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91 : THE IMPORTANCE OF DEVELOPING STRONG IDEAS

For all these reasons, successful entrepreneurs never assume that a first
idea represents an immediate opportunity; they systematically plan and
follow a structured and creative process to challenge and develop the
idea, and thereby transform it into a viable business opportunity.

slaying the myth that entrepreneurs are born,
not made It would be easy to be over awed by the public success

of high-profile entrepreneurs and think that all entrepreneurs are born,
not made, believing that only those with the gift of creativity can set up
their own business or commercialise their idea.

There are certainly plenty of myths surrounding enterprise. According to
the myth above, the skills of entrepreneurship are connected with the
innate characteristics of entrepreneurs, characteristics which you inherit
at birth – these mythical skills cannot be taught or learned. According to
other myths, all you need to be an entrepreneur is luck in a chaotic and
unstructured world. Further myths position entrepreneurs as impulsively
action-oriented, as the gun-slingers of the enterprise world who shoot
from the hip and ask questions later. Conversely, myths exist that the best
entrepreneurs are just inventors of new products or services.

myths exist that the best entrepreneurs are
just inventors of new products or services

All these myths are untrue and misleading.

the tyranny of logic and analysis It sometimes seems as if

business schools perpetuate these myths by focusing their training on
cognitive, content-based learning in disciplines such as accountancy,
marketing, law and economics, rather than on the process of venture
creation and its related disciplines of entrepreneurship, creative idea
development, innovation and product design.

In business itself, examples abound of executives undervaluing the
skills of idea development, expressing scepticism about the relevance of
creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship for large organisations.

These myths and apparent deterrents would not matter if the ability to
develop viable business ideas was not so vital to business growth