Entrepreneurship - the pursuit of opportunity

http://www.ifb.org.uk/ I’m looking forward to hearing the opening address by Professor John Mullins, of the London Business School, at the IFB’s Next Generation International Convention 2011 in January. The convention’s theme is Entrepreneurship – the pursuit of opportunity and as associate professor of management practice in marketing and entrepreneurship, Mullins is an acknowledged expert in the field.

Professor Mullins will be developing some themes from his latest book Getting to Plan B, where he debunks the form-filling, spreadsheet-driven mentality popular in business planning. Mullins believes that entrepreneurs should adopt a series of ‘stress tests’ to their initial ideas so that any weaknesses can be corrected. He suggests that the real success of companies such as Google, PayPal, Starbucks and others was that they were prepared to rip up Plan A and make radical changes to their business model.

Cover via AmazonHe has also identified two other key criteria for any successful enterprise to assess. First many business people see fast-growing markets as a good area to explore, but Professor Mullins wants people to realise that the more important side of the equation is to ask whether customers will actually buy your product. Secondly if you’ve satisfied yourself on that question then you have to ask if you can build a sustainable competitive advantage in that industry – otherwise you might find a bigger player comes along and wins the day.

We feel sure that insights such as these will inspire and enthuse the next generation family members who attend the Convention 28-29 January 2011. It will be a great occasion for delegates to hear from a line-up of international speakers about entrepreneurship in all its forms - whether its starting a business, looking to set up a social enterprise, or just learning more about entrepreneurship.

You can hear more from Professor Mullins about these ideas on this video.