Successful Entrepreneurs Ask 'What's Next?'
Some Entrepreneurs Have to Stop Before They Can Get Started
May 7, 2009
The most powerful word for any entrepreneur is “next.” Yes, to be successful, “stick-to-it-ness,” as they say, is important, but knowing when it’s time to stop is better. What really gives an entrepreneur a capital “E,” is growing a business, letting go of what’s going good, and starting new things. Anything else is just owning a business.
Being Entrepreneurial Isn't Always Being The Owner Of A Company
Being an entrepreneur doesn’t mean building and running a bunch of different companies. It can happen as an employee or owner. Many employment ads ask for self-starters and entrepreneurial thinking. But what they’re really looking for are innovators; people who add value by creating new ways to do things that save or make money.
Entrepreneurial Thinkers Find New Ways To Save or Make Money
One company that stands out is redballinternet.com. They got started after two freshly graduated computer programmers showed up at a consulting gig without some much needed documents. With no Internet connection they started wondering how they could wirelessly and securely access files at their office from anywhere. After learning Kyrocera had a turnkey solution for the problem, they licensed their iBurst technology, one of the world’s most robust secure wireless network systems.
Isn't this already possible with Wi-Fi zones? Well, not exactly. First, Wi-Fi is not secure, and a user has to be within 300 feet of one of its access points for it to work. iBurst provided encrypted high-speed Internet access anywhere within 8 miles of one of their towers.
Successful Entrepreneurs Know When Things Aren't Working And Change
At first they went into business installing towers in small communities with no hi-speed Internet connections, only to find out it wasn’t a financially sustaining model. There just wasn’t enough business volume in rural areas to make it worthwhile. So what did they do? They just stopped. Rather than holding on, they stopped and asked those all-important questions: “What else?” “What’s next?”
Instead they started to focus their attention on how they could apply their technology, instead of how they could sell it. Like software applications that allow people to securely use a credit card in a cab, or lawyers to get that 50MB confidential file they forgot while sitting in court. The BlackBerry just can’t do that, yet. They’re even working on an application that will wirelessly communicate power usage. No more meter readers lurking around people's backyards and basements.
Entrepreneurs That Get It Right Know When To Move On And Start Again
When it comes to entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial thinking, Red Ball’s got it right so far. Especially when it comes to engaging their customers and getting them to dream about all the things they could do with their technology. But they wouldn’t have gotten there if they didn’t know when to stop, give up, move on and start again in a different way.
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