Hey,
If you have come across this blog then I am really surprised! This blog was created initially to jot down my random analogies which I have come up with for my various academic courses. Basically I thought I was going crazy by just talking to myself with these analogies and needed an outlet for them.
But I'm glad you're here. Feel free to comment or whatever
CK Lau
Saturday 9 April 2011
Entrepreneurship is like... finding a wife?
Would you marry someone after only flirting with them? Of course not! So why do some entrepreneurs fully commit to their ideas right from the beginning?
This made me think and I see entrepreneurship to be a lot like trying to find the perfect wife. Essentially it's the pursuit of that "perfect idea" that will maximise an entrepreneur's wealth. There are 3 key phases to finding a wife, which i will try to relate to entrepreneurship:
This is the flirting stage when you first come across the potential "idea". In dating the man will probably pay for a lot of the meals and invest a lot of time in finding out whether this is the right women for him. For an entrepreneur, he or she should also be prepared to use their own money and their own time into finding out whether this idea is possible. You won't get anyone else to pay for your dates would you! At this stage, all the risk is on the entrepreneur and that's how it should be.
Living together phase
So after a few months of dating you realise you have found a high potential partner. So what's the next step? After investing all that time and money into the "idea" in determining its value, an entrepreneur should be ready to be more involved with the "idea". More time and money will be invested into the idea. In our analogy, the man will likely have to rent a bigger apartment/house and furnish the place. More capital is required which he may not have. He might have to ask someone for a potential loan to fund this new phase. Once he has this she can move in and he can "get to know" her better. Know what she's like all the time under all conditions (not just when she is happy on a date! Perhaps grumpy in the morning?)
For an entrepreneur, this is equivalent to possibly asking a business angel for money in order to build a prototype perhaps, in order to "get to know" the idea better. Know how it works under all conditions.
Full Commitment phase
So after months/years of living with someone you decide take the plunge and ask this women to marry you. Once you do this though you realise that there is no easy way to get out of it. Up in store are houses, mortgages, kids and a seemingly life-time commitment.
For an entrepreneur, this stage is probably going to a Venture Capitalist and asking for money in order to turn the "idea" into reality. As I have eluded to in the beginning, you can't rush to this stage. It takes a lot of time and a lot of money. If you have bypassed the other stages and gone straight to here then the risk of failure will be enormous.
But if you have taken time through the other stages then a potential happy union of yourself and the idea may occur, and all the rich rewards that come with it :)
This made me think and I see entrepreneurship to be a lot like trying to find the perfect wife. Essentially it's the pursuit of that "perfect idea" that will maximise an entrepreneur's wealth. There are 3 key phases to finding a wife, which i will try to relate to entrepreneurship:
- Dating phase
- Living together phase
- Full commitment phase
This is the flirting stage when you first come across the potential "idea". In dating the man will probably pay for a lot of the meals and invest a lot of time in finding out whether this is the right women for him. For an entrepreneur, he or she should also be prepared to use their own money and their own time into finding out whether this idea is possible. You won't get anyone else to pay for your dates would you! At this stage, all the risk is on the entrepreneur and that's how it should be.
Living together phase
So after a few months of dating you realise you have found a high potential partner. So what's the next step? After investing all that time and money into the "idea" in determining its value, an entrepreneur should be ready to be more involved with the "idea". More time and money will be invested into the idea. In our analogy, the man will likely have to rent a bigger apartment/house and furnish the place. More capital is required which he may not have. He might have to ask someone for a potential loan to fund this new phase. Once he has this she can move in and he can "get to know" her better. Know what she's like all the time under all conditions (not just when she is happy on a date! Perhaps grumpy in the morning?)
For an entrepreneur, this is equivalent to possibly asking a business angel for money in order to build a prototype perhaps, in order to "get to know" the idea better. Know how it works under all conditions.
Full Commitment phase
So after months/years of living with someone you decide take the plunge and ask this women to marry you. Once you do this though you realise that there is no easy way to get out of it. Up in store are houses, mortgages, kids and a seemingly life-time commitment.
For an entrepreneur, this stage is probably going to a Venture Capitalist and asking for money in order to turn the "idea" into reality. As I have eluded to in the beginning, you can't rush to this stage. It takes a lot of time and a lot of money. If you have bypassed the other stages and gone straight to here then the risk of failure will be enormous.
But if you have taken time through the other stages then a potential happy union of yourself and the idea may occur, and all the rich rewards that come with it :)
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