Extractive summaries of and key takeaways from the articles curated from TOP TEN BUSINESS MAGAZINES to promote informed business decision-making | Week 274 | December 9-15, 2022
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Shaping Section : Ideas and forces shaping economies and industries
Investing in an era of higher interest rates and scarcer capital
The Economist | December 8, 2022
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Welcome to the end of cheap money. Share prices have been through worse, but only rarely have things been as bloody in so many asset markets at once. Investors find themselves in a new world and they need a new set of rules.
The pain has been intense. The S&P 500 index of leading American shares was down by almost a quarter at its lowest point this year, erasing more than $10trn in market value. Government bonds, usually a shelter from stocks, have been blasted: Treasuries are heading for their worst year since 1949. As of mid-October, a portfolio split 60/40 between American equities and Treasuries had fallen more than in any year since 1937. Meanwhile house prices are falling everywhere from Vancouver to Sydney. Bitcoin has crashed. Gold did not glitter. Commodities alone had a good year—and that was in part because of war.
The shock was all the worse because investors had become used to low inflation. After the global financial crisis of 2007-09, central banks cut interest rates in an attempt to revive the economy. As rates fell and stayed down, asset prices surged and a “bull market in everything” took hold. From its low in 2009 to its peak in 2021, the s&p 500 rose seven-fold. Venture capitalists wrote ever bigger cheques for all manner of startups. Private markets around the world—private equity, as well as property, infrastructure and private lending—quadrupled in size, to more than $10trn.
This year’s dramatic reversal was triggered by rising interest rates. The Federal Reserve has tightened more quickly than at any time since the 1980s, and other central banks have been dragged along behind. Look deeper, though, and the underlying cause is resurgent inflation. Across the rich world, consumer prices are rising at their fastest annual pace in four decades.
This era of dearer money demands a shift in how investors approach the markets. As reality sinks in, they are scrambling to adjust to the new rules. They should focus on three. One is that expected returns will be higher. The second rule is that investors’ horizons have shortened. The third rule is that investment strategies will change.
3 key takeaways from the article
- Welcome to the end of cheap money.
- The resulting pain has been intense. The S&P 500 index of leading American shares was down by almost a quarter at its lowest point this year, erasing more than $10trn in market value. Government bonds, usually a shelter from stocks, have been blasted: Treasuries are heading for their worst year since 1949. Meanwhile house prices are falling everywhere from Vancouver to Sydney. Bitcoin has crashed. Gold did not glitter. Commodities alone had a good year—and that was in part because of war.
- This era of dearer money demands a shift in how investors approach the markets. They should focus on three rules. Expected returns will be higher, investors’ horizons have shortened, and investment strategies will change.
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Topics: Global Economy, Capital Markets, Inflation, Interest Rate
China Is the Wild Card for Global Inflation in 2023
By Enda Curran | Bloomberg Businessweek | December 7, 2022
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The broad view for next year is that inflation around the world will slow as interest rates rise, recession looms, and consumers spend less. Cooling commodity, food, and energy prices, magnified by the favorable comparison with last year’s steep gains, will combine to slow the broad rate of inflation.
But China’s reopening could rattle those expectations. The scenario goes like this: At some point in 2023, China opens its borders for the first time since the early days of the pandemic. The implications for the rest of the world would be seismic. China’s domestic economy would come back to life. Students would go overseas again, tourists would start to travel, and business executives would get back on planes. This would be happening at the same time China’s housing market starts to recover, further fueling consumer spending.
Bloomberg Economics reckons a China reopening would boost global commodity prices and could create supply chain backups that would put pressure on prices of many goods and services. Assuming China is fully open by mid-2023, Bloomberg Economics estimates energy prices will increase by 20% and the US consumer price index, which they believe may drop to 3.9% by midyear, may jump to 5.7% by year=end. That would be a reversal of China’s role this year, when it’s helped keep a lid on global inflation. The housing slump and aggressive restrictions to contain Covid have caused an unusual slowdown in China’s economy.
