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For Jeff Neuman, the greatest danger executives face is falling in love with their own ideas. Pouring resources into an idea that isn't realistic is dangerous, but he neautralizes that potential problem by allowing his management team to second-guess him.
"You've got to be willing to cut bait," says Neuman president of Barnes Wendling CPAs Inc., a $10 million accounting firm. "Be honest with yourself but also have people in place to be a second stopping point."
Smart Business spoke with Neuman about how to take risks on new ventures and why getting your ideas shot down isn't always a bad thing.
Q. How do you determine where to devote your resources?
It's an art; it's not a science. You figure out what arena you're going to play in.
If you're going to be a niche player - which most businesses are - you need to say, 'OK, what is the marketplace looking for? What is a need that hasn't been served?' Then you have to say, 'OK, do I need to go out and acquire specialty services?' Then you go look for them.
And you have to add them first - that's the gamble. You have to add the...