It’s more about the chef than the ingredients
Setting up a new venture or start up is not that dissimilar than the culinary arts. The ingredients may indicate the result or outcome of the dish, but it’s the chef that would either use these ingredients to create a feast or a disaster. In the start-up structure the chef represents a founder or team of co-founders very similar than in a commercial kitchen. The strengths of the individuals work together to earn the coveted hats or stars and acclaims of renowned food critics. Ideas and thoughts are as plentiful, diverse and fresh as the fresh produce market on a Saturday morning, but combining all these ideas into a plan or a recipe requires not only skill but perseverance, determination, creativity and a good dose of crazy. In this article I will attempt to summarise some of the most important skills founders should have to cook up a storm and not get burned…all the time.
If you can’t stand the heat…
Starting the journey of bringing a new venture to life brings with it a rollercoaster ride of emotions and disappointments and elation. Founders that succeed needs a combination of resilience, determination, creativity, humility, discernment and the ability to learn on the fly. At certain times you need to face the negativity of your critics but more toxic and harder to resist is the positivity of the charmers. The founder needs to navigate these waters and distinguish between the “spice” of these advisors to truly perfect it’s recipe.
Recipe for Success
Apart from an enthusiastic team, the founder needs to set very clear goals to be achieved in order to realise the idea. This requires the ability to evaluate and analyse the necessary skills, resourcing and funds that would be needed to reach the next goal. The reason for the project becomes most important at this stage and the “spirit” of the idea needs to be conveyed to inspire and drive the team to accomplish its goals.
The secret to an extraordinary dish is not to blindly use the ingredients specified but to understand the end goal and improvise, experiment and perfect the recipe while the cooking is in progress and the taste tests demands it.
The recipe comprised of the business model, methodology, project plan, market and revenue testing, risk identification and finally an acceleration plan. It is also wise to remember that the recipe and dish may not be suitable for all diners, and once entering the revenue raising stage a very targeted attempt to attract the right investor is required. This is crucial to the success of the business and can eliminate disappointment and disillusionment in the future.
Cooking with Gas
| The kitchen provides many tools helping the chef to achieve his goals. The same exists for the start-up founder to help him with the journey of creation. Business Model Canvas (BMC) – Template to break down your business into understandable segments. Team Charter – Define the teams’ objectives, resources and constraints and provide the vision for the team. Information Memorandum – provides a business snapshot to investors as a motivation to invest in your business. Cost and Financial Templates – helping you to estimate the cost involved in order to realise and launch the start-up successfully. Pitch Deck – a collection of presentations, animations, explanations and impact statements that can be used to describe your business succinctly and accurately. |
Patrons, Fans, Supporters
| From the time an idea popped up in your head to the time you exit and makes billions of dollars you will be surrounded by others. Starting a business is about serving, and this usually involves users. Trust becomes an integral part of the founder’s identity and subsequently the company that is born from it. If your users do not trust you, then you will fail! This also applies to all the investors, partners, employees and numerous other entities that you would need to deal with on an hourly basis. This trust relationship starts with the reason for your start-up, the way you treat others and keep your promises. Your integrity is all you have in the business world and once this is tarnished it’s very hard to repair. Being open and transparent enough to allow those critical eyes to evaluate your operations is needed, then taking this critique onboard and turning it into productive change. Leadership and servantship are mostly synonymous and most want-to-be leaders forgets this frequently. Communication becomes key when dealing with people and like seasoning. Too much and you spoil the meal, too little and it’s bland and tasteless. The secret of good communication is listening! Taking in what others say, evaluating feedback and then responding appropriately and openly. It’s important to remember that you will get your fingers burned and maybe your eyebrows too, but determination and persistence will see you get there in the end. Surround yourself with good friends and even better critics and listen, listen, listen! Then go and create something wonderful. |