|
|
|
ONLINE FEATURES
Book Reviews
BW Video
Columnists
Interactive Gallery
Newsletters
Past Covers
Philanthropy
Podcasts
Special Reports
BLOGS
Auto Beat
Bangalore Tigers
Blogspotting
Brand New Day
Byte of the Apple
Economics Unbound
Eye on Asia
Fine On Media
Green Biz
Hot Property
Investing Insights
Management IQ
NEXT: Innovation
NussbaumOnDesign
Tech Beat
Working Parents
TECHNOLOGY
J.D. Power Ratings
Product Reviews
Tech Stats
Wildstrom: Tech Maven
AUTOS
Home Page
Auto Reviews
Classic Cars
Car Care & Safety
Hybrids
INNOVATION
& DESIGN Home Page Architecture Brand Equity Auto Design Game Room SMALLBIZ Smart Answers Success Stories Today's Tip INVESTING Investing: Europe Annual Reports BW 50 S&P Picks & Pans Stock Screeners Free S&P Stock Report SCOREBOARDS Hot Growth 100 Mutual Funds Info Tech 100 S&P 500 B-SCHOOLS Undergrad Programs MBA Blogs MBA Profiles MBA Rankings Who's Hiring Grads |  |
JUNE 4, 2007
By Jack & Suzy Welch Flying Solo: A Reality Check Leadership and energy are important for a startup. But do you have a really great idea? Sometimes I get the feeling I want to start my own business and fly free, without the constraints of working for someone. And while I know some smart friends who might join me, I still wonder whether I have the instincts and leadership required to launch a venture. — Umair Malik, Islamabad, Pakistan Forget, for a moment, your desire to fly free. Forget the "required" levels of instinct and leadership. And while you're at it, forget your smart friends. To start a company, you need those things—eventually. But first, you need a great idea. Not to discourage you or denigrate the entrepreneurial urge. To us, the gutsy individuals who launch ventures are some of society's biggest heroes. And yes, there are people who dump their day jobs, hunker down in a garage or spare bedroom with a bunch of friends, and then five years later can be seen ringing the opening bell on Wall Street. But before you start visualizing yourself in that picture and make the leap from stability to startup, it probably makes sense to separate wishful thinking from the less rosy realities that usually characterize the entrepreneurial experience. Let's start with a favorite wish—you mention it in your letter—that entrepreneurship grants independence. True, you will become your own boss. But for months and even years, that choice will mean less freedom and flexibility, not more. You won't control your life; your new business will do that for you. After all, when you have only two customers, you don't tell them you can't meet on Monday at 5 p.m. You smile when they show up three hours later. In your heart, you may be flying free, but in the trenches you'll still be taking orders, just from a new set of bosses. Another bit of wishful thinking is something you don't mention, but it is common, too. It holds that entrepreneurship bestows financial independence. If only! Unless you've built up a pile of savings, no one is more "owned" than the founder of a startup. We recently met an entrepreneur whose venture was stalled because she was loath to give more equity to private investors or venture capitalists. "It's bad enough to give up control," she complained. "But if I keep giving away stock, I'll still be driving my 1994 Honda Civic to my son's college graduation." Given that her son was an infant, she was joking. But the fact is, startups almost always make their founders poor before they make them rich. Finally, there is the popular notion, to which you refer, that a bunch of bright people bursting with energy to "make it happen" can create a company. We'd call that partial information. Obviously, passionate, talented people are key to getting a venture off the ground, and yes, there have been cases of friends banding together to build something amazing from scratch. But those people usually had an idea to start with. The real engine of any startup is a product or service that fills—or better yet, creates—a market need. Several years ago we attended a celebration honoring the 50 fastest-growing entrepreneurial ventures in the Atlanta area. The room buzzed with excitement as everyone waited to hear who would get the top award. It ended up going to a three-year-old company that had discovered a better way to de-ice airplanes. Undoubtedly that outfit had great leadership, but its revenues were growing by 55% a year because it had an exciting idea that changed the market. All around the world, we've seen successful entrepreneurs, young and old, changing the world for the better. So we don't want to dissuade you from going out on your own. Just know that there is more to being an entrepreneur than meets the imagination. And if you don't have a truly great idea to start with, there's a lot more. When should a leader pass blame? — John Reaves, Matthews, N.C. In all of organizational behavior, there is probably nothing worse than a boss who suddenly forgets a direct report or disavows his team after things go wrong. When you manage people, you are in it together, and because you are the leader, you own all the outcomes, good and bad. There's one exception. Sometimes a leader can't see and touch all his people, especially in large companies. In such cases, he shouldn't be held personally responsible for the occasional rogue employee. However, managers can be held accountable for not having rigorous control systems in place to ferret out such miscreants, and they should never turn away when they sense something is off-base. Bosses can't always be street cops, but they have to make sure someone is walking the beat.  Jack and Suzy Welch look forward to answering your questions about business, company, or career challenges. Please e-mail them at thewelchway@BusinessWeek.com For their podcast discussion of this column, go to www.businessweek.com/search/podcasting.htm
BW MALL
SPONSORED LINKS
Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.
Buy a link now! Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | |
 Copyright 2007, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Notice |
Printer-Friendly Version