企業家內部網絡是一個在線社區,美國創業界最睿智、最有影響力的一些大咖會在這里及時回答與創業和職業有關的問題。今天的問題是:“年輕創業者的常見錯誤有哪些?”回答問題的是斑馬科技(Zebra Technologies)創始人愛德華?卡普蘭。卡普蘭也是也是芝加哥布斯商學院艾德華?L?卡普蘭“新創挑戰”創業競賽的冠名贊助商。 創業是需要勇氣的。我見過許多前仆后繼的創業者,他們犯的最常見的一個錯誤,就是低估了自主創業的難度。決定成為一個創業人,將是你人生中做出的最重大的抉擇之一。你需要提前考慮清楚:你具有成為一名成功企業家的勇氣、天賦和技能嗎? 作為企業家,你必然會面臨一些相當困難的挑戰。你必須成為一個現實主義者,不要讓自負害了你。如果你頭腦發熱一頭扎進商海只是因為自負,那它絕對不是正確的理由。 真正成功的企業家,也就是實現了銷售額的增長和盈利的企業所有人,是永遠不會忘記以下八個字的:可持續的競爭優勢。如果你沒有可持續的競爭優勢,就不要創業。這八個字又分成三個部分——可持續的、競爭、優勢。三者缺一不可。 如果你的項目獨具特色,但是很容易被人模仿,那么你的優勢只能持續一時,卻不具有可持續性。如果你忽略了競爭對手的情況,不去徹底地了解市場上正在發生什么,你也不會具有競爭性。 上世紀80年代,也就是我和商業伙伴創辦了斑馬科技大約10年以后(那時公司的名字還叫Data Specialties Inc.),條形碼技術開始流行了起來。我們派了幾隊人馬去了解關于條形碼技術與掃描市場的各種信息。我們訪問了各種貿易展會的展臺人員,并且問他們:你們的競爭對手是誰?你們的競爭優勢是什么?分銷渠道是什么?所以說,真正細致地了解你的市場、了解你的競爭對手,是十分重要的。 不要聘用朋友 當年我剛剛創業的時候,我父親曾告訴我,永遠不要雇傭你的朋友替你工作,因為會出現摩擦和挑戰。但我并沒有聽進去。 人在剛開始創業的時候,聘請朋友來給自己工作似乎是個自然而然的選擇。因為你認識他們、信任他們,了解他們的道德水平和他們的技能。但是如果繼續雇傭他們會導致你的公司遭受損失甚至失敗的話,你就只能炒了他們的魷魚。 在我創業早期的時候,我曾經聘用過大學里的一個朋友。我們畢業后曾在同一家公司工作過,他和我一樣,也是一名工程師。但當時他并不具備我們的這家初創公司所需的技能。于是我跟他坐下談了談,解釋了為什么我想讓他走人,他表示能理解,但他妻子卻很不理解。從此她不愿意和我說話了,最后連他本人也對我十分冷淡。 換一位員工尚且非常具有挑戰,更不用說換一個好朋友了。 取得家人的支持 擁有家人和朋友的充分支持是極為重要的,而大多數創業者并沒有想明白這個簡單的道理。作為一名創業者,你的生活方式必然會給家庭造成一定的代價。你不可能像別人一樣花那么多時間陪伴家人。你的脾氣會變得很急躁,有時還會感到很挫敗。創業者必然要承受很多壓力,付出很多犧牲。你的伴侶或者其他重要的親友必須支持你所做的事情,并且真正理解創業是一條坎坷之路。 當我與合作伙伴剛剛創辦這家公司時,我還在另一家公司里干著一份全職工程師的工作。每個工作日,我們都要從下午5點半加班到深夜11點,周末更是要全天奮戰,很少有留給家人的時間。我拿房子做了一筆抵押貸款,這對我妻子來說是一次很大的犧牲,因為她當時正懷著孕,還得為可能失去我們的房子而焦慮。當時我需要一輛車,好讓我全國各地到處跑,拜訪潛在客戶,于是我哥哥把他的車借給了我。很多個夜晚,我都睡在停在路邊的那輛車里。 別讓你的牙醫入股 如果有人想投資一點錢到你的公司,那么一定要謹慎再謹慎。如果他們并不理解你在做什么,也不明白你的目標是什么,那么他的投資可能將成為一顆定時炸彈。我的合伙人的牙醫當時有一筆閑錢想要投資,于是他投資到了我們這家剛成立的小公司。不久之后他想拿回資金,但是我們根本沒法還錢給他,因為我們手頭上沒有現金。那筆錢已經投在公司的原材料和員工工資上了。所以說,初創公司絕對不是流動投資項目。 這個道理聽起來很明顯,但很多創業人最關心的只是如何籌集到足夠的資金來開展業務,但他們忘記了資本的來源一定要牢靠,這樣當意外事件發生時,心里才不慌。即便你有了一款革命性的產品,并且充分了解你的市場,但是構建你的業務依然是需要時間的。你前進的道路上總會有幾塊絆腳時突然冒出來,甚至是很多塊絆腳石。所以提前做好充分的準備才是最明智的。 雖然創業會帶來很多挑戰、風險、痛苦和壓力,但它也同樣能夠帶來回報。創業給人提供了一個成長進步的機會。它會提高創業者的生活質量,為他們的生活帶來滿足感。創業并非只是為了滿足一些目標,更是為了體驗成功路上的風景。(財富中文網) 譯者:樸成奎 |
The Entrepreneur Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question “What are some common mistakes young entrepreneurs make?” is written by Ed Kaplan, founder of Zebra Technologies and title sponsor of theEdward L. Kaplan ’71 New Venture Challengestartup business launch competition at theUniversity of Chicago Booth School of Business. It takes courage to become an entrepreneur. The most common mistake I see up-and-coming entrepreneurs make is underestimating how difficult it is to start your own business. Deciding to become an entrepreneur is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make in your life. You need to consider upfront: Do you really have the courage, the aptitude, and the skill to be a successful entrepreneur? As an entrepreneur, you are going to face some really tough situations. You need to be realistic and not let your ego run away with you. If your ego is driving you to go into business, it’s not the right reason. The really successful entrepreneurs—business owners who achieve sales growth and profits—never forget these three words: sustainable competitive advantage. If you don’t have a sustainable competitive advantage, don’t start a business. All three words—sustainable, competitive, advantage—are a really big deal. If you are doing something that is different but easy to copy, you have an advantage for a moment, but it’s not sustainable. If you neglect to pay attention to your rivals and thoroughly understand what is happening in your market, you won’t be competitive. When bar-coding was starting to become popular in the 1980s, more than a decade after my business partner and I founded Zebra ZBRA -17.77% (originally