I was talking with a friend last night about a billionaire entrepreneur who started two companies. He sold his first one for $600 million. He sold the other for $750 million.
That’s no coincidence. So called “serial entrepreneurs” have some common entrepreneurial instincts that set them apart from the average business owner.
These entrepreneurs assess business opportunities with a natural instinct.
Here are just two of these instincts (they’re closer to sicknesses, really!).
Compare yourself; do you possess them?:
The Due-Diligence Instinct: Natural, instinctive entrepreneurs have an innate tendency to assess businesses constantly. As customers or observers they’ll run random businesses through their own due-diligence tests. For example, in a restaurant, while silently looking interested in the dinner conversation, they’re actually calculating how much their meal cost. Then, they’re figuring an average plate price for the entire location and calculating how many patrons might dine on an average night. From there, they can guesstimate costs and a few other things about the success of the business. Once while waiting in line for the roller coaster atop of the New York, New York hotel in Las Vegas, I guesstimated that based on the $12 per ride charge and the amount of people still in line at 1am (about 100), the ride was bringing in at least $13 million a year. Not bad. Whether my figures were right or wrong isn’t the point…the point is…I was standing in line trying to figure out the business model–at 1am in Las Vegas!
The Solution Instinct: Natural, instinctive entrepreneurs have an innate tendency to think about how to solve problems. They are always looking while traveling or while they’re using some widget or service. They’re naturally thinking about how something can be done better or what might be lacking about a product, process, or system. Recently I read an article about a company that has come out with a new hanger to sell to dry cleaners. It’s sturdy, durable, cheap…and it’s made of paper. A high volume, environmentally friendly product with a highly targeted market. They’re eliminating waste and pollution by saving billions of metal hangers from being thrown in the trash each year. Their product is sweeping the nation. It’s a classic example of how an instinctive entrepreneur finds incredible new opportunities that are staring at millions of people every day–but it takes the solution instinct of a great entrepreneur to see it.