A rebounding China would drive up imports of oil, commodities, and raw materials, while stoking demand for airline seats, hotel rooms and overseas real estate. “Surely it will push up global inflation if China reopens fully,” says Iris Pang, chief economist for Greater China at ING Groep NV. “There will be more international travel, more sales, more production.”
How likely China is to reopen next year remains an open question, but it’s clear a pivot is underway. On Dec. 7, authorities in Beijing issued a 10-point plan that included additional easing measures, cementing a view among observers that the government is moving away from Covid Zero. But before the economic recovery comes, China faces the threat of a public-health crisis. A lack of intensive-care hospital beds leaves it facing a complicated exit from Covid Zero that may well stretch beyond 2023.
2 key takeaways from the article
- The broad view for next year is that inflation around the world will slow as interest rates rise, recession looms and consumers spend less. Cooling commodity, food and energy prices, magnified by the favorable comparison with last year’s steep gains, will combine to slow the broad rate of inflation.
- But China’s reopening could rattle those expectations. The scenario goes like this: At some point in 2023, China opens its borders for the first time since the early days of the pandemic. The implications for the rest of the world would be seismic. China’s domestic economy would come back to life. Students would go overseas again, tourists would start to travel, and business executives would get back on planes. This would be happening at the same time China’s housing market starts to recover, further fueling consumer spending.
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Topics: China, Global Economy, Energy, Commodities, Inflation, Interest rates
The future is now: Unlocking the promise of AI in industrials
By Kimberly Borden et al., | McKinsey & Company | December 6, 2022
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AI is the ability of a machine to perform cognitive functions typically associated with human minds, such as perceiving, reasoning, learning, interacting with the environment, and problem solving. In 2018, McKinsey explored the $1 trillion opportunity for artificial intelligence (AI) in industrials. Despite this opportunity, many executives remain unsure where to apply AI solutions to capture real bottom-line impact. The result has been slow rates of adoption, with many companies taking a wait-and-see approach rather than diving in.
Rather than endlessly contemplate possible appli- cations, executives should set an overall direction and road map and then narrow their focus to areas in which AI can solve specific business problems and create tangible value.
Companies must first define an existing business problem before exploring how AI can solve it. Failure to go through this exercise will leave organizations incorporating the latest “shiny object” AI solution. AI can help industrial companies in the following 5 ways:
- AI scheduling agents. Some of the most difficult challenges for industrial companies are scheduling complex manufacturing lines, maximizing throughput while minimizing changeover costs, and ensuring on-time delivery of products to customers. AI can help through its ability to consider a multitude of variables at once to identify the optimal solution.
- Knowledge discovery. Many industrial companies face the common issue of identifying the most relevant data when faced with a specific challenge. AI can accelerate this process by ingesting huge volumes of data and rapidly finding the information most likely to be helpful to the engineers when solving issues.
- AI-enabled product system design. For many industrial companies, the system design of their products has become incredibly complex. Organizations can use AI to augment a product’s bill of materials (BoM) with data drawn from its configuration, development, and sourcing. This process identifies opportunities to reuse historical parts, improve existing standard work, and support preproduction definition. With these insights, companies can significantly reduce engineering hours and move to production more quickly.
- Product performance optimization. Over the past three decades, computer-aided engineering (CAE) and simulation have helped, but the limits on their computing power are preventing them from fully exploring the design space and optimizing performance on complex problems. AI uses a deep-learning neural network to create a digital twin of the component and predict performance.
- AI-augmented root cause analysis. Industrial companies build their reputations based on the quality of their products, and innovation is key to continued growth. Winning companies are able to quickly understand the root causes of different product issues, solve them, and integrate those learnings going forward. AI can dramatically speed up this process.
