In the movie "City Slickers," Jack Palance and Billy Crystal are riding their horses and talking about life. At one point, the Palance character explains the meaning of life to Crystal's character and says it always comes down to "one thing, just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don't mean (anything)."
Those starting out as entrepreneurs often ask themselves the same question: what is the one thing that will assure my success? Lots of money? A great invention? A market insight unknown to my competitors? Or is it something else, some great secret known only to the select few?After 10 years of research, Amar Bhide of The Harvard Business School provides some insight. In his recently published book, "The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses," Bhide indicates that most successful entrepreneurs start without a proprietary idea, money, training or qualifications and in uncertain or undefined market niches.
I am currently working with two entrepreneurs starting up a new e-commerce business. They lack the necessary capital and do not have a revolutionary idea. What they do have are a number of characteristics typical of successful entrepreneurs:
-- They know the business opportunity. They have worked for someone within the required area of expertise.
-- They have identified a profitable niche. Their strategy is to do it better and at a lower cost than the competition. Bhide suggests that success follows those who make a small modification in what somebody else is already doing.
-- They are willing to work hard. Generally, they work longer hours than anyone else in the company, with more intensity and with an unrelenting focus.
-- They are adaptable and willing to move quickly in the months prior to startup. They have dramatically changed their entry strategy as we have refined our thinking.
-- They are good listeners. Successful entrepreneurs know when to listen and readily seek out advice.
But what is the "one thing" for entrepreneurs starting up a new business? In my view, it's the people. It's having a leader who leads with firmness of purpose and clarity of vision. It's having team members who complement each other and are well-suited to the task at hand. And it's having advisers who can draw from the depth of their experience to offer skilled and capable strategic counsel.
Having the right people in the right positions is the "one thing" that makes a positive difference for entrepreneurs. Of course, that means there are also some risks involved in having the wrong people
in the wrong positions. Successful entrepreneurs quickly learn, for example, not to fill their team with those whose only qualification is friendship.
They don't involve immediate family unless there is a compelling reason to do so (I recently met with a potential investor who pointedly said, "I will not invest in a management team of family and friends"). And they don't hire someone just because they offer start-up funding. Money is important, but not at the cost of your potential for success.
So I guess Jack Palance was right: it always comes down to one thing. And for aspiring entrepreneurs, that one thing is the people.
Gary Williams, a former CEO of a high-tech company, is currently associated with the BYU Center for Entrepreneurship. He can be reached via e-mail at cfe@byu.edu.