It’s difficult to recognize our assumptions, and it’s nerve-wracking to change them. Most of us perceive our assumptions to be our reality. We believe things and therefore they are. In business, inaccurate assumptions can cost you your investment.
Your assumptions are the things you take to be true about your industry, the business your getting into, who your customers are and how they will behave after opening day. Even assumptions you may have about what it means to be an entrepreneur and business owner.
For a banker or a business analyst, few things are more frightening than an entrepreneur who has all the answers. We have all met such individuals. Because they already know everything, they tend to spend a lot more time talking than listening. Impassioned about their idea, they assault the marketplace. Armed with their bullet-proof rationales, they overpower anyone who might suggest a different view or method. The marketplace has a way of dealing with zealots who wear blinders; it’s called bankruptcy, and it’s always a disaster.
If you are serious about starting your business, classify everything not already proven as an assumption and then set out to prove or disprove everything you assume. This is much safer than making a few brash statements and then putting your equity on the line.
View the Example: List of Assumptions
Action
Download the Assumptions Worksheet
- Using the Assumptions Worksheet or on a blank sheet of paper, write out a minimum of 20 assumptions. Don’t stop until you have written down every wingding notion you ever had about your business idea. Write a hundred assumptions, if you have that many.