Some Do's and Don'ts for Growing a Startup

A startup business that is eager to expand must have a strategy in place to stay out-in-front of the growth. Your product has to have the potential to sell enough, not just to have a sustainable business, but to meet future growth targets. In a startup, it’s important to plan in small increments, and correct often. Don’t spend too much time doing all those things that are considered ‘general wisdom’ about startups. Most of them are unnecessary or get in the way later on.

Here are some specific do’s and don’ts to consider when growing your startup:

DO

• Describe your product in detail and put that description in writing. Be very clear about what you are actually selling.
• Once you understand your product and how it fits into the marketplace, spend most of your time finding customers. If you don’t have enough customers, you won’t have a business.

DON’T

• Write a long business plan. Startups are too fluid to work from a rigid plan.
• Worry about employees. There are plenty of them out there.
• Worry about money. If you have a great product and customers to buy it, the money will follow.
• Worry about lawyers. They are costly and add very little value to a startup.

I like the model in the book Business Model Generation because it will help you to identify key needs and constraints that your startup will face.

- barney