5 tips on how aspiring entrepreneurs can break the rules

Professor John Mullins, left, author of “Break the Rules!”

When Alex Ikonn and Mimi Naghizada started their first venture, Luxy Hair, they didn’t go looking for investment capital. After all, despite the innate optimism of all founders, the reality is that most new ventures fail early, some later. If future results are uncertain, why should you look for investors? It might be better to “borrow” the assets you need to prove your concept.

Fortunately, many successful entrepreneurs (Alex Ikonn included) exhibit one or more of the six rule-breaking mindsets that allow them to take advantage of opportunities that appear along the entrepreneurial path. I discovered that But surprisingly, these ideas stand in contrast to what business schools teach about strategy, core competencies, targeted marketing, fundraising, and more. They defy conventional wisdom usually found in large, established companies.

In 2010, Mimi and Alex were planning their wedding. Mimi wanted to add her hair extensions to her already lustrous hair. But what she found at a nearby mall wasn’t meant to be cut.In Mimi’s view, it wasn’t right in quality or quantity.Alex said that the hair sold online was her hair. I thought an extension might be the opportunity he was looking for.

To make a long story short, the couple found a supplier in China and “borrowed” almost everything they needed. A free WordPress site. A PayPal button; a logistics provider that receives, holds, and ships orders when they arrive. Plus, her YouTube airtime for a series of videos in which Mimi offers her hair styling advice to an executive of her ever-growing following, then the couple musters up the courage to buy multiple, six-month interest-free cash advances. I applied for a credit card at the same time. Combined with another $6,000 of hers, which Ikonn’s mother was happy to lend, the couple raised her $20,000, enough to finance the first shipment.

One question remained: Will sales increase? They did! Week 1, $1,000. Month 1, $20,000; Year 1, $1 million. Within six months, they also paid off the credit card advance and Alex’s mom. They eventually found themselves running a multi-million dollar direct-to-consumer (DTC) business selling only hair extensions. But the best news was this. All this he achieved with just 3.5 employees as a result of “borrowing” almost all the resources needed for the business.

If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, how can you learn and adopt the “Don’t Beg, Don’t Borrow, Don’t Steal” mindset and the other five mindsets? can you start? (Hint 1)you need to know what they are:

• Problem-first logic, not product-first: Entrepreneurs know that businesses thrive when they solve real customer problems!
• Think narrow, not broad: Entrepreneurs know that once success is established in a small market, learning can grow the business from it.
• “Yes, I can!”: When a prospect asks if they can do something completely new, unfamiliar, and promising beyond their current capabilities, entrepreneurs answer, “Yes, we can!” Then they will figure out how!
• Ask for cash and get on the float: By having customers pay upfront and paying suppliers later, entrepreneurs can use that extra cash to grow their business.
• Don’t ask for permission, ask for forgiveness later: When the legal and regulatory landscape is ambiguous or uncertain, entrepreneurs simply move on.
• Ask, borrow, but don’t steal: Entrepreneurs are more likely to “borrow” the resources they need to start something new than to invest in those resources.

If you’re looking to start a new venture with “borrowed” assets, here are four tips to help you get started.

• Tip 2: Find people who have the assets they need but are underutilizing them. When we started Pasta Via many years ago, we “borrowed” an underutilized commercial kitchen to make fresh pasta and sauces. We didn’t invest in our own kitchen until our concept was proven.
• Tip 3: “Soft” assets can also be borrowed. When Tristram and Rebecca Mayhew started their outdoor adventure business GoApe!, they found British charity ROSPA. ROSPA was eager to help people “live adventurously” for at least a few hours. Trust won!
• Tip 4: You can “borrow” expertise you don’t have, for example from consultants or informal advisors.
• Tip 5: But don’t steal! Cambridge Analytica illegally “borrowed” or stole her Facebook data from about 50 million Americans. We ran over 4,000 campaigns for Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election. Bankruptcy was the final result.

So if the entrepreneurial path is what you are aiming for, either as a leader or as a participant in it. Whether you’re already down that road or just starting out, adopting and mastering the six-rule-breaking mindset will give you a fighting chance to beat the long odds.

John Mullins Associate Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School and author of a new book. Break the rules!His 6 Unconventional Mindsets of an Entrepreneur Who Can Change the World (Published by Wiley, £21.99).

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