Week in Review: A game changer? Get an advisor first!

By Karamjit Singh November 15, 2013

Every entrepreneur has a bottomless well of killer ideas
Best to find an advisor who helps ground your ideation

Week in Review: A game changer? Get an advisor first! I WAS with an entrepreneur last night who was sharing his plans with me over teh tarik and as all entrepreneurs do, he got excited by some new ideas he had come up with to push his business onward.

There was this part where he called one of his ideas a “game changer” and I was struck by the intense look on his face. Small problem here: I did not think it was and told him so, with my reasons why of course.

He was slightly deflated but took it well, wondering how he could tweak his “game changing” idea.

But it had me wondering how many entrepreneurs go about thinking they have come up with the most amazing idea for their business – and how often have they gotten honest and constructive feedback from their team, friends and peers.

I guess most of us, in the face of such intense belief in an idea, will just go along with the entrepreneur, even if we think the idea does not make sense or is not as hot as the entrepreneur thinks.

If you are an entrepreneur yourself and have ever done that, then you are doing your friend or peer a huge disservice. It is tough being an entrepreneur; the last thing they need is another entrepreneur telling them white lies just because you think that is what they want to hear.

I went back and tried to recollect if I had used “game changer” myself when sharing any of my own brilliant ideas (yup, I too seem to think I have amazing ideas) with my team about taking Digital News Asia (DNA) to the next level.

Unfortunately for me, almost all of mine have gotten shot down by either A. Asohan, Edwin Yapp, Gabey Goh or all three! It is frustrating as sometimes you think the people around you are not willing to take a leap of faith or think out of the box.

Of course they are thinking that you never come out with good ideas!

I guess here is where an advisor or coach/mentor can really play a key role as the experienced old hand who has probably heard various versions of the same ideas before.

The value of having such a person was again amplified when this same entrepreneur told me that he was now focusing on a specific area versus a wider market he felt sure was within the capabilities of him and his team.

His mentor helped steer him to the more focused approach. Now you can also read the article Renuka Sena wrote about one of the Coach & Grow Programme (CGP) entrepreneurs who also benefited from advice from his coach.

Coincidentally, the coach happens to be my advisor! So I know I am using the words coach and advisor here and they may seem the same but to me, a coach plays a more active role than an advisor and you are more likely to take in the advice and guidance of your mentor, than you are the advice from your advisor. There is also no real difference between a coach and mentor.

Let’s not nitpick over this. My main point it this. Once you have decided to act on your amazing idea and become an entrepreneur, go find yourself an advisor at least, for you will surely need someone to bounce your ideas off once you have taken the biggest step and moved from thinking about something to actually trying to make it happen! And good luck.

Finally, this week’s most popular story was Asohan’s commentary about taking online security seriously.

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Previous Instalments:

Week in Review: A blot on the ecosystem

Week in Review: How many more Ivan Tehs are there?