You are a first-time entrepreneur; you’ve been nursing a business idea and trying to move forward. Let's assume that your business idea is to address an unmet need in the market place. You’ve done some initial online and market research. You feel ready to test your idea with people and obtain support.
How do you go about executing this? When in the ideation development phase, I’ve learned that you'll need to exercise prudence when testing your idea, obtaining validation and support for it. Why? Because your idea—your vision—is like a seedling that needs to be nurtured with care until you have enough information to decide whether to move forward or to discard.
How do you nurture it? By building a team of supporters. While there are many kinds of support that entrepreneurs garner for their ventures, during ideation formation phase, I believe there are two key areas: emotional support, and idea validation.
Every startup needs a team of supporters, whether it's a team of one or a team of a dozen. The first member of that team should be you. As you are moving on your entrepreneurial path, you will encounter unanticipated challenges, and during those moments when no one else is there, you need to be the No. 1 fan of your idea, your dream—you need to be there emotionally and mentally for you! This seems so obvious but many a time, I've listened to founders looking outside for others to be the No. 1 cheerleader of their dream. When they didn't receive the cheering they needed, they faltered. If you have a co-founder, then that individual must share your vision and core values, and be your startup’s No. 2 fan.
What kind of criteria do you use to select those you are going to contact and vet your business idea? Are you willing to talk with just anyone who will listen and give their two cents? Many people will give you free advice and input; that said, free does not mean quality input, whether it’s encouraging or questioning.
With your F&F circle, who can you share your idea with and enlist support?
• Is the individual someone whose judgment you trust?
• Is the individual open-minded and by nature an optimist?
• Has the individual given you emotional support in the past? Is this someone who has been one of your loyal cheerleaders?
You may be drawn to different individuals with different personalities who comprise your inner circle of friends and family (F&F). Not all of them may share your core values and personal outlook. If you are by nature an optimist, asking for input from a relative who sees the glass half empty and is not a self-starter is not going to be helpful to you. F&F may have their own personal fears and risk-averse inclinations that will not serve you well as you embark on a new journey. Think carefully about the individuals who comprise your personal landscape and select the right cheerleaders for you. Finally, do not mistake emotional support for professional validation of your idea.
If you have friends and family with the appropriate experience to give you a professional assessment of your idea, that is most fortunate. But if no one on your personal list of connections possesses the appropriate experience, then you need to seek out input from those who are qualified.
We live in a world that is saturated with Facebook, LinkedIn and MeetUp connections. The upside is that we have access to so many specialists and experts as we have never had before. The challenge is how to cull the right individuals to support you, to give you business advise and even to mentor you during your new venture.
With those in your professional networks, who is qualified? As you are coming up with a short list, think about the following:
• How well do you know this individual?
• If you have never met this person in person and received an online introduction through a colleague, should you be placing a lot of weight on his / her input?
• Have you researched their professional backgrounds and do you respect their professional judgment? Do you believe they know enough to give you a sound evaluation, whether that will include validation of your business idea or concerns?
• Do they share similar values to yours? While this is not a deal breaker, it is helpful to know. For example, if you believe in creating a product with quality service and material, and this person you're talking with is successful from cutting corners and using cheap, exploited labor, is this someone whose input you want?
In the big picture, products and services that you created will be a reflection of your vision and execution. If you are enlisting support and incorporating input from those whose values and business practices are not aligned with yours, your creations will be influenced by them as well.
I had mentioned earlier that you need to exercise prudence in testing your idea and obtaining validation because sharing it with the wrong individuals can set you back, and worse, derail you from your idea, and your dream. You want to start out with smart moves by asking for positive support from the right people.
As we professionals acquire more knowledge and experience in our respective industries, it is harder for us to see our world and our clients’ world with fresh eyes—the eyes of a beginner, someone who is stepping into a new environment or a new experience for the first time. I’ve worked for large corporations, small businesses and startups, and in recent years, have interviewed dozens of successful entrepreneurs; and this is one of the insights that I’ve gleaned from talking with many of them as well as from observing myself.
The reality is that we place very little value on this beginner’s perspective. We navigate a corporate world that places a premium on specialization. When pitching for a project or a job, we promote ourselves as seasoned practitioners. When did you last read a company’s profile or a résumé that mentioned, “unparalleled expertise, local knowledge, global reach, with a beginner’s fresh eyes?”
In fact, many of us haven’t had fresh eyes for a while. We are so pressed for time that we only focus on daily priorities and we stop seeing old thing, let alone new things. We take the same road to/from work everyday. We don’t see most of the buildings en route until a structure is demolished; then we can’t recall what was there before. We are bombarded with new data and images around the clock. Often we don’t have time for articles of interest; we only scan industry updates, if at all. Seldom do we digest what’s in front of us with the perspective of a beginner.
Yet why is this important? Because it takes a pair of fresh eyes to notice something askew while a team of startup professionals who have been working on a product for weeks misses. It takes a pair of fresh eyes to offer new solutions that is not tinted with industry biases. This is not to say that those with industry knowledge can’t have fresh eyes. Beyond these reasons, it takes fresh eyes to enjoy all the beauty and inspiration that daily life offers, to see and learn new ways of doing things, of solving problems, of growing.
The late 19th century Prussian poet Rainer Maria Rilke advised his young protégé Kappus, “Resolve to always be beginning—to be a beginner.” This advice resonated with me when I read Rilke during my first semester in college. It connected me back to the first time I visited my alma mater’s campus. I can still recall the awe and the excitement of stepping into a new environment of possibilities, and figuring out how to forge ahead. Since then I’ve tried hard to find that awe, and it has not been easy. Rather, it has been a continual challenge. Yet I believe it is an essential quality we should all cultivate and possess: the ability to check one’s expertise and experience at the door, and to see an old situation or a challenge with fresh eyes—through the eyes of a beginner.
Do you have fresh eyes? When did you last experience something as a beginner, when did you last sense wonder? Do you bring that excitement for possibilities into daily life, or is it missing from your landscape? If you cannot recall this in recent memory, perhaps it is time to step away from your routine and give yourself a chance to regain your fresh eyes. Some easy steps:
• Take a different route to work and see a different view of your town. Pretend you are a tourist visiting for the first time.
• Sit in a different chair at dinner time and obtain a different view from your new position.
• Pick up a book or sign up for a workshop and learn how artists, potters, or carpenters view challenges and solve problems.
You’ve been good at making the strange familiar and at acquiring expertise; now make the familiar strange. Learn to be a beginner again; and you may become an expert beginner.
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