Page 102

GO IT ALONE!

With this idea in mind, Dr. Hall devised a simple exercise for assessing your core competence. Almost every entrepreneur will tell you that success requires a passion for what you are doing. Dr. Hall suggests that you think back on the times when you have done something that released a surge of energy. These energy surges mean that you are acting in concert with what we are calling your core competence—the unique skill or passion that is what you do best, and that you find gratifying.

Laura Walker, president and CEO of WNYC Radio, describes this kind of energy release. She says that when she was a child, “my father and I used to listen to jazz together on the radio. I have just always had this incredibly strong feeling that the medium was important, so every day that I help to realize this vision is exciting to me. I am just passionate about building this important outlet for news, ideas, and culture.”

Play to Your Strengths

The importance of the fit between your business idea and your core competence cannot be overstated. Playing to your core strength is important for two reasons. First, as a solo entrepreneur, you must achieve excellence in what you do on your own. You are far more likely to realize this goal if you are inherently talented in the arena you choose to enter. Second, we typically enjoy the things in which we have a natural affinity, so working in the area of your core competence is also likely to generate the energy and passion that will further drive your new business toward success.

Many people make the mistake of thinking that because they have a good idea, they can execute it. In fact, you may have a terrific idea with extraordinary commercial potential, but you may be absolutely the wrong person to build the associated business, particularly in a solo effort. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com and Time’s Person of the Year for 1999, puts it this

<--previous page

next page-->

Search the complete text of Go It Alone!