The Entrepreneurial Process: Building a Foundation for Success

How many times have you had what you thought was a great idea that would revolutionize an industry or simply bring ease and enjoyment to your's as well as your neighbor's lives, but were stopped short because you lacked the business experience or know how to develop the idea or build the product or service? Coming up with the idea that is going to change your life is challenging enough. But once you have done that, and have claimed your entrepreneurial spirit, how do you move from having a concept in your head to actually implementing the idea?  How should you develop your idea?   These are questions that asked by people everyday as they try to move through the entrepreneurial process to develop a successful business.

Moving from idea formulation to idea implementation creates a new set of challenges for the entrepreneur that can determine the success or failure of a project.  However, through building a foundation, which should include setting aside time to think through your vision, planning how to incorporate great people into your project and capacity building, you can overcome these challenges.  Such steps can help in developing the proper foundation of systems, procedures and people which will help a "would be" entrepreneur from succumbing to the pain and fear described by noted author Michael Gerber, in his book The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It that sometimes results from an "entrepreneurial seizure".  Over time your foundation will expand to include a well developed business plan, which will not only address the inner workings of your business, but also a marketing strategy of the final good or service.  For many, these can be formidable challenges; however, they are not insurmountable. Through the next couple of posts, I will explore a series of steps you can take to begin building a foundation that can serve you on a path to finding your inner entrepreneur.