
P1: OTA/XYZ P2: ABC
c17 JWBT144/Gordon September 3, 2009 7:22 Printer Name: Courier Westford, Westford, MA
TRUMP UNIVERSITY ENTREPRENEURSHIP 101
Figure 17.1 Construction Site in Downtown Boston
Source: “The Big Dig’s Most Visible Workers Talk about Life on the Seat of the Project’s Huge
Cranes,” by Nathan Cobb, Boston Globe, September 8, 1998. Photo by Tom Herde, Boston
Globe. Reprinted with permission.
Entrepreneurial Resources Are Different
By necessity, entrepreneurs think differently about resources. The dilemma
is that they need a vast array of resources, yet they are habitually strapped
for cash. Rather than lamenting their circumstances, successful entrepreneurs
focus on how to: How can I mobilize the necessary resources with limited
capital? They will not let the lack of money stop them or slow them down.
As a basic approach to resource mobilization and management, successful
entrepreneurs seek to:
r
Bootstrap to conserve financial resources (Chapter 9)
r
Do things themselves
r
Negotiate and barter for everything they need (Chapter 19)
r
Obtain free resources whenever possible
r
Use other people’s resources
r
Control resources, rather than own them
r
Borrow, rent, or lease
r
Maintain flexibility so that they are not locked into physical resources
that become anchors
r
Use copious amounts of imagination and street smarts
174