Entrepreneurship, Second Edition

14.9. YOUR OPPORTUNITY JOURNAL

Reflection Point

Your Thoughts...

What are your personal growth objectives for your venture? Is a "lifestyle" business going to meet your personal goals? Or a high-potential venture? What will your role within the company be at various stages of growth? Do you want to remain the CEO? Are you more interested in another aspect—say, CTO? What skills will you need to develop as the company grows to satisfactorily fulfill the roles you aspire to? Which of these skills can you learn on the job? Which skills might need further education or other outside development? What kind of controls can you establish early in your venture's life? How will these help you manage cash and other key components of your business? Which aspects of your business should you keep in-house and which should you outsource? How do you protect your competitive advantage? What is your strategic focus for early growth? How do you leverage what you do really well? What are some possible peripheral growth opportunities for later in your venture's life? What are your organization's key resources and capabilities? What should they be in the future? How do you build toward those resources and capabilities? What is your leadership plan? When and which responsibilities will you delegate? How will you promote people in your organization? When might you need to go outside to hire?