Corrections or additions?
Prepared for the September 20, 2000 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper.
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Real Entrepreneurs’ Defining Habits
Real entrepreneurs thrive on uncertainty, says Rita
Gunter McGrath, a professor at the Columbia University Graduate
School of Business and co-author of a new book, “The
Entrepreneurial
Mindset.” Subtitled “Strategies for Creating Opportunity in
an Age of Uncertainty,” the 380-page hardback will be published
by Harvard Business School Press in October and costs $29.95. The
co-author is Ian MacMillan, who teaches at the Wharton School.
McGrath lives in Princeton Junction with her husband and their two
children; she has been in business herself (running a political
consulting
business and a Kinko’s-like copy shop) and focuses on entrepreneurship
for her academic pursuits.
Define what makes a worthwhile business opportunity, the authors say,
and then make any necessary tradeoffs to keep from spreading yourself
too thin. Look for where the greatest dangers lie and figure out ways
to sidestep them. Create an environment full of energy so that your
workers are eager to turn uncertainty into success.
Here are the characteristics of the “habitual entrepreneur,”
defined as those who have made careers of starting businesses, some
in start-ups, some working within corporations. They have in common,
the authors say, “finely honed skills in forging opportunity from
uncertainty.” They are particularly good at finding solutions
that are “roughly right,” without spending time to find the
exactly correct and expensive answer.
Habitual entrepreneurs have five characteristics in common. To quote
from the book:
1. They passionately seek new opportunities. Habitualentrepreneurs stay alert, always looking for the chance to profitfrom change and disruption in the way business is done. Their greatestimpact occurs when they create entirely new business models. Newbusinessmodels revolutionize how revenues are made, costs are incurred, oroperations are conducted, sometimes throughout an entire industry.One reason that the emergence of the Internet as a new medium ofbusinesshas been accompanied by dizzyingly high company valuations is thatinvestors perceive its potential to profitably transform virtuallyevery aspect of economic life.2. They pursue opportunities with enormous discipline.Habitual entrepreneurs not only are alert enough to spotopportunities,but make sure that they act on them. Most maintain some form ofinventory,or register, of unexploited opportunities. They make sure that theyrevisit their inventory of ideas often but they take action only whenit is required. They make investments only if the competitive arenais attractive and the opportunity is ripe.3. They pursue only the very best opportunities and avoidexhausting themselves and their organizations by chasing after everyoption. Even though many habitual entrepreneurs are wealthy, the mostsuccessful remain ruthlessly disciplined about limiting the numberof projects they pursue. They go after a tightly controlled portfolioof opportunities in different stages of development. They tightlylink their strategy with their choice of projects, rather thandilutingtheir efforts too broadly.4. They focus on execution — specifically, adaptiveexecution.Both words are important. People with an entrepreneurial mindsetexecute— that is, they get on with it instead of analyzing new ideasto death. Yet they are also adaptive-able to change directions asthe real opportunity, and the best way to exploit it, evolves.5. They engage the energies of everyone in their domain.Habitual entrepreneurs involve many people — both inside andoutsidethe organization — in their pursuit of an opportunity. They createand sustain networks of relationships rather than going it alone,making the most of the intellectual and other resources people haveto offer and helping those people to achieve their goals as well.This book will have the most appeal to corporate CEOs andmanagerswho want to create an entrepreneurial mindset in their organizations,but — with its fresh look at success strategies — it willalso challenge the small business person.