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1855 : STEP THREE – EVALUATING AND SELECTING IDEAS

person-focused criteria Being aware of what you actually

want to achieve with your business idea, how far you want to go, and
being aware of your ability to do so are essential pre-requisites for
evaluating business ideas effectively.

As with the business-focused criteria in the previous section, the
following person-focused criteria reflect the fundamental issues which
any subsequent business plan will require you to answer in more detail.
In addition, the criteria reflect two key questions which you should
continually be asking yourself, namely: ‘Is this venture right for me?’
and ‘Am I right for this venture?’

person-focused criterion 1: type and scale of your
ambition Jeff Bezos was prepared to sacrifice his home in New York

to settle in Seattle, which provided access to a vast pool of computer
talent and which was very close to one of the world’s largest book
wholesalers. In contrast, Darryl Mattocks was highly attached to the
university city of Oxford and unwilling to move.

Neither attitude to business start-up was right or wrong. However, it is
clear that each attitude exercised a distinctly different influence on the
type of business venture which each entrepreneur went on to establish.

honest self-awareness You need to be honest with yourself about the
scale of your ambition. Are you like the founders of Starbucks, content to
enjoy success within the boundaries of their original retail formula and
location, or are you like Howard Schultz, impatient to take on the world?

You need to be honest with yourself about
the scale of your ambition

Are you seeking to start up a business so that you can enjoy a more
flexible lifestyle, have an outlet for an artistic or sporting talent, or
experiment with technologies which interest you? Is it your life
ambition to create a business which carries your name and which can
be passed on to future generations?

breaking through the glass ceiling Is it the self-fulfilment of being
your own boss which drives you?

Chey Garland left school at 16 to work as an office junior. Her secret
dreams of becoming managing director were thwarted by the reality