3 key takeaways from the article
- In 2018, McKinsey explored the $1 trillion opportunity for artificial intelligence (AI) in industrials. Despite this opportunity, many executives remain unsure where to apply AI solutions to capture real bottom-line impact. The result has been slow rates of adoption, with many companies taking a wait-and-see approach rather than diving in.
- Rather than endlessly contemplate possible applications, executives should set an overall direction and road map and then narrow their focus to areas in which AI can solve specific business problems and create tangible value.
- Companies must first define an existing business problem before exploring how AI can solve it. AI can help the indusrial companies in the following areas: AI scheduling agents, Knowledge discovery, AI-enabled product system design, Product performance optimization, and AI-augmented root cause analysis.
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Topics: Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Industries, Companies’ Performance
The metaverse fashion stylists are here
By Tanya Basu | MIT Technology Review | December 7, 2022
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You can’t touch digital fabric, and if you’re not on virtual platforms like Decentraland and Roblox, you can’t even see these outfits. Nevertheless, metaverse stylists are increasingly being sought after as frequent users seek help dressing their avatars—often in experimental, wildly creative looks that defy personal expectations, societal standards, and sometimes even physics.
Most digital stylists balance their metaverse clients with real-world gigs. Michaela Leitz-Aslaksen, for example, runs a plus-size styling business in the real world but decided to start selling her services as a metaverse fashion stylist after hanging out in the 3D virtual world Decentraland, where her outfits got her compliments from strangers. People are lining up to pay to learn from her. None of them say it out loud, but it’s likely that some stylists are at least partly attracted by the potential to jump into what’s potentially a very lucrative market early in the game.
The metaverse fashion industry is growing rapidly, and companies like Roblox are already raking in hundreds of millions of dollars on digital clothes. In 2022, over 11.5 million creators made 62 million clothing and accessory items on Roblox alone. DressX, an online digital fashion marketplace, has raised $4.2 million in seed funding since its launch in 2020 and is one of a few brands Meta is working with to launch its own avatar fashion marketplace for its virtual platform, Horizon Worlds.
Not all these outfits are pricey; indeed, many can be obtained for free. But there’s a growing market of super-exclusive outfits released in collaboration with designers that cost hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on Roblox, whose demographic veers young but is increasingly diverse in terms of age and socioeconomic status. If people can’t snag the stuff they want, a vibrant secondhand market exists.
To the casual observer it can seem outlandish and even obscene to spend so much money on virtual clothes, but there are deeper reasons why people are hiring professionals to curate their outfits in the metaverse. It’s all to do with experimenting in a safe, social space online. Metaverse offers a chance for people to go totally wild with their avatars’ outfits. Society tells you to look a certain way, but in the metaverse, you can be anything.
3 key takeaways from the article
- You can’t touch digital fabric, and if you’re not on virtual platforms like Decentraland and Roblox, you can’t even see these outfits. Nevertheless, metaverse stylists are increasingly being sought after as frequent users seek help dressing their avatars—often in experimental, wildly creative looks that defy personal expectations, societal standards, and sometimes even physics.
- The metaverse fashion industry is growing rapidly. In 2022, over 11.5 million creators made 62 million clothing and accessory items on Roblox alone.
- Not all these outfits are pricey; indeed, many can be obtained for free. But there’s a growing market of super-exclusive outfits released in collaboration with designers that cost hundreds, even thousands, of dollars on Roblox. If people can’t snag the stuff they want, a vibrant secondhand market exists.
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Topics: Technology, Metaverse, Fashion
Strategy & Business Model Section
Why Corporate Success Requires Dealing With the Past
By Sarah Federman and Judith Schrempf-Stirling | MIT Sloan Management Review | November 16, 2022
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Today, corporate success requires dealing with the past. Throughout history, companies have been complicit in human rights violations and mass atrocities such as slavery, genocide, wars, and harms related to colonialism. Businesses’ involvement in these events remains a great concern for stakeholders today as momentum for social justice and equity builds within society. Many people — including customers and employees — increasingly expect companies with these ties to acknowledge and respond to their historic transgressions, even when they are generations removed from culpability.
