In preparing for this get-together, you might spend some time thinking about who is coming and what food they like. A useful way to contrast the traditional and alternative modes of venture creation is to use the metaphor of the dinner party.Īssume you are hosting a few friends for a casual sit-down dinner on a Saturday evening. They are not fixed at the start of a project as they are when the traditional approach is applied. With this approach, an entrepreneur’s goals emerge over time, taking resources, connections and contingencies into account. You can experiment using different combinations of resources to test how the market responds to different offerings and over time create an offering that is really valuable to others. Instead of starting with the question, “Where is there a gap in the market and how can I fill it?” ask yourself, “What do I have and who do I know?”Ĭarefully examine the resources and relationships over which you have influence and consider how you can put these to work quickly and effectively to create an offering that the market needs or wants. There is an alternative route to creating a new venture. Most times, people find it difficult to raise the resources they require, causing the entire project to fall on its head. If the financiers like us and like our idea, they provide us with the capital to start the business. We write a business plan and present it to potential financiers with the promise of a return on investment. We consider the resources necessary to make our goal a reality and go out in search of those resources. Next, we establish a goal to create a venture that will fill that gap.