I have been thinking about pivoting and iterating this week. A lot of people who transitioned from banking (or other corporate jobs) to do their own thing were faced with the predicament of having to change their planned business ideas or projects, or what I call the ‘relentlessness of iterating’. Its super hard when your background is in investment banking because what we do is more linear than agile. That’s the nature of it and that’s what makes it work. But when you shift to entrepreneurship, it’s a different dish. In fact, it’s a different restaurant all together (in a different city, and on another planet).

Two myths have already been dispelled by other business commentators, but I will reiterate here:

1) The perfect business idea does not hit you on the back of the head whilst you’re listening to a Tim Ferris podcast during a cold shower at the end of your 16 hour fasting window => you pursue good ideas relentlessly. It’s a balance of being ‘open’ to creative downloads and understand the basics of what makes a good idea.

2) You can and should change your mind. It’s called pivoting. It’s very important. It’s so that you don’t get stuck on a business idea you end up disliking even though you LOVED it at the beginning. 

I have seen friends examine and do due diligence on 3, 4, 8, 12 ideas over 2 to 4 years. My partner and I worked very seriously on at least 4. Until you find what fits. But there is a trick to this.

Hear me out because this bit is subtle but super important: the business person you ARE on idea number 1 is NOT the one you become when you decide to pull the trigger on idea number 12. Why? Because when you undertake proper due diligence (factual, financial, emotional), you also become a slightly different iteration of yourself. You get to know what kind of business YOU want, what values you’re about, what risk reward you are willing to cope with, you read up on sectors, you get to immerse yourself in the logistics of business ownership. Because the last thing you want is to leave a well-paid job and start something you don’t like, or worse something you don’t like that doesn’t have an enticing enough financial reward.

You can start by wanting to buy a fitness franchise and decide that the financials don’t make sense. But you’ve learnt SO MUCH about the fitness market in London (and franchises in general). But one conversation with a family member gives you an idea for a product that would have a market fit, so you start looking at that. 

 It’s this very difficult equilibrium of: pursuing an idea with 100% commitment with the question – ‘How would I make a successful business out of this?’ – counterbalanced with the questions – ‘what are the red flags? What’s the financial profile of this endeavour? Do I see myself doing this for the next 5 years? Is this how I want to be spending my time?’. And my favourite question of them all: ‘If I was failing at this, would I still be happy trying?’

It feels a bit messy, a bit uncomfortable. But that’s the name of the game. I have yet to meet anyone who did not deem it worthwhile.