Stepping Forward With Disciplined Entrepreneurship During A Time Of Crisis

We held a series of three webinars targeted at Irish entrepreneurs during the early states of the COVID-19 lockdown. With almost 2,000 registrants its popularity exceeded expectations. The overwhelming priority at the beginning of the pandemic was public health but, at some stage, this will abate and the next challenge will be rebuilding the economy. Entrepreneurs and innovators will play a vital role. So, what did we hear from the community and what help could we offer?

How is this crisis is affecting business creation?

To say COVID-19 is having a profound impact on most start-ups is an understatement. A handful are unaffected but the vast majority are reeling. The most obvious areas are in revenue and cashflow. As sales dry up due to operational challenges or general declining customer confidence many companies are having to make difficult decisions around furloughing staff to extend the runway.

Outside of the immediate financial implications, there are broader challenges as to how firms can execute many of the 24 Steps in this environment. Entrepreneurship is not a solo sport. All successful businesses are created by the work and skill of teams, not just any single individual. Thankfully Zoom and other online tools are enabling most co-founders and staff to communicate effectively despite the requirement to isolate with their immediate household. However, engaging well with others is not just an internal affair, to start and scale a business you need to spend an enormous amount of time with customers, potential customers, competitors, and many other stakeholders. This is proving much more challenging during COVID-19. Getting ‘out of the building’, as Steve Blank would say, is critical to the customer discovery process and remains a vital concept throughout the business life cycle.

Landscape, Mindset & Skills

With so many factors outside the control of business leaders, we focused our webinars on three areas entrepreneurs could work on in a positive way – accurately assessing the landscape, maintaining a resilient mindset, and building core skills. The speakers included Mark Little (serial entrepreneur and journalist), Andrew Burke (Dean of Trinity Business School), MIT’s Bill Aulet, and Jonathan Ruane; bringing together practical and academic perspectives. The first major theme was focused on understanding the landscape, spending the time available to review your business, prioritize key elements for the post-COVID world such as which product lines, sales territories, and staff will be best suited for the journey ahead. Will your ability to capitalize on the project economy change how your company operates?

Disciplined entrepreneurship is a craft that requires practice and continual refinement, having the right frame of mind for this process is vital. We discussed the importance of recognizing one’s own cognitive biases, where they might be helpful and where they might be detrimental. Having a data-driven, scientific method approach will facilitate problem-solving but is best utilized when coupled with consistent communicating and active listening. A key topic that came up a number of times was the importance of finding and building a community that you feel supports your needs.

Our final session focused on skills – using this time to build your capabilities and improve the chances of success in the long term. This inevitably means very different things to different people, depending on your journey so far and the challenges ahead. Having an ability to self-reflect and understand your weaknesses is a vital first step. Couple with learning from the mistakes of others, you can dramatically reduce costly errors.

In true DE spirit, the Ireland Steps Forward webinar series was conceived and executed in just a few days (mainly over a weekend). Many thanks to all who spoke, supported, and attended. In particular to Andrew Burke and Mark Little for speaking and the Matt Cooper radio show from promoting.