Dr David Bozward

Category: Blog

  • What is your motive for starting a business?

    I recently asked 256 entrepreneurs what their motive was for starting their businesses and found the greatest motive was independence with 31%. In second was money with 25%. These are very powerful drivers which can motivate someone to for many years, delivering results and further ambition. The motive for starting a business is so important in getting the business to launch and grow. So having a powerful motive can be as relevant today, tomorrow and for a long time into the future is important, as being an entrepreneur is all consuming, so much of the time.

    Independence with 31% was the most popular choice. This motive is a fundamentally driver which we see in so many entrepreneurs. When it comes out in their personality, its arrogance, ego, self esteem and an amazing believe in their products. However, wanting to be independent of others, and make one owns way is so important to us as human being that it is not surprising it’s the main reason to starting a business.

    Money came in second with 25% of the vote. Having a great number of celebrity entrepreneurs in the press we are seeing more young people see that this route is the one to both fame and riches. Yet very hard work is needed to achieve a successful business, even more work to keep it going and even more again to become amazing rich. So many of our glamorously famous entrepreneurs forget to mention years of hard and long hours which created their work ethos. Hard work will never be glamorous or fashionable but without it money will never be teaming up with you.

    Create Opportunities with 17% of the vote came in third. These people are innovators and business minded individual who have seen opportunities in the market which they can fulfill. This is a growing trend as social enterprise and philanthropy grows especially in time of hard unemployment and low economic growth. I would expect this to be second within a few years, based on the young people I meet who are starting businesses.

    Want to Make a Difference achieved 14% of the vote can be split into two areas: Make a social difference or making a difference to one’s own life.

    A New Challenge came fifth with 13%. All entrepreneurs are looking for a new challenge and this group could not relate to the other four. Every entrepreneur faces a new challenge every day and building that into your personality is core to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

    Starting out as an entrepreneur is deciding to take a path no one else has taken, each path is an individuals and therefore these motives are so important in maintaining this path and understanding your own reasons for continuing.  The strength to continue while everything is going wrong sets you aside from those who give up and from that day always keep looking back and wondering “What if?”  As a human being you may have only one life but as an entrepreneur you have a life time of opportunities to make your own success, whatever your motives.


  • Choosing an entrepreneurial university

    Even if you don’t what to start a business after university, you should think about leaving university with some amazing enterprise skills and experience which you can use in business, your own or someone else’s.

    The development of these skills is important in building knowledge and experience which business can use, want to use and can use. Enterprise skills are employable skills which businesses want.

    When selecting a university you need to think about what is and is not available in term of enterprise development, So what is best practice within the sector?

    The first items to investigate are student societies. So look for an enterprise society, which is a student lead organization which allows like minded students to develop ideas, network and build business relationships while in a university environment. The second society is called, SIFE, Students In Free Enterprise which allows student with social responsibility to developer both their entrepreneurial skills while helping others.

    Does the university offer an additional enterprise extra- curricular module for all students and does this create additional credits towards your degree. Employers like enterprising people and this is a great way of ensuring it enters your CV.

    Then take a good look at the careers, enterprise and innovation departments will run skills development workshops which are outside the students course. These skills should include networking, ideas creation, sales, marketing, business and financial planning.

    The entrepreneur in residence is the centre of the university enterprise culture, they have done it, started a business and don’t just speak about it. They have real experience which can be used as a sounding board which young students can use to explore, develop their ideas and find mentors which can help take the idea forward.

    There should be a place where students can just walk-in and talk about their ideas about business and have an informal chat. Is this accessible and do any of the staff know anything about business, enterprise and development of skills.

    Once the student has an idea, they are a number of options which should be made available to the student. The first point which most students needs is some funds, so the university making micro loans available can help move the idea forward. So ask what financial support is available?

    Once you have an idea, an incubator can provide a space where you can get a desk, network with others and get a lot of business start-up support in the early stages. Its important to have a support network, which you can use to develop the skills and network.

    The majority of universities will provide business start-up bootcamps which allow students over three days to develop their idea and plan the progress they need to build an idea into a start-up and then onto a growing business.

    Not everyone will want to start a business, but the skills are very important, especially when working in small business, which accounts for 97% of UK businesses.

    While at university having an internship with entrepreneur or a small business will help. Some universities offer this intern year spent developing the students’ own businesses.

    To conclude, a university which allows you to gain real experience in which you can learn by doing and network with like minded people should be your choice. This will set you up for life and is worth every pound you will have to spend.


