Entrepreneurship
Now it is time to assemble a plan to take your product to market. This episode will help you understand the process of taking your idea to the marketplace.
If there is a way to talk to some new business owners in your area about their experiences, this could be helpful. Some cities have local chambers of commerce and business incubators. A business incubator helps a new business grow into a thriving, healthy business by providing supports. This may include inexpensive office space or business tools like high speed internet or videoconferencing.
A person who is brave enough to try to start a new business, and assumes the majority of the risk, is an entrepreneur. Sometimes a new business based on a new product is called a startup. According to Forbes.com, only 10% of startups succeed. Thus, it is important to network with other entrepreneurs to have a strong business plan and a supportive network to learn successful practices.
Owning and operating a business is filled with successes and failures. Just know failure isn't all bad, as you can use it to learn what things you would do differently next time in the future.
Here’s a website of now successful entrepreneurs that failed before becoming a success:
Click here: 18 Brutal Business Failures by Wildly Successful Entrepreneurs
Looking to learn more about other entrepreneurs that have used failure to succeed? Check out the following website:
Click here: 21 Entrepreneurs Who Failed Big Before Becoming a Success
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Bill Gates (pictured to the left) is known today as one of the richest men in the world, a man that helped launch computers into every household. But not everyone knows this billionaire wasn’t always successful. In fact, Bill Gates had to go through failure first before he could reach the top. |
TO DO (on your own)Many of the descriptions on the previous websites don’t tell what the entrepreneur did between the failing experience and the successful one. What do you think may have happened between those two experiences? In each of these stories, the person who failed didn’t stop, but kept going. The person learned from their failure. Do you have persistence and are you ready for rejection? What challenges or obstacles might you face as an entrepreneur? How might these be solved? |
TO DO (on your own)Think back to inventors we talked about in Session 5. What type of risks did they take? Are you willing to take a risk for your business? To what degree? Are there any revisions you would make to your idea or design based on the information you found on entrepreneurs' failures? Their successes? If you have perseverance and are ready to keep going with your business, then you’re going to need to decide how much to charge for your product. |
TO DO (on your own)It's time to get some focus group feedback on your innovation. A focus group allows you to present your idea for a product or service to potential customers to hear their reactions and thoughts. Share your product idea with at least five other peers and a few adults. Why would it not be good data to just ask your peers? Ask each person how much they would pay for the product and write down their answers. While you’re at it, see if they would make any changes to the product or idea and write these down, too. |
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Produced with funds provided by Burton D. Morgan Foundation |
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*Think Tank to Shark Tank: From Engineering to Entrepreneurship is in no way affiliated with, associated with, or endorsed by Sony Corporation or Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.