“How long will it take me to succeed in business”, I am frequently asked. And they quickly add the next line. “You are a business mentor. So you should know”.

Um, er, well… How do I start to explain that it depends on a million and one factors, not all of them in the control of the intrepid entrepreneur. What is the vision? Have you established who is the buying customer? What resources are required and what is available? Budget? Cash flow? Competition? Commercial environment? Location? And so the list goes on.

Now a mentor or coach should be able to provide structure to these issues. Yet just recently, I was invited to help with an alternative approach.

“Lean startup machine” is an exciting global organization that organises 3-day-long workshops that allow individuals to test in real-time just how successful their potential enterprise may become. Based on the catch line ‘fail fast, succeed faster’, participants are taught to identify the clientele, to test the concept by going out on to the street, and then to reconfirm previously accepted assumptions.

Last week, the holy city of Jerusalem hosted such an event, under the dynamic direction of Nadav Lankin. There were about 14 teams, who powered their way to creating solutions for the office, delegates to conferences, drivers wanting a place to park and many other situations. Days were long. The atmosphere was frequently absorbing. The mentors learnt, along with the participants.

Does such a rapid approach work for all? Absolutely not. There are those who just cannot react quickly. There are businesses, such as biotech, that need to be crafted. And others demand renovations. However, the lean machine concept does allow you to validate much quicker than conventional text books may have you think. For example?

Well, one of my clients has been evaluating a thrilling vision that combines production with education. He started to put together large budgets over a relatively long time span. Suddenly, one day, ‘he got it’. He walked in and said very proudly: “All I need to do is set up a limited manufacturing scheme and test if there is demand. If yes, then I can ask others to risk more capital”. Absolutely, and he is now urgently seeking a location and in order to launch within a month.

Another customer has been pondering for some time how to set up a specific service. But how, and will it triumph? Eventually, I encouraged him to turn to others who had succeeded in the same industry to find out if there is a specific model to follow. The advice was simple and fairly uniform: ‘Get out there and meet your customer. Do not sit around, building up meaningless strategies.’ this coming week should see some breakthroughs.

There is rarely a short route to success. Most have to graft towards growth. However, a lean approach can cut out much of the initial deliberations, which are sometimes simply a waste of time and resources.