  • Ideas Evaluation for Entrepreneurs

    One of the best skills to have as an entrepreneur is being able to evaluate ideas. Ideas are cheap and don’t actually create any value, it’s the person that acts on an idea who starts to create value. I often meet people who want to protect their idea more than act on them. However, acting on any idea doesn’t provide a great recipe for success. You have to act on the good ones which you have the skills to make into a successful enterprise.

    The first principle is to write your ideas down, keeping a chronological log of your ideas. This allows you to reflect on them, review them and refine them into something you can start to see true value. Idea’s have their time and place. So today, you may not have the time, money or ability to act on your idea, however in time things change and you may be well placed to make this idea a reality.

    The ability to evaluate your ideas is split into personal skills, knowledge and aptitude on the one hand and logical, systematic evaluation on the other.

    Your personal skills are constantly changing and developing, this allows you to develop as an entrepreneur and gain new valuable skills. Practical hands-on skills are one of the most value assets an entrepreneur has. The second most valuable skills are those of their team, the entrepreneurs team are core to their success and more importantly possible failure.

    Knowledge for an entrepreneur is normally based around an industry sector and this asset is the foundation to building successful businesses. Without it you have a very loose idea of what is going on around you, you have no ability to influence or act on daily news stories or gossip. All successful entrepreneurs spend a great amount of time developing this knowledge to a point whereby they can plan for guaranteed success within their sector.

    Many entrepreneurs stay within an industry. Many only look at businesses with a certain business model. Many take businesses they can run within a certain region. Everyone have a certain aptitude for business and only these business ideas will start to spark within the entrepreneur.

    At this stage in an idea evaluation you have a series of soft skills, hard knowledge and a gut feeling. These three determine if the entrepreneur can add, see and benefit from the value of the idea.

    The next is putting some form of logical plan around it which can executed to deliver on some form of business plan. The ability to look at an idea and develop a quick business plan and gut feeling on the returns allows the entrepreneur to see the merits of the idea. Who is the customer, how much are they willing to pay, what are the costs, liabilities and issues in delivery. How many staff, where and what type of people. What type of management team would be required. How much investment, money, time and skills will be required from me?


  • Developing Enterprise Skills at University

    University allows a student to start one or more of three entrepreneurial paths; Intrapreneur, LifeStyle Entrepreneur and High Growth Entrepreneur.
    The vast majority of you will follow the intrapreneur route, a path leading to a job and career within a chosen subject. While in this career you may become a manager and take on an entrepreneurial role within your organisation. If this is you, your time at university should prepare the student for this. You will need to develop your people and team working skills, general business and industry knowledge while taking your course.
    For those with who require further study, a MBA provides the ideal opportunity to learn and develop management and business thinking.
    Some of you will develop a life-style business built around your course subject or hobby which has developed through university. These people develop into the role of an entrepreneur, building friendships and confidence with time. They are not looking for fast growth, but the enjoyment of being master of their destiny or being emerged in their chosen business. The important skills to learn for this role are networking, time management and self esteem.
    Some of you will have a high growth or high technology idea which can be developed through incubation, Science Park and this is the business which universities and business support agencies like, understand and what to work with. The important skills to learn for this role are financial management, managing people and powerful presenting.
    The humble student society provides the opportunity for most students to run an enterprise which is focused on a particular sport or activity. These are great places to learn by doing and develop an understanding of how to behave in a business like environment. They have all the aspect of a small business, the focus, the polities, bureaucracy and of course customers who require service.
    All employers want their prospective employees to have some work experience. This can be found at local businesses, student union or volunteering. The development of your professional business approach is something you should master before you start your career and should be in place when requesting interviews. Developing it after is too late.
    Enterprise Activities and competitions is one way of gaining experience and being able to add it to your cv. Enter the business plan, Flux, Apprentice and Business Idol competitions which provide you with the opportunities to develop entrepreneurially.
    Every student should demand the ability to learn in an environment which is safe, secure and provides the ability to reflect on the learning. This learning enables us to move forward with our understand and hopefully building on entrepreneurial success.
    Finally my message is to learn by doing by putting yourself in situations whereby you have the opportunity to develop skills and have a few failures which will not be counted against you.

  • London Metropolitan University – Business Society Talk

    Great video from my session at London Metropolitan University – Business Society talking about the motivations for starting a business while still at university.

     

  • Learning by Doing

    It is from classrooms we learn so much about life, this starts at a very young age and we are now expecting the young to stay for longer periods of their lives. These safe environments are where the young can develop knowledge of their surroundings in a way which ensures their growth. However, they tend to be risk adverse, safety aware, one size fits all and also very bureaucratic.

    Last week I had the pleasure to be at two very different National entrepreneurial events which enable students to learn while doing, SIFE and FLUX500. These are two very different programmes of events engaging students at extremely different levels, learning and outcomes.

