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1875 : STEP THREE – EVALUATING AND SELECTING IDEAS

skills to achieve this transformation, unlike the founder-managers of
small enterprises who perform all crucial tasks in their organisation and
never have to change their fundamental role.

These new skills will allow the founder to evolve from doing the work,
to training others to do it, to establishing outcomes for that work, and
finally to managing the context in which the work is undertaken
through a more formalised infrastructure and processes.

Can you see yourself evolving in this fashion? Can you make the leap
from gifted musician, adept at a number of different instruments in the
orchestra, to being part-composer, part-conductor?

personal choices As before, there is no right or wrong answer. It all
depends on you, but what you want will inevitably shape the
evaluation and selection of business ideas. You need to be aware of
what you will be comfortable with and of just how committed you are
to the realisation of your product or service idea.

‘a proper selfishness’ It was Charles Handy who coined the term ‘a
proper selfishness’ to describe the level of commitment required to
achieve your potential.138 Achieving a successful start-up propels ‘a
proper selfishness’ to a new level – success will almost inevitably
require an almost improper 24/7 obsession.

Karan Bilimoria worked all hours to bring Cobra beer to fruition,
sharing a cramped flat with his business partner and his new wife,
delivering the beer personally to the London accounts from ‘Albert’, his
battered Citroen 2CV. Julian Metcalf and Sinclair Beecham, the founders
of Pret a Manger, shopped for the food themselves at local markets
before making the sandwiches each morning. Their Sunday evening
routine regularly involved going to what was then their only store to
cook 25 chickens to be ready for the following morning.

Are you ready and able to deliver this level of personal commitment?
And are those around you, especially your family, prepared to allow
you to do so?

person-focused criterion 2: what resources can you
access? Reviewing your checklist of resources is an important

element in the process. Finance inevitably features high on the list, but
is by no means the only resource which you should consider. Contacts,
knowledge and know-how are also extremely important.