Managing the Start-Up Phase

  1. Ask for twice as much money as you think you will need because you will need it. Besides, it's much easier to get the necessary funding the first time than when you go back to the wheel the second time.
  2. Hold on to your funds; don't waste them on fancy offices or facilities. Your funds will melt away so fast that it will make your head spin; so don't burn them needlessly.
  3. Don't use personal funds or put your family at risk financially by borrowing on your mortgage to underwrite your company.
  4. There is always a crisis; business rarely runs according to plan.
  5. There is no substitute for hard work. Your start-up will not be easy; no one said it would be. It takes time to build a successful business; so, make the calls.
  6. Be imaginative when evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of your product or services. Build around your strengths; create a new product and or market if necessary. Many successful companies change horses in mid-stream.
  7. Continuously figure out ways to cut costs. Reduce your expenditures to those items that you must have to survive vs. those nice to have.
  8. Make sure that you are selling a product or service to people or companies that have money to buy.
  9. There are advantages to being small. One of them is the ability to make decisions quickly and respond to a prospect's requirements on the spot. Your big competitors can't do this.
  10. Specialize.

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