    However, they both get students from diverse backgrounds, skill sets and outlooks in life to engage in entrepreneurship without even making reference to business or entrepreneurship. These both empower the students to develop, explore, make mistakes and reflect on the outcomes.

    Setting out in business is requires you to have multiple skills, finance, manager, sales, marketing, leader, employer and entrepreneur. These diverse skills have to be learnt and it’s through developing these we can become a professional and accomplished entrepreneur. These are life skills which no text book or online course can even attempt to fine tune. However, they are skills which employers, investors and fellow entrepreneurs love to be associated with.

    Therefore we need more of it at all levels of education. However, it’s not about governments providing more cash, as both of these events received no direct finances from government agencies. They are funded by sponsorships from corporations who are looking for the most talented young people who can come into their businesses and make a difference, have ideas and be multi-skills in areas such as finance, manager, sales, marketing…

    The involvement of business in developing the young is important in setting the needs and evolution of the learning outcomes. This business model is a very robust one which ensures the needs to every party involved, the students, educators, third sector, entrepreneurs and employers. It is therefore something which should grow and develop to ensure more opportunities are available to the young.

    Take a look at www.sifeuk.org and www.flux500.co.uk and engage yourself.

  • The Three Stages of Entrepreneurship

    The Three Stages of Entrepreneurship

    The process can be easily split into three stages: Thinking, Doing and Growing.

    Thinking about Starting

    The start-up phase is thinking, making plans, developing the right motivation to start and develop the aptitude to be an entrepreneur. For some people this is the hardest part and they struggle to choose an idea, develop the idea past just that and get other involved in making the idea reality. The majority of entrepreneurs never had the luxury to have to sit down and brainstorm ideas, then using innovation techniques decide on the best idea and then market research which one of the shortlist to take forward to a business. I still believe in the ‘gut instinct’ method, if you don’t have the guts to make the decision you want to take forward, then you don’t have the guts to make it work, so stay and get yourself a job in someone else’s business.

    Doing a Startup

    The doing phase is the hardest, it’s the one all the famous entrepreneurs don’t talk about, it’s the part where you spend 18 hours a day, 7 days a week making this business inch forward to some form of success. In this stage you need to start to build relationships with your staff, your bank, your suppliers and your customers. This relationship has to develop a trust and a strong bond which allow everyone to understand who they are and what value they provide into the business model. If someone doesn’t understand this then they will become the weakest link in your business.

    Growing a Startup

    The final stage is growth, personal growth, business growth, network growth and sales growth. This stage is normally post 36 months and it’s the point where the business model and relationships with suppliers is well established. The bank actually like and trust you. The most important part of this stage is to figure out ‘what type of entrepreneur you are?’ and what you can and cannot do, what you want and do not want to do. The things you don’t want to do, hire someone better that you. The thing you want to do and no good at, then develop some skills, in fact you will need to develop skills anyway. Knowing yourself will ensure your business has a solid foundation.  In this stage you need to develop stronger bonds with your local community as you require more employees, more space and more flexible and understanding relationships with those around you.

  • Do Politicians create Entrepreneurs?

    When a new government comes into power and they don’t have too much money, they look to get entrepreneur to work to generate them more money (so they can work out ways of spending that). So around the world we see Entrepreneurs, Business Growth, Enterprise Zones…  etc being announced by politicians.

    So are these politicians creating new Entrepeneurs?

    The fact that the economy is on it knees means that the most logically person would think twice between the three news stories, first: government has no money, second: economy reducing, third: why don’t you start a business. Within the 60 seconds news flash, you mind has to say, hang-on your trying to brain wash me into bankruptcy, and maybe you’re right.

    The fact is existing businesses are declining, new businesses tend not to, as their cost and staffing structures are more flexible and they can capture new customers who are looking for new service propositions and experiences faster. Those businesses which start in a recession also manage higher growth when the economy starts to increase.  So it’s never been a better time to start a business, keeping these factors in mind.

    Those that fail will come into two areas, those that spend money on the wrong things and those that don’t develop fast enough. During a recession many people who are thinking of starting a business will have some form of redundancy payment which they hope to use in developing their business ownership hopes. These people either think that paying for high value websites, marketing material and franchises will automatically bring success. The development of the business and the entrepreneur is very important. We see people who think of starting a business as a similar role, yet with more freedom as their previous job, meaning they can come into the office at 9am and leave at 5pm with 5 weeks off holiday each year. Successful businesses don’t run that way (pop down to the 24 hour Tesco’s and sit, watch and learn) and the extra effort is an important factor in ensuring success.