The authors’ research found that managers who meaningfully engage with their company’s past can address the resulting harm while simultaneously contributing to their company’s successful future. Those who try to avoid historical issues, on the other hand, risk the company’s reputation and sometimes more.
The range of reasons that compel companies to deal with their past includes five key groups: Stakeholder Pressure, Public Exposure, Corporate Identity, Corporate Legacy, and the need to Contribute to a Respectful Future. Given that the past is always present, companies might as well engage in ongoing conversations and initiate open discussions about their pasts, before litigants come to them. The first step is to hire independent historians and share their findings in-house and then with the public. A corporate response has the most integrity when it emerges through conversations with affected communities. Each company’s response will be different, depending on the harms uncovered.
Companies cannot undo misdeeds from the past. As a leader, what you can do is focus instead on learning about your company’s history, correcting misleading company materials, finding ways to address the harm, and making sure today’s activities reflect the image you want for your company. Keeping the focus on addressing the harm versus simply looking good in the process increases the chances that the company can develop meaningful and lasting responses. Revisiting a company’s past is not a step backward but a step forward toward companies’ stakeholders and long-term success.
3 key takeaways from the article
- Today, corporate success requires dealing with the past. Throughout history, companies have been complicit in human rights violations and mass atrocities such as slavery, genocide, wars, and harms related to colonialism. Businesses’ involvement in these events remains a great concern for stakeholders today as momentum for social justice and equity builds within society.
- The range of reasons that compel companies to deal with their past includes five key groups: Stakeholder Pressure, Public Exposure, Corporate Identity, Corporate Legacy, and the need to Contribute to a Respectful Future.
- Companies cannot undo misdeeds from the past. As a leader, what you can do is focus instead on learning about your company’s history, correcting misleading company materials, finding ways to address the harm, and making sure today’s activities reflect the image you want for your company.
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Topics: Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Identity
Leading & Managing Section
How Busy People Can Develop Leadership Skills
By Darja Kragt | Harvard Business Review | December 07, 2022
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Carving out time for learning and development is critical for anyone who wants to improve their leadership competencies and performance outcomes. Yet finding the time for it is hard for many managers. With looming deadlines, daily tasks, and urgent meetings, learning to lead can often take the back burner. But advancing yourself doesn’t have to be excessively time-consuming. In fact, much of it can be done in the course of your daily work.
The latest research says that structured programs should only account for 10% of leadership development. The rest of your development should be spent on experimenting (70%) and self-discovery (20%). But what does that look like? And how do you get started? Three evidence-based approaches that work are:
- Leadership Development. You may already be familiar with platforms to consider doing formal lessons on, but there are two things you need to do before you hit the “play” button on any video. First, it is important to identify a key leadership area you want to develop. Identify no more than two competencies or skills you want to improve. Second, set yourself a time limit. Small actions you do every day will be much more effective in the long term, than short bursts of activity. So find a course that matches a developmental area you have identified. Commit to watching one or two short videos a day. And make physical or mental notes of key takeaways and ideas for how to implement into your day.
- Self-Discovery. Self-discovery should take up 20% of the time you spent on leadership development. Spend time observing other leaders. Find a leader in your organization who demonstrates behaviors aligned with your areas of development. Observe how and what they do. If you have an opportunity, ask them questions about why they did something, but don’t push — we’re often not aware of our behaviors. Again, don’t just watch. Make notes and think about how you can replicate it.
- Experimenting. Think like a scientist and conduct small experiments to modify your typical behavior. Apply something that you have learned from online courses or by observing other leaders. The author’s research shows that experimenting is critical to strengthening your leadership identity or self-perception as a leader. Over time, acting in new ways will become ingrained in your sense of self. While experimenting is the largest chunk of your development time budget, it’s also integrated into what you are doing each day and so it’s important to find time to record and reflect.
