Start with Heart

I recently came across an interesting article written by Anthony K. Tjan in the Harvard Business Review about entrepreneurship. As a full-time entrepreneur, I’m always reading stories, articles, blogs, and listening to podcasts about entrepreneurship. I love to know what makes people tick, but there’s something with learning about the stories of other entrepreneurs that really interests me!

In doing research for a book he was working on, Tjan and his colleagues interviewed several entrepreneurs who had a successful exit from their business (as in IPO or sale to another firm) and discovered that about 70% of them did NOT start with a formal business plan! Tjan says this: “Instead, their business journeys originated in a different place, a place we call the Heart. They were conceived not with a document but with a feeling and doing for an authentic vision. Clarity of purpose and passion ruled the day with less time spent writing about an idea and more time spent just doing it.”

I can 100% see that being the case. Before I started my medical practice, when it was just an idea in my mind, I heard everyone telling me that I needed a formal, written business plan. So writing a long 60+ business plan is what I did! The financial figures I included weren’t really accurate because I didn’t know how much it would ACTUALLY cost and how much I would ACTUALLY generate in revenue until I was in the thick of it. What drove my business in those early years was HEART and full dedication to making my business successful……. NOT the formal business plan.

I encourage your to check out Tjan’s full Harvard Business Review article HERE and tell me what you think……..

          Dr. Carmen April is an entrepreneur and community leader recognized as a Nashville Emerging Leader (NELA) Award Winner, a Nashville Business Journal Top 40 Under Forty Award Recipient, is a Graduate of the New Leaders Council Institute – Nashville Chapter and is a 2018 Nashville Power Moves Award Winner. She’s a Podiatrist and Owner of The Foot And Ankle Healthcare Center in the Nashville, TN area. She’s also the creator/owner of “Design Your Story Coaching & Consulting” and is available for speaking engagements on Small Business Entrepreneurship.