    The message given by a government is taken in on many levels, the basic on is “get off your sofa and make your own job, cus no one else ‘at this point in time’ can and you are the champion of your own destiny (until we get a bit more money).” This message is digested by a vast range of people from 12 to 50 year olds who then decide to make the changes to ensure their destiny is one of self esteem, motivation and focus. There is no better way to live your life and this is why an entrepreneur’s role the world is secure and thankful leaving the politicians just to talk about it.

  • Do we need a knowledge or a skill’s economy?

    We hear the term ‘knowledge economy ‘ used by many people and this week I finally made a decision, its not good for us entrepreneurs. The essential facet of a knowledge economy is that focused on the production and management of knowledge. It means Universities can get paid to make new discoveries, without ever wanting anyone to use them.

    So lets take a look at history, Greek scholar named Pythagoras, who lived around 500 BC was also fascinated by triangles with these special side ratios and came up with a theory which we still use today. So the Greek’s had a knowledge economy. I don’t have to say how they have factored since taking the cheap finance available since joining the Euro. However, the development of knowledge itself does not bring prosperity, it’s the continued exploitation of it.

    The fact is with a truly international economy and information sharing through the internet, knowledge is not an asset until you have the skills to use it. The frontiers of knowledge are only today’s and tomorrow we shall have new frontiers which make yesterdays knowledge redundant and obsolete. With more people on the planet the pace of this knowledge development increasing as the human race, races for more knowledge. How can you expect to win a race when you have over 6 billion people against you? Small countries do not have the man power or money.

    The answer is to master the skill of managing, exploiting and capitalizing the knowledge. Society needs to develop people who have these skills to transfer knowledge into successful enterprises.

    When I look at successful entrepreneurs, they develop industry knowledge, but never technical, they know the trends, but never the detail, they understand what works and what does not, but could not build any product themselves. The skill to adapt to whatever life throws at you is a skill we should all have and this skills needs to be learnt at every stage of education, even a university one.

    In a knowledge-based economy, knowledge is a tool. So if we are going to anything we need an knowledge-based economy with a population who have access to the knowledge and the skills to master it for our enterprising future.

    Pythagoras gave us a tool and we should never forget the skill of using it.

  • What business should I start?

    This is the million dollar question, and so hard to explain to people.

    I always talk about passion and how if you have passion then you will be more successful. It’s more than this, if you do not believe in what you are doing and have the ability to drive yourself 12 hours a day to strive for success then success will not be able to find you. Passion for the product, the service and your customers is a real source of energy, drive and determination which is an enormous help.

    However some people have a passion for making money, being financial stable and independent. These people would have the passion to sell tea spoons, or sand or just about anything. For these people I tell them:

    Its about Basic Needs

    Maslow is famous for setting out people’s needs. He stated that people need the following in the following order:

    Physiological(food, water, health, sleep), Safety and Security(employment, finances, resources, family, property), Love and Belonging (friendship, family, sexual intimacy), Esteem (confidence, achievement, respect) and Self Actualisation (creativity, problem solving, acceptance of facts).

    If you walk down the high street, every shop is based on one of these needs. The most successful ones are those which basic needs, food, water, health. The more basic the need, the greater the market size, the more people wait it and the better chances you have of selling more and being more successful. There are lots of examples: Bottled Water, Coffee Shops, Hotels, Fast Food….

    Take a look at you spend and what products you buy, how can you better or improve on the products you buy?

    Its about trends

    People are living longer. This means there will be larger population, resources will be have to be shared and will cost more (supply and demand). The price of land, minerals, financial resources and even the virtual world will increase. More of these people will be old(er), more will have an illness, more will need help, more will be in the process of dying. There is money to be made out of each and every stage of life.

    People have more money. The rich will always be rich and the poor will always be poor. Be definition you cannot have one without the other. Greed drives one to master the other. Those with money will and always have wanted to live in individual place, have different social clubs and have people to help them enjoy and spend their money.

    There will always be people moving around the globe, people will move for work, holidays and migration as they have for thousands of years. Every day China and India get richer and this massive population will wait to travel, have the experience of seeing the Pyramids, Eiffel Tower and Sydney Harbour.

    The economies of the world will change to develop new sources of energy which ensures the growth. Do you think China and India have done all this hard work only to run out of energy? With new energy sources come new opportunities to manage, measure and profit from it.

    The internet will get bigger, faster. Moores law will continue to ensure we can double processing power every 18 months. Applications will be created which will allow the most amazing integrations of library information, personal environmental data and social interaction. Please remember the words of Darth Vader “All your technology is insignificant to the power of the force.” The force being peoples habits. After all we still live in houses created hundreds of years ago.

    In short there are so many opportunities that you just need to look for the one that fits your skills, appetite for risk and aptitude.