Blue Horizon Venture Consulting Blog

Personality Pitfalls in Business Plan Implementation

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I've watched and worked with quite a few enterepreneurs, most of whom have done quite well, raising capital and pushing their businesses ahead.  But I've also observed a group of clients, many of whom have paid me a fair amount of money as a business plan consultant, only to see them back off when it comes time to put their strategic plan into action. We had clearly defined their business model, set growth targets for the early months, quarters, and years of the business, devised a phased roll out plan with specific items to accomplish in the early stages.  And then.....nothing! 

I like to follow up with clients to see how they're doing (and hey, let's face it, their success reflects well on me), and I seem to get pretty much the same littany of excuses from this subset about "not having enough time", or "waiting for the economy to improve", etc, etc.

So I started to wonder to myself, what it is that's really holding these people back?  Then I started to recognize some personality traits that they seem to share in common that might well give me the answer to my own question. 

Entrepreneurs have a lot of things in common, such as a desire for independence, being "their own boss", wealth, to enjoy life, etc. But they can also be divided into a number of different categories. 

The first is what I call "Implementors".  These are usually the type who get things done, who plunge headfirst into things and make them happen.  They're also prone towards neglecting all else (friends, family, health) in order to focus on business.  Generally, they are my most successful clients. Yet they sometimes fail to see the forest through the trees in term of high level strategy and direction.  

The next group are what I call "Dreamers".  These people love to while away the hours talking about their great ideas, and how they're going to do all these great things, but there's always something holding them back, and in truth, they'd probably be better off with a W-2 job.  I try to steer clear of Dreamers.  I'd be wasting their money and my time. 

The third group are the "Visionaries".  These are people who have grand visions, yet unlike the Dreamers, the are good at going out, building concensus, raising capital, and generating a lot of excitment.  Truth be told, I love working with Visionaries.  They "get it". But sadly, Visionaries have great difficulty rolling up their sleeves and doing what needs to be done to make things happen.  Their grand visions fall short when it comes time to take action. They don't, can't, or won't settle into the trenches for protracted battles.  They want to swing for the fences and hit home runs, when really what the team needs are a series of singles and sacrifices to create a sustained rally. 

Some of the world's most successful businesses have been formed when Visionaries join forces with Implementers.   This can be an immensely powerful combination.  Think Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, Google. A Visionary who can surround him/herself with Implementers and effectively delegate and manage to achieve their vision is very likely to be successful.  Likewise, an Implementer can help guide and push a company forward by teaming up with a Visionary.

So when I work with one form of client or the other, I'll often suggest that they be looking for a certain personality type who might help get them to the next level, when they go in search of key personnel, or even vendors/contractors, who might fit this complementary role.

Once done, the sky's the limit in terms of what can been accomplished!

Todd Smith, CEO

Blue Horizon Venture Consulting

www.BlueHorizonVC.com