On the Ball: What kind of an entrepreneurial frog are you?

Ashna Ambre

I was reading a report on the business environment of 2012 and the attitudes towards failure, when a certain section really got my eye. To address the issue of business failure, there was a ‘frogs of entrepreneurship’ theory that was citied.

The theory helps identify different types of business failure and provides a framework for further research into this aspect of strategic management.

Boiled Frog: When a frog is dropped into boiling water, it will immediately leap out again. On the other hand, a frog placed in cold water, which is gradually heated would stay in until it is quite comfortable and will leap out only when the water gets unbearable. There is no experimental evidence for this phenomenon but the story has stuck. ‘

In the context of entrepreneurship, the boiled frog refers to an entrepreneur who does not pay sufficient attention to a changing environment. Complacency sets into life with no importance given to factors such as competition, changing technology or evolving customers. The result being: the business model becomes obsolete.

Drowned frog: The second category of frog is the obsessive worker. As the business grows, many entrepreneurs continue to think that they need to be everywhere at once. They fail to entrust their workers with responsibility, accountability and thereby don’t delegate efficiently. Such entrepreneurs attempt to be ‘king of the pond’ and spread themselves across every aspect of the business, but never realise that them may lack the necessary breadth of skills to do this effectively.

Bull frog: Some entrepreneurs taste success early in life but whether they exploit the success in the right way is the big question. Success can sometimes be a compulsive trap that many fall prey to. Bullfrogs are essentially those who put their own needs in the way of those of the business. They consider themselves to be indestructible and do not acknowledge that their actions harm the business financially.

Tadpole: All ideas are not incubated to be successful business models. Many entrepreneurial ventures never fulfil their promise and are doomed to remain as tadpoles and reasons for the same may be manifold. Despite early promise, they do not reach their potential and fizzle out without reaching thenext stage of growth.
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