3 key takeaways from the article
- Carving out time for learning and development is critical for anyone who wants to improve their leadership competencies and performance outcomes. Yet finding the time for it is hard for many managers. But advancing yourself doesn’t have to be excessively time-consuming. In fact, much of it can be done in the course of your daily work.
- The latest research says that structured programs should only account for 10% of leadership development. The rest of your development should be spent on experimenting (70%) and self-discovery (20%). But what does that look like? And how do you get started?
- Four evidence-based approaches that work are: schedule online courses in leadership areas you think you should, observe a leader in your organization to learn, and experiment by applying something that you have learned from online courses or by observing other leaders.
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Topics: Leadership, Learning, Personal Development
16 former PepsiCo executives are now Fortune 500 CEOs. Here’s how the food and beverage giant became an incubator for leaders
By Phil Wahba | Fortune Magazine | December 5, 2022
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When Laxman Narasimhan was hired to be the next Starbucks CEO in September, he joined a club that includes the chief executives of some of America’s biggest and best-known companies. What do these leaders have in common? They all spent significant time rising through the ranks of the same company – PepsiCo.
In other words, PepsiCo, which brings in $80 billion a year in revenue, is a veritable CEO factory.
What’s PepsiCo’s secret ingredient when it comes to creating so many leaders? It’s all about a highly developed, well-oiled system that identifies and intensively develops “high-performers” within the company, PepsiCo’s chief human resources officer, Ronald Schellekens, says. Those “hi-pos,” as they’re known internally at PepsiCo, are lavished with training programs, stretch assignments around the world, mentorship, and opportunities to try—and even to fail at—new things. Many companies invest in management and leadership training, but few do it as systematically as PepsiCo. That system is key to a culture that has kept PepsiCo’s revenue growing at a healthy clip for decades, and is expected to grow 12% this year.
But PepsiCo has an infrastructure for training and leadership development that goes back decades. Indeed, every PepsiCo CEO in its 57-year history rose within the company—including current CEO Ramon Laguarta and his predecessor, Indra Nooyi. This leadership development apparatus was refined by the prominent industrial organizational psychologist Bob Eichinger, who worked at PepsiCo between 1978 and 1986. He made his mark by adapting psychometric tests to evaluate how executives behave, how they affect others, and how they can be more effective as leaders. This helped make PepsiCo a top “academy company,” a term coined in the 1980s by Yale School of Management professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld.
Once they’re identified, hi-pos don’t get to sail easily to their next gig, especially if it’s a stop en route to the C-suite. Instead, those people deemed upper-management material are put through a rigorous, yearslong training program in many aspects of PepsiCo operations, from in-depth market data to two- to three-year stints in areas such as supply-chain management and international markets. Hi-pos are also expected to develop fast decision-making skills. “Our model is first and foremost based on risk-taking and putting people into big jobs, uncomfortable jobs, and trusting they will flourish if you take a chance on them,” says Schellekens. “Sink or swim.” No one is ever fully ready for a big role anyway, he points out—so why not toss them in at the deep end?
3 key takeaways from the article
- When Laxman Narasimhan was hired to be the next Starbucks CEO in September, he joined a club that includes the chief executives of some of America’s biggest and best-known companies. What do these leaders have in common? They all spent significant time rising through the ranks of the same company – PepsiCo.
- What’s PepsiCo’s secret ingredient when it comes to creating so many leaders? It’s all about a highly developed, well-oiled system that identifies and intensively develops “high-performers” within the company. Those “hi-pos,” as they’re known internally at PepsiCo, are lavished with training programs, stretch assignments around the world, mentorship, and opportunities to try—and even to fail at—new things.
- This leadership development apparatus was refined by the prominent industrial organizational psychologist Bob Eichinger, who worked at PepsiCo between 1978 and 1986.
