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DEVELOPING NEW BUSINESS IDEAS160

But ‘promising’ goes further than that. In particular, it asks: are you
right for the idea and is the idea right for you? Do you have the
resources to make it happen – contacts, know-how, money? Will the
idea deliver what you want from life? Does it present the level of risk
which you are prepared to accept?

Does this sound personal? It should do because you’re probably the
only person who can fully define what ‘promising’ means to you, and
therefore evaluate and select ideas appropriately.

Does it sound impossible? It shouldn’t do. Just look at the processes
and techniques which others have successfully employed.

Karan Bilimoria – brewing the criteria to
achieve the ‘big one’120

Cobra beer’s founder, Karan Bilimoria, exemplifies the

process of establishing clear criteria by which to evaluate and select new
business ideas.

Born of a well-connected and highly educated family in India, Karan
Bilimoria had always wanted to achieve the ‘big one’. Having gained a
university business degree from Hyderabad, he read law at Cambridge
University before qualifying as a chartered accountant. His extra-
curricular exploits at Cambridge University included captaining the polo
team and demonstrating his salesmanship by successfully canvassing
door-to-door for the post of vice-president of the Students’ Union.

His first business venture focused on the import of polo sticks from
India, after the Falklands War had halted supplies from Argentina.
Despite some success, and despite having considered a number of other
import possibilities, including copper wire, leather luxury goods and
fabric, his family still teased him for remaining an ‘import/export wallah’.

His personal experience contributed to identifying the ‘big one’ to him.
He realised that the Indian curry market was growing in the UK and that
the lagers which predominated were a poor match to the Indian cuisine.
As Bilimoria put it: ‘Real ale and conventional lagers are too gassy for
Indian food. They make you feel so bloated.’

his personal experience contributed to
identifying the ‘big one’ to him