Rule #1 : Start Small, But Think Big

I have been compiling rules that I live by as a CEO. Many of these I picked up through the years and learned some through difficult real world lessons. From time to time I'm going to outline one of them to give you all a deeper insight to how I run a business.

Today's rule:
1.Start Small But Think Big:
You can’t conquer the world over night, you need to start out within the constraints you have and have a plan to grow your business as revenue picks up. However, think BIG and set your sites high. Chances are that wherever you set your sights, you’ll end up ¾ of the way there.

Entrepreneurs often make the mistake of coming out of the gate really big. What I've learned throughout the years is that unless you have a lot of experience in the exact business (as is often not the case with entrepreneurs), then you will need to debug and "beta" test your business strategy. You can't do this if you are in the national spotlight. by starting small, you can change what doesn't work, and increase what does, then as you refine your model, the sky is the limit.

The second part of this lesson is that a lot of entrepreneurs start small and think small. They start a local company with their sites set on being the biggest such company in their town or county. The problem with this is that you will never (most likely) be any bigger than that small goal you set for yourself.

What I do is start small and local, but think national, or even global. this way I have time to refine my strategy but plan and grow as big as possible. This is clear in the acquisition of Global Media, our distribution company. I bought a small distribution company which gave me A++ ratings on all the retail sites, over two years of positive customer service rankings and all we needed to do was change the focus from small to huge. Now we are ramping up the inventory levels and can become a distribution giant as long as we increase the inventory enough.

My number one rule is start small but think BIG. It will never fail you.
Thank You,
Raymond Barton