— Barbara FoxThursday, September 21Top Of PagePre-Business WorkshopA wise person once said, “experience is the bestteacher, as long as it is someone else’s.” Owners of smallbusinessesin Mercer County will be able to tap a motherlode of other peoples’experiences at the Pre-Business Workshop on Thursday, September 21,from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Mercer County College. Cost: $49 includingcoffee break and lunch. Call 609-586-4800, extension 3469.Mari Galvez de Cerdas, assistant director of the Small BusinessDevelopment Center at the James Kerney campus, will moderate a panelof five retired executives and business owners, members of the ServiceCorps of Retired Executives (SCORE).The panel includes Seymour Buchine; Gordon Finman, formerCEO of Siegel Tire Corporation; Ada Tariff, Stedi-GlowCandle-lampsInc.; Morris Kolstein, Helenic Food; and Gerald Rose,Intellilink Corporation.The workshop will also help business owners cope with various issuesthat confront small businesses. Suzanne Rosenblum, CPA,Rosenblumand Associates, will help explain the basics of record-keeping andtaxes. Jeff Perlman, of Borden Perlman Associates, will exploreinsurance matters. Lynn McDougal, of Fox, Rothschild & Frankel,will discuss some common legal issues relevant to small businesses.Galvez de Cerdas is a native of Albuquerque who went to Eastern NewMexico University, Class of 1992, has a master’s in organizationalmanagement from the University of Phoenix, and has spent nearly threeyears in Costa Rico as a Peace Corps volunteer.She will also be on tap all during the Trenton Small Business Week,Monday to Friday, October 2 to 6, in a “Meet the Experts”Consulting Marathon at the Trenton Business & Technology Center, 36South Broad Street (see story, page 12).Through the MCCC Small Business Development Center, Galvez de Cerdasis scheduling one-hour sessions with experts on such topics asobtainingminority or women-owned business certification, writing a businessplan, securing capital, marketing your business on the Internet,advertising,accounting and bookkeeping procedures, tax strategies, managing anurban business, and legal issues. Appointments should be made byFriday,September 29.Top Of PageEntrepreneurial TrainingThe Entrepreneurial Training Institute, aneight-weektraining program sponsored by the New Jersey Development Authorityfor Small Businesses, Minorities, and Women’s Enterprises, startsThursday, September 21, at 6 p.m. at Commerce Bank on Royal Road inFlemington. This course is also running concurrently in Trenton.Thoughit has already begin, places may be still be available. Enrollmentis limited to 20 per class. Call 609-292-9279, E-mail tocti@njeda.comor go to the website (www.njeda.com).The textbook, “Business Planning Guide,” is by David H.Bangs Jr. and covers such topics as business planning, financing,and marketing. To graduate, students must attend six of the eightclasses and complete all written work, including a business plan.These plans will be subjected to a “panel review” by lawyers,bankers, and accountants on the last night. Graduates are primecandidatesto qualify for monies from a revolving loan fund established by theNJDA.Though the NJDA operates under the supervision of the New JerseyEconomicDevelopment Authority, the NJDA has its own funds derived from casinorevenues. It offers loans for start-up and micro businesses to spendon real estate, fixed assets, and working capital. For fixed assetsand working capital, the same pool can provide loan guarantees.The curriculum has been set by Paul Belliveau (908-232-6480)and Ronald Cook of Rider University. Belliveau has a 20-year-oldconsulting business, is an adjunct professor at Rutgers’ GraduateSchool of Management, and gives seminars at the Small BusinessDevelopmentCenters of Rutgers and Kean University. Cook is an associate professorin Rider’s College of Business Administration, where he teachescoursesin entrepreneurship, venture planning, family business, and smallbusiness consulting. He also directs the Small Business Instituteat Rider. Nearly 400 people have graduated from the training programin the past eight years — 77 of them last season.Top Of PageBusiness CommunicationAn employee’s failure to write well probably gives moremanagers more ulcers than any other single cause. It’s hard to knowwhat to do with someone who can’t write a decent memo. One place toturn: Mercer County Community College, which offers a businesscommunicationcertificate. One course for this certificate, Effective BusinessWriting,has just started; seven more begin this fall.The core courses include Presentation Skills for Success,Communicatingin Global Business Style, and Assertiveness Skills. Electives —and the certificate requires 20 hours of these — includeCommunicatingin the Language of American Business, Building Self Esteem, ForeignAccent Reduction, and any of the management certificate courses. Hereis the schedule:”Foreign Accent Reduction,” taught by Joann Ficca,speech language specialist, 10 sessions, $187. “Communicatingin Global Business Style,” Beverly Leach of InterculturalServices, four sessions, $85. Both begin Wednesday, September 20,at 7 p.m.”Assertiveness Skills,” Marge Smith, communicationconsultant, five sessions, $85. Begins Thursday, October 5, 7:10 p.m.”Presentation Skills for Success,” Manda Eule,communication consultant, five sessions, $140. Wednesday, October18, 6:30 p.m.”Building Self Esteem,” Marge Smith, four sessions,$68. Thursday, November 9, 7:10 p.m.Next StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
