Spice Girls #03

In 1994, Heart Management Ltd placed an advertisement in a trade magazine inviting girls aged between 18 and 23, and who could sing and dance to audition for a new all girl band. More than 400 applied. The five who were chosen became The Spice Girls, and the rest as they say is history. Would it be possible to put together a new business by using a similar approach?

Girl bands and boy bands have been around for decades: Gerry & the Pacemakers, Manfred Mann, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones, to name a few of the early ones. Before that, there were instrumental bands: Glenn Miller and the Dorsey Brothers. Dozens of groups have formed over the years and contributed to our musical heritage.

The difference between the Spice Girls and the other musical groups I mentioned is that the former was created from a group of people who previously had not known one another. And in business, while this is not impossible, is probably unlikely. That's because of the levels of trust that are needed between the members of the team.

That said, if the vetting procedure is sufficiently rigorous, and the legal and financial systems are established from the outset, then it would be possible to start a new business from scratch with a committed group of relative strangers.

But, you know what? You don't have to do it that way. It's always nice to start a business with your best friends, but if they're not interested, then you could start with your own network. Of the hundreds, or even thousands, of friends you have in your social networks, you're bound to find a handful who would be willing to collaborate with you on a first project. And once you had experienced some success with it, you'd know whether or not you wanted to invite that person onto your team.