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Topics: Leadership, Organizational Development, Training, Mentorship
Smart Tips For Promoting ‘The Brand Called You’
By Rodger Dean Duncan | Forbes Magazine | December 13, 2022
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If you’re in business—any kind of business—you’re in the sales business. Oh, you may not sell widgets or gizmos or lollipops. But you’re in the sales business, nevertheless. For better or worse, you’re promoting a brand. Legendary author and management consultant Tom Peters puts it into perspective: “All of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”
According to Dr. Cindy McGovern who is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Every Job is a Sales Job Sell Yourself: How to Create, Live, and Sell a Powerful Personal Brand, a personal brand is the way you present yourself to the world. It’s a guide for what you say and how you behave, react, interact with people and even dress yourself. It’s a plan for what you need to do to reach your goals. Done right, it’s your trademark, your signature, the thing others think or say about you when they refer to you in conversations. A personal brand creates a first impression and a lasting impression. It lets others know exactly who you are—in a way that will leave the exact impression you intend to make.
Building a powerful personal brand is a three-step process:
- Create: Creating a personal brand begins with a plan. That plan begins with identifying your goals. Want do you want to do? Your personal brand should help you achieve that. Once you know what you want to achieve, you can observe how others who already have that got there. How do they present themselves? What are their brands? Which of those qualities do you have? Which can you learn/practice/develop?
- Live: Creating a brand won’t help you reach your goals unless you live that brand every day. An authentic brand is easy to live. But to achieve your goals, you might have to create some new habits and sacrifice some old ones. That takes commitment and practice. Living your brand means showing up the same every time. Going off-brand, even occasionally, can affect your progress toward your goal—and can even ruin the reputation you are trying to create with your thoughtful personal brand.
- Sell: If you live your personal brand consistently, it will be easy to sell it. In other words, your brand will help you sell yourself. A personal brand is the most effective sales tool when it comes to selling yourself.
3 key takeaways from the article
- If you’re in business—any kind of business—you’re in the sales business. Oh, you may not sell widgets or gizmos or lollipops. But you’re in the sales business, nevertheless. For better or worse, you’re promoting a brand. And this brand called YOU.
- It does little good to come up with a few buzz words to describe your brand. A successful personal brand is thoughtful, authentic and aimed at reaching specific goals.
- Building a powerful personal brand is a three-step process: create (with a plan that begins with identifying your goals), live (live that brand every day, kill some existing and create some new habits), and sell (live your personal brand consistently).
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Topics: Leadership, Marketing, Selling, Branding, Personal Development
Entrepreneurship Section
7 Keys to Relationships That Can Propel Your Business and Career
By Martin Zwilling | Inc Magazine | December 9, 2022
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In business, you need positive relationships with others to do your job, further your career, and manage your business. Being a “lone ranger” won’t get you there, no matter how hard you work. 7 key mentoring recommendations for how to approach new and existing relationships to make them more productive and valuable to your own business aspirations
- Allocate time to find and develop outside relationships. Actively seek out and attend key outside business conferences in order to meet and get to know people who can help you, and you can help in return. This can vary depending on your business interests, but may include a charity event or retreat, and can be a common hobby or community role.
- Ask questions to find common goals and interests. All productive business relationships must be based on some shared goals and common interests, potentially in different industries. These may include shared business financial objectives, technology advancements, or shared career goals. Don’t forget entertainment or family connections.
- Always be positive and agreeable in early relationships. It never pays to approach new relationships with your favorite complaint, or your view of all the things wrong the world or your organization. If you are looking for an advocate, an investor, or positive feedback, it won’t work to come across as opinionated, argumentative, or disagreeable.
- Find other’s success rather than talking about yourself. Everyone has something to admire, and it’s up to you to find it. These create positive emotions, which will be always be attributed to you. In addition, you will learn when and how best to ask for the help you need.
