Oxford Business Books

Learning From Failure
Technology Business Starter Guide: Food For Thought for High-Tech Entrepreneurs

by David Blair, DBA Group 2009

A book review by Nicholas Newman 25 September 2009
 

Reading this brief new twenty page guide ‘Technology Business Starter guide: Food For Thought for High-Tech Entrepreneurs’ made me realise why the BBC television's Dragon’s Den, is so addictive amongst hopeful aspiring entrepreneurs. No, it’s not the prospect of being humiliated in front of a nationwide audience that attracts them; it’s not really much to do about the money, though it helps. In truth, it’s about the business skills the dragon’s can bring to their new enterprise.

In addition, David's guide is aimed at improving the odds for aspiring entrepreneurs business proposals, to better withstand a Dragons serious scrutiny. When I watch Dragon’s Den, it is often obvious how easy it is to predict if an aspiring entrepreneur is going to win the interest of one of the Dragons. Usually, contestants will fail in their efforts, due to a failure to develop a sufficiently realistic financial and operational business plan for the enterprises operations over the next few years. This guide helps steer the aspiring entrepreneur from making such obvious errors, which will deter any dragon from further interest in any such projects proposed to them.

This new guide by David Blair at DBA Group provides the essential entrepreneurial skills required from giving birth to a new business idea to realising your dream of running a fully operational business, which is ready for you to sell on after you have made your first millions. In effect, it’s a guide to some of the necessary business skills you need to posses without having to appear on Dragon’s Den. Though, it would have been more persuasive if the guide’s author David Blair had chosen an alternative title for his guide, such as ‘An Essential Business Guide for Aspiring Entrepreneurs’.

This guide is divided into four sections, packed full of David Blair’s experience of advising, aspiring entrepreneurs, seeking to transform their dreams into a fully operational business. The reader will find many quotes included from famous leaders, thinkers and businessmen including Drucker, Lincoln and Colin Powell, both thought provoking and useful in comprehending the various messages the guide is trying to convey. The most appropriate quote used, was by former US general Colin Powell: ‘There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.’

In the first section devising the Plan, you will get all the usual advice on the ingredients to be included in your plan. I appreciated David Blair’s advice that once you have created a business plan, it is a working document that should always be referred to, not something to show to potential investors and then locked away in a cupboard to be ignored once the business is up and running.

The second part is really about logistics, the finding of resources to realise your dream. Today, it is not simply a question of finding your local moneyed business dragon prepared to invest, but increasing it is selecting a dragon that has the appropriate skills, access and experience to turn the business into a success. I have seen such a process for selecting dragons by their skills in Dragon’s Den, especially when contestants are considering the relative merits between competing dragons for their project.

The third section is concerned with implementing the plan; and deals with everything from setting up shop to keeping it legal. It covers the essential bureaucracy required for running a business in this complicated world, often referred to as red tape. Such matters include setting your business up as a separate legal entity, to dealing with government agencies over such matters as taxes and employment law.

The last section deals with the day-to-day operation of the business and this guide advices on devising your operational plan and how, once the business is in operation, how well the enterprise is meeting the expectations of the business model devised. However, the guide makes clear that the originally devised operational plan has to be flexible and adjusted to meet changing market conditions as they might occur. Again, there was a case in Dragon’s Den that I watched, where someone thought his business was profitable, but because he did not know the difference between net and gross profit, he was actually making a loss. It also advices on how to prepare your business for onward sale to venture capitalists.

Though having read this guide, I realise the mistakes I could have easily avoided in launching my business publication Oxford Prospect. The main trouble with this guide is its brevity! I look forward to David writing a more in depth publication in the near future.

To obtain a copy of the guide contact
DBA Group - Integrated Financial Management : Home
The book is available by emailing techguide@ dbagroup.co.uk  

or by telephoning 01223 202 166