Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I think there are two different general approaches to a start up company

1. Put you feet in the water and Wade-In. These companies typically start with two or three employees and slowly grow with the market often times taking years to break through the red. They can be quite rewarding with good cost control efforts but often times overall activity is very limited because of size and resources.  

2. Dive-In. If you have done your research and understand your market capabilities then you can jump in with five or ten employees and start swimming. Dive in start ups involve more risk and financial backing. A good business plan is necessary as well. The reward for successful Dive-Ins can be serious GAP and an opportunity to grow the business stronger and diversify within your market.

I want to here some Dive-in success stories and some wade-in ones as well.   

 

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Ryan Hice ryan.hice@soi.com

I`ll ask the stupid question. What`s GAP?


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Hey Steve,

good question, Gross Annual Profit

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Ryan Hice ryan.hice@soi.com

This is the very question I am faced with right now - wade or dive.  Having spent over 20 years in the industrial b2b chemical & wholesale supply business in Detroit, I am now entering a completely different national market with b2b and a direct retail approach (no, I`m not trying to play both sides of the fence - different segments).  I believe in the market, my product, the demographics, the approach and that dynamic growth is probable, not just possible.  It`s just that I am tethered to my experience of cost control and helping my sales force claw for every industrial sale.   I am reluctant to believe that, no matter how different, this business could very well be the same.  Can anyone offer some "self help questions" on this?

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"Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in that grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat" Theodore Roosevelt