called Data Specialties Inc.), we sent teams of people to trade shows to find out everything they could about the bar-coding and scanning market. We talked to people in the booths and on the trade show floor. We asked: Who is your competition? What is your competitive advantage? What is your distribution channel? It’s important to really understand your market and to look out for your competition. Don’t hire your friends When I first started out, my father told me to never hire a friend because conflicts and challenges would emerge. I didn’t listen. It’s handy to hire friends when you’re just beginning. You know them. You trust them. You understand their ethics and their skills. But you also have to be willing to fire them if keeping them on the payroll means your company will suffer, or even fail. In my early days, I hired a friend from college. We worked at the same company after college, and he was an engineer like I was. But he just didn’t have the skills our startup needed at that time. I sat down with him and explained why I had to let him go, and he understood. But his wife didn’t. She wouldn’t talk to me, and, in the end, he was cold to me as well. Replacing an employee is challenging, but replacing a good friend is harder. Rally the support of your family Having plenty of support from your friends and family is extremely important, and most entrepreneurs don’t give that simple fact enough thought. Your way of life as an entrepreneur is going to come at a cost to your family. You won’t be spending as much time with them. You will get irritable. You will get frustrated. There is a lot of stress and sacrifice involved. Your spouse or significant other needs to buy into what you’re doing and really understand it’s going to be a rough road. I was working a full-time job as an engineer when my business partner and I started the company. We worked every weeknight from 5:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. and all weekend. There was little time for family. I put up my house as collateral for a loan, and that was a big sacrifice for my wife who was pregnant at the time and anxious about losing our home. When I needed a car to drive across country to call on prospective customers, my brother lent me his. I slept in that car many nights on the road. Don’t ask your dentist to invest Be careful who you ask for money to invest in your company. If they don’t understand what you’re doing or what you’re up against, it could backfire. My partner’s dentist was looking to invest some money, so he invested in our startup. Then he wanted the money back. And we couldn’t give it to him because we didn’t have cash. The money was invested in the raw materials and the labor to get us going—startups aren’t liquid investments. It sounds obvious, but many entrepreneurs are so focused on raising enough funding to get off the ground that they forget to secure a source of capital that they can draw on when something unexpected happens. Even if you have a revolutionary product and you know your market perfectly, it’s going to take time to build your business. There will be unanticipated forks in the road—many of them. And it is wise to be prepared. While starting and growing a business has its challenges, risks, frustration, and stress, it also has its rewards. When you start a business, you provide an opportunity for people to grow and develop. The quality of their lives will improve. They will develop a sense of satisfaction with their lives. It is not just about achieving goals. It’s about smelling the roses on the road to success. |