The following article was written by Tuck Aikin, a former colleague of mine, several decades ago, but it is as true today as it was then. I hope you enjoy it.
As you might imagine, with our sluggish economy and the consequent steady stream of layoffs, there’s been a surge of interest in new business startups. The typically expressed rationale is, “I’m tired of being laid off, of being at the mercy of business bosses who only care about the bottom line. I want to be in charge of my own economic destiny, so I’m thinking of starting my own business.”
The rich diversity of contemplated business products or services each aspirant has devised or invented is truly astonishing: an engine device that increases gas mileage, a home-brewed skin elixir that accelerates healing and leaves no scars, an impermeable material to be used in the storage of hazardous waste indefinitely, an advertising toy that utilizes a common discarded computer medium, an electronic chip that completely defeats all attempts at deciphering sensitive encrypted computer data, a light-emitting medical device that significantly reduces pain.
Of course, there are the new restaurants, distributors, shipping, and repair franchises, as well as some new ideas such as personal chef, shopper and specialized cleaning services, computer software and hardware repair services, and countless others. What do all these inspirational creations have in common, one might ask? A cynic might respond that they’re all bad ideas, but in fact, just the opposite is true – they’re all good ideas, and their creators are often passionate about their intended commercial product or service. And therein lies the problem: an almost obsessive focus on the product or service while disregarding the research, knowledge, thought, and appropriate perspective on what it takes to successfully bring the business product or service to the marketplace.
Unfortunately, most striving entrepreneurs are too focused on their creation, on actually making their product or delivering their service. Their creation, their “baby,” is all important, and they don’t realize that forming a business to make and sell their product or deliver their service is a whole new enterprise.
In order for the business to be successful, they must personally engage in an entirely different set of behaviors and activities than those that evolved their business product or service, and these are often ones the creator doesn’t like to do, such as prospecting potential customers and investors, making sales pitches, trying to borrow money with minimal assets, financial planning, market research, and accepting a level of risk that’s absent when working for someone else.
It’s kind of like the difference between being an employee and a supervisor or manager or between being a team player and a coach. As it turns out, the easy part is doing the work, and the hard part is creating an entity that does the work. An expanded set of skills and knowledge is required to get the work of the business delivered to customers, whether the actual work is done personally or through employees (or “associates” as they’re called these days).
So, before launching into that great business idea that’s been brewing for years, learn what it takes to convert your product or service into something people want and will pay for in quantity and at a price that will keep the firm afloat and simultaneously provide you with a financial reward that makes the whole effort and risk worthwhile.
Perhaps it’s counterintuitive, but the innovation of the product or service is not what counts in the successful creation and operation of a business – truly good ideas are a dime a dozen. Gaining commercial acceptance of the product or service is what counts, and that’s an entirely different discipline. In other words, don’t spend too much time designing and making a better mousetrap – spend more time finding out where the mice are and what they like to eat!
Tuck Aikin was a former SCORE colleague of mine for many years until his retirement. Tuck is a prolific writer and wrote small business-themed articles for the Colorado Springs Gazette for many years. As a co-mentor, Tuck was my inspiration for me starting this blog. The preceding post is reproduced with permission from the author.
