Starting a Business QuickStart Guide. Ken Colwell PhD MBA

name. I am not the first person to trust Wikipedia; however, the entry for just-so stories sums them up quite nicely. They are “an unverifiable narrative explanation for a cultural practice, a biological trait, or behavior of humans or other animals.” Such tales are common in folklore and mythology. Just-so stories are the effectuation version of narratives—they start with the end result and work their way backwards rather than truly examining the root cause of the phenomenon.

      Entrepreneurs are this generation’s folk heroes and myths, and we like to believe they have superhuman skills and abilities. We view them as the ultimate self-made men and women. However, that’s often just not the case. Going back to our Quick Case on page 24, Mark Zuckerberg was the product of an affluent household and an Ivy League pedigree. Bill Gates’ story follows much the same narrative. Warren Buffett’s father was a member of Congress, and he has a degree from Columbia. Jeff Bezos went to Princeton. These are not exactly Horatio Alger stories. This isn’t to say they aren’t admirable people—it’s just that their success stories are more nuanced than is generally acknowledged.

      The best way to deal with the prevalence of luck is to not worry about it, because you can’t control it anyway. Worrying about things outside your control is a surefire path to stress and anxiety, neither of which are conducive to success. It’s also not very mindful. Mindfulness, the importance of living a self-actualized life, is discussed at length in the next chapter.

       Do I Need a Business Plan?

      Every business should have a business plan—even if your business isn’t seeking funding. As with many aspects of the entrepreneurial universe, there are many misconceptions surrounding business plans, their utility, and the scope of their function. Because of this, business plans are often seen as a waste of time. However, nothing could be further from the truth.

      The last part of this book is dedicated to helping you build your business plan in a comprehensive and strategic manner, but for now, suffice it to say that your business plan is much more than just a summary of your business. It is also each of the following:

       Communication tool: The business plan communicates your opportunity to potential founding team members, stakeholders, family members, and prospective employees.

       Planning tool: In addition to helping you develop strategy, the business plan construction process forces you to become fluent in your opportunity, your market, and your industry.

       Discovery tool: Oftentimes we simply don’t know what we don’t know. The business plan construction process uncovers knowledge gaps relating to your opportunity, market, and industry in an organized and systematic way.

      Also understand that despite its utility, a business plan is not a magic bullet. Even the most well-written and well-constructed business plan is not a guarantee of success or even a guarantee that your opportunity will receive funding.

       Q: Is it okay to outsource the writing/construction of my business plan?

      Answer: No. The whole point of the business plan writing process is to ensure that you know the ins and outs of your business like the back of your hand. A critical component of your value proposition—the backbone of your business—is identifying who will be buying your product or service and why (chapter 8). A consultant will be able to point you in the right direction, check your work, and recommend ways to collect information, but he or she should not be doing the work. There is simply no substitute for rolling up your sleeves—even if you are the only person who will ever read the plan.

       Chapter Recap

       Many self-limiting beliefs that hold would-be entrepreneurs back are based on misconceptions.

       The common idea of a “typical” entrepreneur is also usually based on a misconception. There is no single path that will guarantee success. Successful entrepreneurs come from a variety of backgrounds and take diverse paths to reach their success.

       A lack of “business skills” does not disqualify someone from being an entrepreneur—many famously successful entrepreneurs started their businesses with a lack of formal training (but having a business background certainly helps!) Two key skills to develop are self-awareness and interpersonal skills.

       Startup costs are much lower than they once were. Some businesses can be started with low financial commitments or commitments that are spread over time, and with little more than a laptop and an internet connection.

       There is no “right” time to start a business. Younger entrepreneurs have freedom of time but lack experience and a developed network. Conversely, entrepreneurs who are older tend to have more experience and developed networks but more time constraints.

       Failure is by no means the end of an entrepreneur’s journey. It is important to reframe your conception of failure as a learning tool and an indicator of progress and experimentation rather than a brick wall.

       Every new venture should take the time to construct and maintain a business plan. Business plans are important strategic documents as well as discovery, measuring, and communication tools.

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       Reaching Success

       What You Really Need to Succeed as an Entrepreneur

       Chapter Overview

       Intangible versus tangible aspects of starting a business

       The intangible aspects that have the greatest impact on success

       The importance of mindfulness, achieving a state of flow, work-life balance, and living a self-actualized life

      This is the part of the book where I’m supposed to give you a list of traits you need to be successful as an entrepreneur. Or I would if I was writing clickbait rather than a serious book. I recently googled “Do I have the entrepreneurial spirit?” and got nearly 65 million results. Most of the relevant results were lists of traits. Some common themes:

       Passion

       Resiliency

       Vision

       Calculated risk-taking

       Hard work

      I don’t dispute the importance of any of these characteristics for entrepreneurial success, but these traits are widely held by many people and they certainly don’t guarantee success. I’ve been observing successful entrepreneurs for a long time, and I believe there is one characteristic that’s most critical for success: mindfulness.

       Mindfulness

      Mindfulness is a term that seems to be everywhere these days. It is used to the point where it can seem meaningless. At its most basic, mindfulness means being focused on what’s actually happening in the present, without spinning a narrative about what it means, or comparing it to what other people are doing or thinking. It also means not continually regretting or reliving the past or worrying about things that might possibly happen in the future.

      Truly mindful individuals always know exactly what they are doing and why they are doing it. This may seem simple, but if you really think about it, a lot of the things we do on a day-to-day basis are essentially mindless. We do them out of habit, because someone told us to, or just because they are part of a routine. If you are looking at your day mindfully, you are carefully considering the purpose and desired outcome of all your actions and making sure you’re doing them for the right reasons