- Show respect and concern to relationships in any stage. Courtesy and respect earn the same in return to you. Showing concern will enable a connection at an emotional level, as well as the intellectual level. You need both, to get the maximum value from the relationship in the long term. Respect also leads to the trust you need for real support.
- Express appreciation for existing and past relationships. This sends a message that this relationship will be valued as well. If you are openly critical of other relationships, people will be reluctant to help you or offer guidance, for fear that their efforts will not be appreciated, or will be actively discounted to others. What goes around comes around.
- Don’t try to change anyone to meet your expectations. Everyone has biases and comes from a different background. By expressing sensitivity to their challenges, their self-esteem will be enhanced, and they will more likely accept you and appreciate your value and perspective. Only then can this be a mutually beneficial relationship.
2 key takeaways from the article
- In business, you need positive relationships with others to do your job, further your career, and manage your business. Being a “lone ranger” won’t get you there, no matter how hard you work.
- 7 key mentoring recommendations for how to approach new and existing relationships to make them more productive and valuable to your own business aspirations are: allocate time to find and develop outside relationships, ask questions to find common goals and interests, always be positive and agreeable in early relationships, find other’s success rather than talking about yourself, show respect and concern to relationships in any stage, express appreciation for existing and past relationships, and don’t try to change anyone to meet your expectations.
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Topics: Startup, Entrepreneurship, Social Capital
How to Find a Business Idea That’s Actually Worth Pursuing
By Andres Tovar | Entrepreneur Magazine | December 12, 2022
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It’s hard enough to get up the courage to start a business, but that’s only the beginning. Now you need to decide what business to start, and it’s not as simple as doing what seems obvious. Asking the following questions can help you make sure you’re starting the right business for you:
- What’s my objective? Why do you want to start a business? It seems like a simple question, but if you ask different entrepreneurs you’ll get different answers, at least you will if you dig deep enough. Two types of entrepreneur based on their objectives could be: founders who want money, while the other wants control. It’s a useful exercise to figure out which type you are and how that aligns with your other motivations.
- Will it make a profit? Too many entrepreneurs ask, “Will it make money?” and perhaps they mean “profit” when they say “money,” but it’s good to be specific. Will your business idea turn a profit? How much? How fast? If you can’t answer those questions, are you sure this is the right business for you?
- Is demand growing? Ensure that the business you are stepping in, the demand is growing. How can you know if demand is growing? Thankfully, the internet provides today’s founders with tools to answer this question in ways our entrepreneurial ancestors couldn’t have imagined. Using search query data, we can detect breakout trends in different markets to identify rising consumer needs so we can meet them with a solution.
- Do I have what it takes? You may have the grit and determination to be an entrepreneur, but do you have the right experience, skills and drive for the specific business you’re thinking of starting? Some lessons only come with time, but one shortcut is to identify a business you want to run, then talk to others who are running that type of business, and ask them what it takes. The answers you get may steer you toward a different opportunity, or they may solidify your plan. Either way, you’re in a much better position.
- Do I have the right team? When a venture capitalist is pitched on an idea, one of the first questions they’ll ask is, “Who’s on your team, and have they done this before?” A VC’s job is to maximize returns and minimize risk, and a team that has been there and done that stands a good chance of being able to do it again. Whether you plan to raise funding or not, it’s good to ask yourself, “Who’s on my team, and are they the right team to bring my vision to reality?”
3 key takeaways from the article
- It’s hard enough to get up the courage to start a business, but that’s only the beginning. Now you need to decide what business to start, and it’s not as simple as doing what seems obvious.
- The decision of ‘which’ business could be based on one’s skills, hobby or they heard it was a good way to make money or because someone else dragged them into it. Sometimes these decisions work out, but often they don’t.
- Asking the following questions can help you make sure you’re starting the right business for you: What’s my objective? Will it make a profit? Is demand growing? Do I have what it takes? And do I have the right team?
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Topics: Startups, Entrepreneurship, Business
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