MHJ
Literature reviews, by category
Mike Southon & Chris West:
The Beermat Entrepreneur: Turning your good idea into a great business

Rating: * * * * +

After reading exhaustive texts on the nature of entrepreneurship, the needed attributes of the persons and teams and the absolutely necessary things to have before even considering business, it is really nice to read a book which states on the third page of introduction: ”Business is easy”.

Of course this doesn’t mean that Southon and West take the issues they present lightly, or that they have been unusually lucky as business people - they have had their setbacks too. But it is only natural that a book written by natural entrepreneurs to other entrepreneurs has a very positive outlook and an assumption that facing the challenges of setting up, running and growing a company towards that one lofty goal is enjoyable and fulfilling.

The book is not long, but is seems to tackle the most important issues in the right order. It doesn’t waste time rambling about the correct order of business plans or how to get the most money out of VC’s. The books strong points are not only telling where to concentrate but where not to concentrate (like the two examples mentioned above). The point is to get the company going, so get your best pals (who have strong knowledge on a useful area) and start pushing for sales from day one.

The delegation of responsibility from day one is also important - perhaps even surprisingly much to the DIY-entrepreneur. Southon and West insist that ”five is the magic number” in running a business, so the entrepreneur should surround himself with four ”cornerstones”, each with a strong area of responsibility. Entrepreneur is the boss, with the four others tackling issues of technical innovation, delivery, sales and finance.

In my opinion this is suitable for a manufacturing or hi-tech start-up, but perhaps inadequate for, say, professional services business. I think the delegation above also suggest that the entrepreneur is tech-oriented - he’d have to be to start running a company with 2 out of five directors focusing on technology.

To empower the delegated responsibility, the book insists that these five should be equal shareholders. As hard as it is for many entrepreneurs to stomach, it does make sense, especially as the cornerstones’ important task is to maintain a degree of objectivism to balance the entrepreneur’s enthusiasm.

Another important point from the beginning is the mentor, which according to the authors is a must even for the pitch needed to close the first sale.

A lot of practical issues were brought up that I hadn’t thought about before, especially in regard to having the growth in mind all the time. The confidence of the authors and the light, provocative writing style forced me to read the book almost in a single session - and I will read it again.

[b a c k]