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Page 25 GO IT ALONE!
Drucker’s view, a new venture must be set up to capitalize on the inevitable unexpected opportunities and to avoid being hamstrung by an infrastructure designed to support the inevitable failed efforts. “Rather than dismiss the unexpected as an ‘exception,’ as entrepreneurs are inclined to do, they need to go out and look at it carefully and as a distinct opportunity.”
Drucker’s notion can be expanded to incorporate the idea that almost nothing succeeds in its first incarnation. Typically, a business prospers through a continuing loop of effort, assessment of results, and modifications based on learning. This process is very much within Drucker’s admonition to be market-focused, if not market-driven. Successful go-it-alone entrepreneurs expect and plan for the possibility that their initial market targeting may be wrong, and for continuous learning. Here are some examples: - Gourmet Gatherings (http://GourmetGatherings.com), a highly successful San Francisco–based culinary entertainment company that now specializes in corporate team-building events, private cooking parties, and social events. The company was launched with the belief that “we would primarily be creating parties for individuals,” says Shannan Bishop, one of the two founding partners. In fact, over 60% of the firm’s business now comes from the corporate market, which has very different needs and requirements.
Emoonlighter.com, now Guru.com (www.Guru.com), was launched as a marketplace for individuals with full-time jobs seeking part-time evening and weekend work. However, it succeeded as a marketplace for contract workers pursuing full-time projects. Speed Anywhere was launched as a consumer-oriented broadband marketer. Yet, the business succeeded only after it became a business-to-business marketer.
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GO IT ALONE! Copyright 2004 by Bruce Judson. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
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