BY
Article written for Forbes Argentina Magazine
To be a good investor is essential to understand the process of the entrepreneurial journey. Anyone who’s looking to invest should must have to evaluate the risks and be clear that some loss over time can become gains.
As an entrepreneur and investor, I have seen how potential good investors lose opportunities because they do not understand the step by step of a company creation in an industry like that I mention.
I like to explain the entrepreneurial journey as a cycle of 7 stages: Commitment , Action, Push , Identity, Wholeness, Comfort and out or sale. Quickly summarize each step below:
When I refer to the stage of commitment, I mean the level of involvement of the founder . Are you able to leave the false security of a formal job? Are you ready to face a new world? When an investor is facing a determined entrepreneur who is able to answer yes to these questions , you have the certainty that the whip is more enthusiasm than fear.
In the second phase – “action” – the founder and resigned his steady job and start being independent . The team will be hard-pressed to generate revenue and the threat is that to generate this money, the risk of this phase could be that solving daily problems we finally forget the initial objective.
Thrust: If the team managed to secure resources to sustain themselves and to focus on your goal , the next phase begins. At this time , the company reaches a successful product or service. When we talk about digital based businesses in which an obligation to grow rapidly in sales and number of customers. Analytic should “explode” .
Exceeded break even the entrepreneurial team can be threatened by its own success. The same overconfidence that at the beginning was so positive can play against them.
It is important to know that not only is growing, but do it the right way so as not to kill the average production of the company, either by accepting businesses that do not really know , or think that multitasking initiation should be forever. Expand and diversify a weak mode is dangerous.
If the company is able to overcome itself and organize its growth three changes that will be critical to build the personality of the company producing their identity.
The decentralization of authority , the kind of leadership changes and structure of the company, in which roles should be properly separated weapon.
The challenge for an organization is to plot the difference between working hard to do so intelligently. Efficiency begins to appear as the goal of the company.
A consolidated company , followed by the time of fullness, or mountaintop , when the company has achieved or fulfill the dreams of the founder or has the potential to do so. This realization usually comes on the heels of internationalization.
Once it has reached the top , is the biggest challenge for the entrepreneur is capitalizing keep what has been achieved and innovate continuously to maintain the level of competitiveness .
Staying involves having your feet on the ground and not fall into the dangerous trap of comfort and vanity. Corruption can produce comfort can be seen in the actions of the company and its leaders, ends up killing entrepreneurship and plunging the company into inaction.
If egos find their course and the company was able to grow organically , can reach the moment of departure , the sale of the company. At this point
The seventh stage in the entrepreneurial way for the founder of a company, is one that marks the exit. There is a definite must , in fact , you can not reach.
The reasons why a founder leaves your company should be to fatigue of the founder, the fulfillment of a personal cycle .
If a founding team considering selling your business , you should consider what the best time to do so , according to the economic teams of both industry and their personal moments .
This is the time when investors recover investment and are multiplied and is an art besides getting the best deal, either through public listing or search for a company interested in the market , talent and what better technology developed .
All this can happen in 5 years minimally . And it’s a long process but it’s really intense. The venture capitalist , who usually undertaken previously , you should be aware of every step and stage of the company you invested capital.