When in business, assume that:

• Originality is zero and copycats are a-plenty
• Ideas are worth nothing unless they can be and are acted upon
• The early bird catches the worm
• Passive research is good, active testing is better
• With customers, everything else falls into place, so sell-sell-sell !

What does this tell you about starting a business? That you, as an entrepreneur, should be in a place where two things happen quickly: technology being developed and the market being developed. If the market is there, but missing the tech: develop the tech! If the tech is there, but missing the market: develop the market!

With those deceptively simple words, I’ll leave you, but before I do, a brief note about my mantra-series: With them, I am essentially developing an entrepreneurial philosophy, which I am encouraging you to share and criticise. To repeat, mantra 1 was: get paid for what you do, rather than making that a secondary issue. Mantra 2 is: have the skills and resources to act quickly when you need to act. This particular recession, for instance, which has barely got started and will truly hit us in 2009, pushes this point home particularly strongly.

Enjoy the weekend!

Vincent

P.S. don’t forget to answer our poll !!!

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