The Problems With Starting And Growing Any Business

“In the end, all business operations can be reduced to three words: people, product, and profits.” – Lee Iacocca (Iacocca: An Autobiography, 1984)

When you start a business, you have three concerns — one conceptual, one financial, and one personal:

1. Is your business model viable?

2. Do you have enough money?

3. Do you have the right people?

If you’re smart, hardworking, and a little lucky, you’ll have three “yes” answers for the above questions. Your business will have a successful launch and will grow. The first three or four years will be a struggle, but if you keep at it, you’ll make a breakthrough, sales will go up, and you’ll have a medium-sized company.

With a medium-sized company, you’ll have two major concerns:

1. Do you have enough money?

2. Do you have the best people?

A lack of human and financial resources are the two most likely obstacles to getting your business beyond the medium-size level.

If you get them and your business grows, you’ll enter the big league: You’ll have a company with more than $100 million in sales, hundreds of employees, and a lot of forward momentum.

When you get to that level, you will understand how to make and sell your product and will most likely have the money you need for expansion. The only thing you will probably never have — the one thing that remains the ultimate challenge for any business — is enough really good people.

Bottom Line: If you surround yourself with really superior people, your business will do well and you’ll be a much happier business owner.

[Ed. Note.  Mark Morgan Ford was the creator of Early To Rise. In 2011, Mark retired from ETR and now writes the Palm Beach Letter. His advice, in our opinion, continues to get better and better with every essay, particularly in the controversial ones we have shared today. We encourage you to read everything you can that has been written by Mark.]