Читать книгу Entrepreneurial Finance - Robert D. Hisrich - Страница 18

Finance for entrepreneurs is somewhat different from either corporate- or investment-oriented finance. When we consider traditional financial techniques and concepts, we see that the discipline is based on a number of key assumptions. These assumptions include readily available data, efficient markets, diversification as a way to control risk, and statistical analysis as a means to measure risk. These are the key assumptions or techniques that underlie both the theory and practice of traditional finance.

When we deal with entrepreneurs or entrepreneurial ventures, especially startups, there are two key points to consider:

1 there is usually a paucity of any historical data, and

2 entrepreneurs do not have the ability to diversify or even measure their risk in the normal way.

Thus, entrepreneurial finance is considerably different from main-line finance. We acknowledge that entrepreneurial finance requires an in-depth knowledge of finance theory and technique and an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of these theories and techniques. However, the final element that needs to be equally weighted in the entrepreneurial environment is the application of skill and judgment in selecting and applying the appropriate theory or technique given the problem at hand. We do not deny that this is also important in the areas of traditional finance, but we assert that it is more acute with entrepreneurial firms. In the entrepreneurial setting, it is not just a matter of calculating the answer (which is what is usually done in the more traditional areas of finance). The entrepreneur must know:

1 What to do if historical data are not available

2 What techniques may be used when certain data are missing

3 How to compute ranges of outcomes rather than focusing on specific outcomes

4 How to use projections that are based on data that are not historical