In May of 2009, when it was much warmer, Elizabeth Fadell and I began a series of interviews with entrepreneurs, and other professionals who provide services to this group of highly creative and high-energy people. Our goal - a better understanding of the issues, challenges, questions, dilemmas and successes that this group experiences. Below is a distillation of the shared themes we heard.
• Entrepreneurs grapple with how to balance a focus on larger purpose, corporate responsibility, and sustainable fiscal success with the day-to-day demands of their businesses.
• In today's economy entrepreneurs are looking for new ways of thinking and strategies for retaining current customers and attracting new ones.
• At times entrepreneurs feel like their dreams and passion have become harder to connect to in the day to day running of the business.
• Depending on where they are in the life cycle of their business, entrepreneurs are asking questions about their strategic role and the legacy they are creating.
• Entrepreneurs find it very challenging to be away from their businesses for even short periods of time. At the same time they know the value of and long for a way to create time to assess current reality and make strategic choices for the future of their businesses.
• Many entrepreneurs spoke of the value of having other successful entrepreneurs as thinking-partners.
We're curious to hear what you see as the key challenges and opportunities for entrepreneurs today; yourself and others in your networks. Please add your comments below and help us continue to add to our initial research and refine the Entrepreneurs Walkabout as we go.
For more information on the program that resulted from this research, view the Entrepreneurs Walkabout Slide Show and/or read the Walkabout Overview.
Cilck here to read a press release announcing the Entrepreneurs Walkabout gathering coming up in June 2010.
