It is perhaps obvious that success should simply be defined as achieving “that which you desire,” especially when framed as the “attainment of wealth, position, honours, or the like.” (Dictionary.com 2018).
Unfortunately, in the context of starting or running a business, success, in my view is a little more nuanced.
Success in the context of entrepreneurial endeavours and business is defined as:
- A Business Model has been created,
a business has been started, and the business is still running in 5 years, or - You pivot to another business concept/hypothesis and either go to (1) or (3),
- You abandon your entrepreneurial
endeavour .
Explanation:
- Business Model created – your hypothesis about customer’s jobs to be done and acceptable solutions
has proven to be correct, and you are able to create value for your customers by delivering those solutions while also being able to retain value for yourself, that is, you’re making a sustainable profit. - Pivot – to pivot in a business model development context is to take what you have
learnt while trying to develop a viable business model, change some aspect(s) of the budding business model, (to in effect turn on the spot about the core of the business model hypothesis) and change direction (try something new or different). - Abandon – you have learnt that your hypothesis is invalid, nothing about it can be saved, but instead of persisting belligerently, but this time around with more fanatism, you do the sensible thing and abandon the pursuit of what you now know is hopeless.