entrepreneurial lesson number 1 : why so many entreprenerial businesses fail

A Roadmap for High Performance Entrepreneurship

Clive Butkow

A roadmap for high performance entrepreneurship © Clive Butkow 20131

Welcome and introduction

Demystifying Entrepreneurship : How to think and act like an entrepreneur –

Key lessons from my entrepreneurial journey

2 A roadmap for high performance © Clive Butkow 2013

Why so many entrepreneurial businesses fail?

3 A roadmap for high performance © Clive Butkow 2013

Entrepreneurs envision themselves succeeding

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“Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you’re right.”– Henry Ford

A roadmap for high performance © Clive Butkow 2013

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No exit strategy Do not know their nature (artist,

manager, leader and entrepreneur)

Do not know the lifecycle/stage of their business

They make the fatal assumption : if they understand the technical work of a business, they understand a business that does that technical work

Do not leverage OPE, OPM, OPR, OPA, etc.



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They do not build their business into an asset of value that one day can be sold at a premium price

Do not build the systems to required to “run” the business enabling them to focus on growth (they work in the business and not on the business)

They spend too much time on the “busyness” of business and get stuck in the rut of doing what they have always done



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Lack of clinical execution (not about ideas but rather execution)

Do not take advantage of the fact that success leaves clues and they try and reinvent the wheel (pattern recognition)

They do not make getting clients their number one priority

Wrong leadership team who are not coachable (people matter more than ideas)



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Do not recognize that revenue is vanity, profit is sanity and cash flow is reality : vitamin C deficiency

Do not have the right sales and marketing skills (no sales no clients no business)

Do not have a clearly differentiated USP

Not pliable, bendable and willing to adapt

Don’t know their target market



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Stuck in their box and hence cannot see behind corners and jump into trends that are obsolete or do not see the new trends coming

Do not recognize that not all ideas are money making ideas

Do not understand that focus is not deciding what to do but rather what not to do

Products do not sell themselves and there is no such thing as “if you build it, they will come”



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Do not focus 80% of their energy to the areas that generate the most reward – do not cut out waste (do not focus on the not to-do list)

Do not understand the importance of time management and make every minute of every hour count towards the business main outcomes

They do not make the business work for them and they work for the business



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Not willing to listen to feedback (fall in love with their ideas, product or service)

They do not deepen their skills and learn about new technologies and other innovation relevant to their business

Inability to balance conviction and stubbornness

Products or services are one of the least important ingredients in the business mix (E Triangle)



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They do not lose their business plan and hence do not build a road map to take them from where they are to where they want to go

They get to caught up working IN the business and have no time to work ON the business

They do not accept that no business is an island and they try to handle everything themselves, lawyer, accountant, sales, etc.



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Fail to bootstrap and quickly run out of cash

They do not understand the value of leveraging multiple channels for marketing their product

Do not have a clear and achievable vision and goals for the business

Try to be flawless : goal is not to be perfect but the pursuit of perfection



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The founders cannot lead people which is the hardest part of running a company

They focus on building better products (e.g. hamburger) rather than building better business systems (selling and delivering the product)

Too little focus on building management skills Cash flow People Personal time



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The leaders will not accept feedback from peers, mentors or employees in the business

Do not recognize that the world is not short of great ideas or great products, but the world is short of great business people : Bill Gates did not build a great product (MS DOS) he bought it, but he did build a great business that helped him become one of the richest men in the world



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Not financially literate and do not know the difference between cash flow and profits

Do not ensure that capital is always flowing into the business through sales, direct marketing or investors

Do not know the difference between sales and marketing : sales is what you do in person and marketing is sales done via a system



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When it comes to legal and accounting, there are 3 basic mistakes entrepreneurs make: They do not have or do not seek

proper legal and accounting advice before setting up their business

They do not include attorneys and accountants as part of their team (this does not mean full time)

Take too much advice from attorneys and accountants on entrepreneurial/business issues



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They do not recognize that being able to sell is the basic number one skill required of an entrepreneur

They do not have sufficient knowledge of the 5 key components of a business: Product Legal Systems Communications Cash flow



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Many entrepreneurs have a great product or service but don’t have the business skills to build a successful business around that product or service

Many new entrepreneurs start without enough real-life experience and without enough capital

“Put is down on paper” : they do not recognize that a successful business is created before there is a business



entrepreneurial lesson number 1 : why so many entreprenerial businesses fail

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