|
|
2008-10-02  BUSINESS | Always a good time to start a business
|
| | by Bob Pepalis | |  |
| | 
|  |
| |  | | 
| | | Hess (click for larger version) | |
October 06, 2008
www.northfulton.com
Is this a good time to start a business? That's a question Ed Hess answers with a resounding "yes" in a book he co-authored and in a recent interview.
Hess, formerly a professor at the Emory University Goizueta Business School and a local entrepreneur, wrote So You Want to Start a Business? 8 Steps to Take Before Making the Leap with Charlie Goetz, another Goizueta faculty member.
"Clearly in tough economic times one has to be more careful, and one has to manage risks," Hess said.
"Go back to fundamentals. Number one, does your business idea, what I call pencil, does it pencil? Can you get enough customers fast enough and sell at a price that you can make a profit? Start with 'How many customers do I need?'"
The next question the entrepreneur needs to answer is, "Why are they going to go to me rather than someone else?" Hess said if the business owner meets customer needs either better, faster or cheaper than competitors, the business stands a good chance of bringing in customers.
The third question Hess said an entrepreneur must answer is, "Do you have enough money to go into business, stay in business until you are profitable?"
"Most people going into business overestimate how fast they are going to get customers, how many are going to buy and the price which they will get. Most people who start businesses underestimate their cost, and overestimate their revenue," he said. "Therefore you need to have enough money to be able to hold on ... until you generate enough cash to pay expense and live on."
In tough economic times Hess said entrepreneurs must hone in on the customer proposition.
"What do you offer customer to overcome inertia – to propel the customer to change to you?" Hess said.
His conclusion?
"Can you build a business or start a business in tough economic times? Absolutely. If you don't have a good customer proposition, it doesn't matter if it's good or bad economic times, you probably aren't going to succeed," he said.
"Most entrepreneurs – and it's human nature – fall in love with their product. Absolutely people are going to buy from them, buy a lot and buy fast. The world doesn't work that way, [it] doesn't matter what you think is best. The focus isn't on you, it's on the customer," Hess said.
Hess said the book is written in a practical, applied manner for the non-business entrepreneur. Key tools are discussed, as are business models, competitive analysis, product mapping, how to do research and how to test ideas. Managing by objectives, measuring employees, overcoming customer inertia, how to hire and how to see if it "pencils" are other topics the authors tackle.
 View images.
|
Small Business DOA
Ed Hess and Charlie Goetz's new book, So You Want to Start a Business? 8 Steps to Take Before Making the Leap, outlines nine killer mistakes to avoid. Seven of the eight steps to take before leaping into entrepreneurship are listed below. For the eighth, for explanations on why these are true and tips on how to follow them – and to avoid those killer mistakes – you'll have to buy the book.
• It's the perfect time to be in charge of your own destiny.
• Quickly learning the ropes will make a better business owner out of you.
• You can start small and keep your job as a safety net.
• Yes, credit is tight, but there are other ways to finance your operation.
• Small businesses can adjust more easily to tough times than corporations.
• You can get better things cheaper.
• Outstanding service can be the "secret weapon" that helps you beat the competition. |
Co-authors taught together at Goizueta
Ed Hess spent five years teaching at the Goizueta Business School at Emory University. He helped build the entrepreneurship program and the school. Hess lived in Atlanta from 1999 until July 2007. Born in Atlanta and raised in Carrolton, he said his father was an entrepreneur in Carrol and Harris counties "back when it was in the boonies, before I-20." He last lived in East Cobb, and still remembers the traffic.
His co-author, Charlie Goetz, came into the program in 2001 and is now senior lecturer in Organization & Management at Goizueta.
"Charlie and I became very close friends and we decided to write this book together. Charlie wrote three chapters; I wrote seven," Hess said.
Goetz led the marketing chapters, and both read each other's work.
"A lot of research came from my work teaching at the Goizueta Business School. The book was written last summer while I was transitioning from Goizueta to Darden," Hess said.
He now holds the position as professor of Business Administration and Batten Executive-in-Residence at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. | |
| |
|
|
| |
|
