Only around one percent of all new ventures launched as a response to our current economic crisis will not just survive, but thrive.
But hey - I'm a rabid entrepreneur, and that 1% is exactly the group of people I was built to support.
So if you, a friend or family member, or a colleague, is thinking of launching their own new venture, watch today's video where I explain how you can tell if you have what it takes to be part of that elusive one percent:
Please leave me your questions and observations in the comments below!
Running time: 06' 07" Don't forget to leave your comments below!
We talked in the last video about the fact that for the vast
majority of people the idea of launching a new venture as
a strategy to respond to the economic aspects of our current
crisis was probably not a good one.
And the main reason you'll recall is because of all new ventures,
fewer than 20% get past the first three years.
What we didn't get around to talking about is what happens
to even that 20%. And you know, the truth is that of those one-in-five
new ventures that do make it, less than 20% of them
ever actually employ even one more person. To put it another
way, in any given year between 93 and 96 percent of all organizations,
whether for-profit or not-for-profit, don't have any employees -
they just provide what is usually a less-than-market salary
for the founder - and that's great, but it's hardly 'thriving'.
And if we were to put it another way, it means that it's
likely that of all of the new ventures that get started during
this current economic and health crisis that we're facing,
less than 1% are going to thrive in the end - employ people,
grow, achieve whatever it is that the founder wants from it.
But you know what?
I'm an avid entrepreneur.
I started as a serial entrepreneur. Both on my own and with
other people I launched over 40 businesses before I was 35,
and you know, my heart is with that one percent.
It's that 1% that I live to work with - to assist and
help as best I can. So I want to talk a little bit
about what it takes to be in that 1%. So have you or someone
in your family, or a friend or a colleague who is thinking of
- in spite of all of the odds - you're thinking of launching
something new - how do you know you've got what it takes?
And I want to tell you, because I know. Because I'm one of
those people, and I work with those people
and it's absolutely in my bones. I want to define it first
of all by telling you what it's not. The single biggest error
people make is in thinking that what it takes to succeed
in launching a new venture (whether it's a for-profit or a
cause-based not-for-profit) is passion. That's what we're always told -
you've got to have passion for what you do. And I've got to tell
you something: that is not correct.
In fact, it's worse. Too much passion for what you're doing
can almost guarantee that you'll fail,
because of two things. One: rather than listen to the market
that you're there to serve, you get obsessed about your own
vision for this thing and remain inflexible and so eventually you
don't have a successful venture, or [Two:] you get so obsessed with
'polishing the apple'
so to speak - making this thing you're passionate about better
and better and better - that you never get around to actually launching
anything. The thing that makes founders successful
Is an overwhelming need for freedom and autonomy. It comes top
of every single survey.
The number one reason people launch new ventures is to get
freedom and autonomy to do things their way.
You know one of the definitions of an entrepreneur that I
really love is that it's somebody who will stop working
40 hours a week for somebody else to work 80 hours a week
for themselves.
And there's a lot of truth in that.
The absolute best combination you can get is a lot of that
drive for freedom and autonomy and some passion - that you
do care about what it is that's going to be your product
or your service (or your offering if it's a not-for-profit),
but you're not leading with that.
Let me explain what I mean. My trainer and I have been working
on how to do workouts virtually over FaceTime and we've developed
a whole new vocabulary and one of the things that she'll
say to me a lot is 'this is 80/20' or 'this is 90/10' and what
she means by that is the weight distribution of my legs.
So for this exercise, I've got to have 90% of my weight on
my front leg and 10 percent on the back or 80% of the front leg
and 20% in the back.
And that's the ratio you want
between a desire and a drive for autonomy and passion for your
product your service or your offering. It's somewhere between
80 to 90 % that drive for freedom and autonomy and 10
to 20% passion for the thing you're going to do.
And if you can combine that ratio, you stand a great chance
of being part of the 1%. And I hope that a lot of the stuff
that you're going to get from us over
the next few months is going to help you do that, because
those are the people I want to support as we exit this current
crisis that we're in. I'm Les McKeown, please just scroll down
leave me some comments.
And let's have a great week.
Hi Les, this is a very informative one. It is enlightening to learn from your video cast that the desire for freedom and autonomy trumps the singularity of passion-infused newly starting ventures.
As the proof of desire is pursuit, it takes true desire for freedom and autonomy beyond mere passion to quit a 40-hour per week employment to work 80-hour per week on a personal enterprise.
And this can only be possible when one has not only a short-term passion for building a great venture that solves real problems; but much more also; a long-term focus on the autonomy and freedom that comes with the success of building such a great venture.
Regards.