Prior to this course, I was familiar with the fact that a business plan was required but I wasn’t attuned to the all the important reasons as to why. A business plan is like of map of the new company, essentially it is utilized as a way to find the key components of the organization. Who are the leaders within the company? The right team will be able to problem solve quickly, change as required (market), seek support (financial, partnership, etc) and develop talent. As a working professional these concepts aren’t new. What most including myself missed the boat on was the innovation? It isn’t good enough to just have an idea, as Karatz from the Tucker movie indicated “Ideas? Einstein’s in the idea business. He makes up numbers so high only a dog could hear them, but what does it cost him? A piece of paper, a couple of pencils.” It isn’t about just generating one (idea), its needs to be disruptive or it has to be something that cannot be easily duplicated or the business will pay the ultimate price loss market share and could eventually be rendered irrelevant.
Prototyping also isn’t new but doing a road test of the product to prove that a market exists for the venture the entrepreneur is trying to incorporate was an area that I didn’t factor in. I had the field of dreams approach “if you build it they will come” as oppose to find out if they even want it or need it before you create it. Another area I was somewhat unfamiliar with was a business model canvas which for me was similar to a marketing story board or a pictorial of the business plan. I enjoy this course and the way it was presented. It helped to expand my thought process on who entrepreneurs are and how difficult the process really is which is why only a small percentage of startups survive. The constant profiling of the Steve Jobs and the Bill Gates of this world is great to aspire to but it should also come with a disclaimer that only a few will ascend to this stature and others will have a more normal outcome. However, entrepreneurship and innovation spirit about the average Joe/Jane developing their idea into a company whether it is big or small, it’s still one of the greatest thing about business.
