From manager to entrepreneurial leader

So you’ve done your stint as brand or product manager.  Marketing Manager is in your sight.  And then watch out!  You’ll be gracing the covers of business magazines as the next Richard Branson or Janine Allis.  Another entrepreneurial success story.

Or not?  What is that critical ingredient to entrepreneurial success?  What have they got that you haven’t?

Being a good line manager does not make you a good entrepreneurial leader.  Even the sharpest finance manager is probably not good entrepreneurial material.  And just because you’ve got great people skills you won’t necessarily make it on the entrepreneurial ladder of success.

Entrepreneurs without doubt have a sense of creativity.  They feel it in their bones when they strike a good idea.  But fundamentally, they are incredibly astute enterprise managers.

They have the ability to identify good ideas.  Something different.  But not too different.  They are intuitive to the needs and wants of fickle consumers.  If they see a hole in the market, they set about tapping into it.

Entrepreneurs have a vision that is almost tangible.  Take Janine Allis, the founder of Boost Juice, for example.  Fast, nutritious food on the run was the hole she plugged.  But she didn’t stop with the idea.  Her vision included everything from store layout and marketing to franchising and recruitment criteria.

Like most successful entrepreneurs, Janine Allis was hands on at every stage in the development of her new business.

Entrepreneurs need to be calculated risk takers.  There’s no point crashing and burning on your first development venture.  Investment and development should be based on research, sound financial analysis and business planning and product testing.  Mitigating or eliminating risk should be top of mind too.

Entrepreneurs also need loads of physical and emotional stamina to bring their goals to fruition.  Building a new product or business is no nine to five undertaking.

Recognising personal strength and weakness is critical.  Don’t try and negotiate the legal minefield of patents, registrations, accreditations and licensing on your own.   Employ a specialist.  Entrepreneurial leaders identify skills and talents in other people and enlist their support to accompany them on the journey to success.

Entrepreneurial adventure seekers also need strong resilience.  They love a challenge and will not be easily defeated.  They must have the ability to bounce back when their idea is met with negativity from potential investors.  Well founded self belief is very important.

Entrepreneurs tend to have very broad work experience.  They’ve done it all.   Dealing with the customer at the front line, interpreting analytical data, and understanding the balance sheet and profit and loss statement.  Manufacturing and operations experience is also useful.  Not to mention communication and human resource skills.  The entrepreneur is often a ‘Jack of all trades’. 

The entrepreneur’s very special skill is amalgamating all prior experience into a ‘new idea factory’.  The entrepreneur does not get bogged down with what has been done before, but can see the potential in what has not been done before.

Finally, entrepreneurial leaders must be extremely organised and self-disciplined.   With a head buzzing with creativity and new ideas, they must remain focussed and stick to their plan.  It’s a fine line between success and distraction.