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Is There A Secret To Success?

Written by: Donovan Wadholm

Article Overview: Some entrepreneurs would have you believe that their success was something akin to manafest destiny as if it was just meant to be. Other would say that it was learned through the hard knocks of the business startup and growth process. As Luck Would Have It…Success Is Not A Science.

Free Download - Rags to Riches…Anecdotally Speaking By Donovan Wadholm

Is There A Secret To Success?

One of my favorite radio programs is a quasi-science show calledRadio Lab andis hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich.There are tworeasons why I love this program so much: 1)because the production values are so good that no matter what they are talking about itsounds multilayered anddynamic and 2) while the topics are science related they are not overly technical and there is a heavy philosophical element usually presented from various sides by the two hosts and their guests.

Anyway, whileperusing the Radio Labwebsite the other day to download some files for my iPod, I came across apodcast entry where the two hosts are discussing the early days and theirfirst failedattempt at creating a skit for another public radio program calledThis American Life.Toward the end of the skit, Jad answers a question about how the show is produced, and he talks about science in a way thatstruck me,in thatit isdirectly related to entrepreneurship and for that matter...

"It's about challenging people and it's about challenging people who know...it's about presentingscience as somethingwhich is not inevitable. It is not something where people who are esteemed sit behind podiums and convey knowledge to the rest of us who know nothing..."

As a business consultant I can appreciate the sentiment. Often time's clients come into my office expecting to find that silver bullet that will make their new company successful or get their struggling business out of trouble. Despite seven years of post secondary education, ownership of multiple businesses, and six years consulting over 1000 entrepreneurs I still haven't found that silver bullet. And,if they doget an answer from a so-calledexpert it doesn't mean its thebest answer or even the right answer. Success is never inevitable.

Entrepreneurship is about challenging the status quo. The reason entrepreneurs find many people don't think their idea will be successful is because it is not whatother businesses are doingcurrently...it is not what is expected. But in reality, the unexpected is what makes great products and services successful, the Purple Cow, as Seth Godin puts it. The unexpected is where competitive advantages are formed.

"It's about going into your lab, screwing up, making mistakes, breaking stuff, doing it again, and again, and again until you get lucky. It's like anything."

In the laboratory of commerce this statement rings equally true. It's about taking your ideas, turning them into business models, introducing them to consumers, failing, making mistakes, changing your assumptions, changing your business model, again and again and again until you get lucky. Often times, we hear stories from some of the world's most successfulentrepreneurs about how theyfailed six, eight, ten times or more before they made it big.

Sure you can improve your odds by surrounding yourself with people who are smarter than you...another anecdote often told by successful entrepreneurs, butultimately, success often happens by sheer chance...just like science, just like entrepreneurship, just like everything in life.

Good Luck

Mr. BizPlan

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