What Not to Do
Mistakes 15 through 17
Simultaneously, I will keep the option open to sell it in case I
can't get something more proprietary. That means I won't
sign international agreements that would kill any opportunity to
sell it to a multinational. I will make sure that the patent work
is done properly. And I'll try to make sure manufacturing is up
to the standards of any multinational company that I might try to
sell it to. Another exit strategy can be to hand the company to [your] kids
someday. The most important thing to do is to build a company with
value and profits so you have all the options: Keep the company,
sell the company, go public, raise private money [and so on]. A
business can be a product, too." 5 Tips to Get You on the Right Track Is there any difference between doing nothing wrong and
doing everything right? Peter Russo, director of Boston
University's Entrepreneurial Management Institute, says that
while you're avoiding John Osher's 17 mistakes, you should
also try to do five key things right. "If you do those five
things, you're probably not going to make those other
mistakes," he says. Here are Russo's five things start-ups
should do:
1. Know your goals
for the venture. "A lot of people see an opportunity
without ever asking themselves what they're doing it for,"
says Russo. "Are they trying to make a quick buck? Create a
legacy? Have a lifestyle? There are a lot of reasons. It's
critical that you know from the beginning what your goals are,
because everything else is going to revolve around that." Content Continues Below
2. Recruit and hire
the best people. "It sounds almost cliché now to
say I'd rather have an A team with a B idea than a B team with
an A idea. The right team can fix a lot of problems. If you
don't have the right team, you don't have much of a
chance," Russo says. "Get the best people available at
the time." 3. Develop a
forgiving strategy. "Things are going to go
wrong," he says. "They're going to be harder, take
longer and cost more money than you think. You have to have a
strategy to survive. A lot of people put together a plan that will
work only if everything goes right. It's not going
to." 4. Be honest with
yourself. "Recognize shortcomings, weaknesses and
problems immediately. Do not ignore them or try to talk yourself
out of them," Russo says. "Address them
head-on." 5. Commit to the
business. "You can't really do anything significant
without fully committing yourself to it. A lot of people try to
dabble," he explains. "They think they'll do it part
time [and] see how it works out. If you plan to be successful, you
have to commit."
Mark Henricks writes on business and technology for leading
publications and is author of Not Just a Living.
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