Entrepreneurs Without Money (XII). Nurturing the entrepreneurship success.
Good Afternoon!
Today we will finally start to conclude the theme Entrepreneurs Without Money. Our last coverage is about answering the following question: Which are the entrepreneurial nurturing conditions to fulfill in order to build successful start-ups? Different perspectives.
Entrepreneurs do have an idea and a business model (maybe they have the business model wrong) but initially, all of them do have one or partially one. A business model with the following components: Customer Segment, Value Proposition, Customer Relationships, Distribution Channels, Key Activities, Key Resources, Key Partners, Cost Structure and Revenue Streams. We will stick to Osterwalder-Pigneur Business Model Canvas for the time being. But if you wish to use another business model framework, you can also use it.
Osterwalder-Pigneur Business Model Canvas
Once each entrepreneur has developed its business model version 1.0, be sure this original canvas will evolve. Probably 10 or 15 or maybe 30 times. We will conduct several iterations in this stage. This happens in the pre-seed stage. Meanwhile, the entrepreneur is designing, creating and testing the most feasible version of the business model; he or she will have to do several pilot project testings. And this stage is called, in entrepreneurship buzzword, the valley of death. When the entrepreneurs start to sell their products or services, they are beginning to generate revenues, and they will start to move erratically from the pre-seed stage to the seed capital stage.
The successful entrepreneur ride depends on how well he emerges from the valley of death. Once we change the revenues measure for the free cash flows measure, then be sure that the pre-seed and seed capital stages will be extended. Don´t think about three years average, probably it will take more than that.
Which are the entrepreneurial nurturing conditions to fulfill in order to build successful start-ups?
Have you heard that good beginnings are excellent foundations for beautiful businesses? Well, the reason why we encourage entrepreneurs to educate themselves in terms of all the elements required for the entrepreneurship journey is because we understand that the pre-seed and seed stages are the solid foundations for the next stages. Remember, the preparation stages for your business are the pre-seed and seed phases. The more educated and experienced you are, the better solid foundation you will have for your start-up. If our beautiful business is built on a solid foundation at these stages, there are more possibilities of success for the entrepreneur. But if we don´t pass the Valley Of Death to re-emerge with our best integral and holistic successful business model version, we won´t be able to create anything of value.
Jesus Christ taught us many things using parables: In the New Testament, Matthew 7: 23-27. Let´s see what Jesus Christ told us about building on a Solid Foundation. Jesus parables are also applicable to the entrepreneurship journey.
Building on a Solid Foundation (By Jesus Christ)
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
During Pre-Seed and Seed Capital Stages, the entrepreneurs have to be pampered or supported by several society stakeholders: by educators, by government programs, by universities, by municipalities, by the media and by public-private entrepreneurship centers (incubators, accelerators, etc.). The complexity or simplicity of an entrepreneurship ecosystem gives us an overview of how ready is a society to produce successful entrepreneurs. The foundation of success is the journey through the Valley of Death. This is the stage of non-reimbursable support for entrepreneurs: Grants, Contests, Free Educational Conferences, Mentorship programs, etc. This is the stage where the entrepreneur builds his or her start-up on solid rock. The Entrepreneurship ecosystem has to help individuals to become successful start-ups. If something is failing in that ecosystem, or some elements are missing, or the entrepreneurship ecosystem is not orchestrated with harmony, then entrepreneurs will fail. Look how important it is: If there is one little piece of regulation (law) missing, the ecosystem won´t work. Let me share two interesting slides from Doctor Daniel Isenberg. Daniel Isenberg is a Professor of Entrepreneurship Practice at Babson College Executive Education where he established the Babson Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Project.
On my next publication, we will show you which are the best and worst entrepreneurial ecosystems in the world. The big picture of it.
Stay tuned!. Our bee journey continues…
Source References:
http://www.babson.edu/executive-education/expanding-entrepreneurship/beep/Pages/isenberg-daniel.aspx
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Isenbergs-model-of-an-entrepreneurship-ecosystem_fig1_260870819
https://www.heartlight.org/articles/201605/20160524_foolish.html
Disclaimer: All the presentation slides shown on this blog are prepared by Eleonora Escalante MBA-MEng. Nevertheless, all the pictures or videos shown on this blog are not mine. I do not own any of the lovely photos or images posted unless otherwise stated.
Eleonora Escalante Strategy 