Great Idea vs. Great Business

What is the difference between a great idea and a great business? Execution, Execution, Execution. So what exactly does that mean? There are a lot of very smart entrepreneurs that execute their butts off and still fail. They fail because execution is about more than pointing your finger and running. I wrote execution three times for a reason. There are three key components of successful execution.

1. TEAM, Team is capitalized because a one man business is destined for failure. Surround yourself with people who will challenge you, not people who are along for the ride. Challenge each other to make the best decision that takes into account the trends in the marketplace, your financial position and staffing resources and the upside potential, most likely outcome and worst case scenario of any decision.
2. Timing, Set milestones based upon metrics, not intangible goals such as "we have someone using our product". How many do you need? What do they need to do? What metrics decide success, failure and adjustment? The window is limited, the market is moving and there are 1,000 other businesses that are working on the same thing you are... so you need to move, measure and adjust quickly... which leads into # 3.
3. Agility, It is important to be agile as a new business, and I mean that in all senses of the word. Don't be tied down to a specific service, target market or even location. Sometimes market factors can make something that was a great idea 6 months ago a one way trip to the dead pool... think recession. So be tied to a mission and execute on that mission. How you execute on that should be fluid. As an example, your mission may be to make it easier for consumers to manage their personal finances and lower their bills. Just in case you live under a rock a company called Mint just got bought for $170 million because they delivered on this mission.

Many entrepreneurs have dreams of being the next Marc Cuban, Zuckerberg or Trump... You know what I've found as the common factor in successful entrepreneurs, they were driven by providing something different and valuable that served a real need, they worked very hard to make their business successful and grew over time with the market, instead of trying to change it.

So to all my fellow entrepreneurs out there...

Be confident!
Be open minded!
Be focused!