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10 STEPS TO CONVINCING YOURSELF IT WILL FLY

          Before writing your business plan, you need to check that you’re on the right track. This is the right point to turn back if you have nagging doubts. Here’s a final ten step, ‘pre flight’ checklist!

1. WILL IT LAST? – A business is like a dog, it’ll demand your attention several times a day until you sell it or it dies. You cannot get bored.
2. WILL MY PARTNER APPROVE? – A business cannot be cited as the ‘other party’ in a divorce, partners can become jealous of your new passion. Make sure yours won’t.
3. DOES MUM LIKE IT? If you’ve still got your parents, you may need their support later, so it makes sense to check they’re on board now.
4. DEEP POCKETS? Are you going to run out of cash before it gets off the ground? Before you read about business plans, listen to your instinct.
5. WHAT DOES BAD LOOK LIKE? We all have different pain barriers and it’s good to imagine what apocalypse looks like to you. Are you hooked on the good things in life or are you prepared to put it all on the line?
6. FALLBACK SKILLS? Don’t get too depressed, but if the proverbial hits the fan, how would you earn a crust? Everyone has baseline skills (driving, cooking, selling etc) Imagine doing it for a living. That is your ‘worse case scenario’.
7. THE CAR OF YOUR DREAMS? OK, so you’ve cracked it and made a mint. What would you drive? Where would you live? If you’re not a materialist, should you be starting a charity instead? Imagine success – feel it.
8. ARE YOU A SELF STARTER? You’re going to take some knocks. Have you the ability to bounce back when someone or something’s knocked you for six?
9. DO YOU LIKE SURPRISES? The entrepreneur who doesn’t get surprised lives with his or her eyes closed. If you want an orderly, predictable life, don’t start or buy a business.
10. READ KIPLING Take a moment to look up that famous poem ‘If’. If you can read the poem and see yourself having the strength to succeed – read on!

          Sometimes however, the urge to just ‘go for it’ is too strong to resist and you’ll ignore the so called warning signs and do it anyway. As long as you have considered the risks and are prepared to give it your all, then embarking on what others might call a ‘mission impossible’ is OK. Many successful and established products in the world today only came about because someone took a risk and it paid off.

BRIAN

          An artist himself, Brian wanted to start an art publishing business that would make it easier for artists and buyers to connect. A modest inheritance gave him the capital he needed and he opened a small gallery and framing shop in an affluent town close to the Cotswolds.

          One year on, he is running out of cash and the business has not yet taken off as quickly as he had hoped. He says he has found out a lot about entrepreneurship and whilst he has no regrets, wishes he had known at the outset what he knows now. His experience has made him even more determined to succeed and he is working with his local Business Link to focus the business.

          He has invested his aunt’s legacy in a year of learning that has probably taught him as much (and cost about the same) as a full time MBA. Now, he is planning to raise the capital to create and market a virtual gallery, which will supplement his actual gallery. Brian considered the risks and decided to do it anyway. Some might call him foolhardy, but informed by his recent experiences, he is now poised to take the corporate art market by storm. Would an MBA have prepared him as well for the successful future he now faces?

Reproduced from ‘The Entrepreneur’s book of Checklists’. Buy your copy here