneur knows how to exploit connections and find resources like advisors and physical space, and make good decisions about them.   Knowledge of control systems is essential to maintaining fiscal responsibility. 

#4: Ability to build and lead a quality team. Business analyst Peter Schmidt of Lifting Mind Inc. in Lexington, MA, advises that multiple skills are needed to get a start-up off the ground.  An enlightened entrepreneur, he says, will seek a team of compatible and highly skilled individuals who will complement each other and allow the entrepreneur to take the business proposition into the future over time.  “People want to be valued for what they contribute,” Schmidt explains. “Input should be actively solicited.  The people making decisions should listen first and then decide.  All questions must be allowable in an organization.”

#5: Fiscal responsibility. nvestors are now looking for a faster, more provable path to profitability. Developing a business model that will stand the test of time is critical to producing shareholder value, yet the model must also survive evolutions such as those in the market or in technology. Foremost in the mind of the entrepreneur must be creating value for shareholders, i.e., investors, founders and employees.  Fiscal responsibility must be shown earlier in the business process and at all points along the way, yet be appropriate to the stage of the business. Peter Schmidt comments, “"Risk-taking that is responsible early on would be irresponsible later."

#6: Survival skills. The same skills that allow an entrepreneur to build something out of nothing are not the same skills needed to run a larger company.  The entrepreneur must take a hard look at what it means to grow and evolve a company, as well as face up to hard decisions such as laying off staff or even knowing when to step down.

#7: Creativity. An entrepreneur of the future must generate many new ideas, validating that they represent an opportunity and eliminating ones that don’t.  She must be the persuader of the viability of an idea in order to get buy-in from partners, employees, investors and customers.  She must have an ability to embrace the entire jigsaw puzzle, even when pieces are still missing.

#8: Capacity to learn better and faster. The entrepreneur needs to determine what skills are needed and get them fast.

#9: Connections. The entrepreneur must determine exactly what skills are needed and assemble them through the proper partnerships and collaborations.  "The connections between people provide the foundation for new high-tech companies," says Teresa Esser, in her upcoming book The Venture Cafe: Secrets, Strategies, and Stories from Americas High-Tech Entrepreneurs (Warner Business Books).  A scientist who invents a new medical device, for example, must locate business partners who know how to market, develop, sell and produce the product to help him build a company around his vision. His invention alone will not complete the job.

#10: Stamina. Decision-making and problem solving will be constants.  Intellectual and physical stamina are vital to endure the emotional and physical start up stresses.  The physical and mental well being of the founder is essential.

Parting Thoughts

For some, entrepreneurship is in their DNA, like having blue eyes. For others, it’s a battle that's strictly uphill.  In either case, before starting a new venture consider not only know-how, experience and connections, but also the ability to recognize a successful opportunity and have the stamina to pursue it. 

Are you more nimble than competitors?  Can you learn to be? If so, go for it with all you’ve got, allowing what entrepreneurial DNA you’ve got to flourish and shine bright, delivering the value of your vision to all those who want and need it.