Business scholar preaches passion

Sir Andrew Likierman, dean of London Business School, offers tips to entrepreneurs.

Sir Andrew Likierman, the dean of London Business School, says budding entrepreneurs must be passionate about succeeding. Stephen Lock for The National

Sir Andrew Likierman is the dean of London Business School.

What are your favourite things to do on the weekend?

I like a combination. Being social with family and friends, being entertained by reading – history especially – or music, or a good film, being domestic and, since the week is usually very hectic, catching up with anything left from last week’s work, and being properly prepared for next.

What do you consider to be your favourite hobby?

Difficult one this, but I will go for enjoying beautiful places. By that I mean buildings as much as the countryside. I am very fortunate to live in London, which is full of wonderful buildings and even more fortunate that London Business School is itself beautiful. The outside is preserved exactly as it was built 190 years ago. Inside it is very modern. When I come to Dubai, I’m always interested in the new buildings going up and the sense of excitement they help to generate.

What can’t you live without?

My wife.

What do you consider the secret to your success?

Getting a good education, including qualifying as an accountant. Education enabled me to move easily between large and small commercial organisations, academic life and government, to be an executive, adviser and academic.

What advice would you offer budding entrepreneurs?

I have three pieces of advice.

• Be passionate about succeeding. This is not only important to make sure you can survive the inevitable difficulties of starting and growing a business, but those around you will be inspired to make sure the venture is successful.

• Be aware of your own strengths and weaknesses. None of us is perfect, and anyway, you can’t do it all yourself. You will need the help of many others to make sure the venture is a success, and understanding what you need is a great start.

• Be flexible. Most early ideas are not feasible and need to be adapted to take account of circumstances. My colleague John Mullins, who specialises in this area, is clear that so you need, as he puts it, to get to Plan B before you start out.

Is having a good idea enough to get started at least?

Make sure you spend time on relationships as well as ideas. Many brilliant ideas fall because the person starting a business does not have the ability to work with other people. Treating people with respect is not just a good principle in life, but a good way to get the best out of them.

As an accountant I have to say this: Make sure that you have done the sums. Most small businesses fail, not because of lack of hard work or good ideas, but because there isn’t enough money for the business to survive. Cash flow planning is not an optional extra.

Someone, somewhere, has had the same problem as you and has solved or mitigated it. Don’t hesitate to learn from others. It’s not an accident that business schools spend a lot of time using examples about success and failure.

Thomas Edison’s line that genius is 1 per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration continues to be quoted because it remains true. Your brilliant idea is just the starting point. Getting anything to work requires a lot of effort. That’s why you need the passion.

How do you achieve a work/life balance?

By enjoying what I do, whether it’s work or leisure. One of the advantages of being an academic is that there is a lot of flexibility, and academics can follow their interests. So work isn’t work in the sense of having to do things that other people want, and research can be very absorbing and even relaxing. So achieving a work/life balance is less about stopping stressful work and making sure there’s enough restful leisure than making sure work doesn’t take over everything else.

If you weren’t dean of London Business School what else would you be doing?

Being a faculty member at LBS. I love the combination of lecturing and research, doing things for the institution but also working with organisations in the public and private sectors. The place is full of energy and the people – faculty colleagues, staff and students – are first class. All this is demanding. There never seems to be enough time to do everything well but there is always a sense of excitement that has drawn me here all through my working life.

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter