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DEVELOPING NEW BUSINESS IDEAS190

new venture. Should the venture fail, is there any way back to your
former employer? Will you be stigmatised in the eyes of other potential
employers by apparent failure?

family and social risk When a journalist asked whether she was able
to see or speak often to her busy husband, Veronica Berlusconi, wife of
the Italian prime minister, had her tongue firmly in her cheek when she
replied: ‘Yes, I not only speak to him on the telephone, sometimes I
even see him on the television.’141

The time commitment and ‘proper selfishness’ described earlier in
connection with starting a business are no different to being the Italian
prime minister, except that you probably appear on television slightly
less frequently – starting a business can actually deprive your family of
a whole slice of their life.

It may be that the money is simply not available to recruit outside talent
of the appropriate calibre to help you run the operation. Alternatively,
potential recruits may feel your venture is too risky an investment of
their career. In these cases, there is a real risk that you become locked in
to the business, working hours which never seem to end, and that you
remain constantly at the mercy of sickness or burn-out.

If your business crowds out your family, what chances do your friends
stand? If the business succeeds, will you consider that the sacrifice has
been worthwhile? And suppose the business fails, what then?

emotional well-being The psychological impact of a financial disaster
can be dramatic and long-lasting. Have you got the emotional resilience
required to bounce back if your venture fails?

That is not to say that it cannot be done – Sophie Mirman bounced
back from Sock Shop by founding Trotters, offering couture for kids, for
example – but the difficulties of accomplishing this type of comeback
are not to be under-estimated.142 Are you prepared to risk having to put
your emotional resilience to the most extreme test?

These types of risk incurred by entrepreneurial start-up can be
compared against ‘conventional’ careers within organisations, as Table
5.7 demonstrates.

risk comfort zone You need to consider all the elements described
above in defining the borders of your risk comfort zone. Clarity over
your attitude to risk will allow you to eliminate ideas which in their
current configuration fall outside this comfort zone.