Anyone Can Start a Company. Growing it, is a Bit Harder!

Anything worth while requires a bit of work and effort. Starting a company is no different. When we first started Imulus the initial excitement, creativity and energy was enough to propel us forward for the first few years. As a services company, our start-up capital was almost nil. A few computers, basic software and slightly longer hours was enough to be up and running.

Within 2 years our salaries were back to pre-layoff levels. However, we now had the freedom to work flexible hours and dictate our future. For this reason alone, I encourage anyone thinking of starting their own company to give it a try. Especially if it isn’t capital intensive.

As we’ve begun to mature, I see that the real challenge in starting a company is actually growing it, and you have to grow! Growing doesn’t necessarily mean you have to continue to hire employees and add new clients. It also means you have to innovate, challenge your skills and take risks. There is a real danger to being content. Sticking solely with what works is the surest path to stagnation and mediocracy.

I’ve repeatedly “heard” people tell me that vision and leadership are important traits to a successful future. Until recently, these words haven’t meant much because we’ve always been in a reactive mindset. To grow, a company needs vision. It needs to know what it wants to be when it grows up, or else it becomes a feral child.

I’d love to say we have this killer vision which is guiding us on a daily basis, but we do not. We have a rough idea of where we want to be but we haven’t developed the roadmap to get there…. yet! This my friends is the trick of growing a company. I’m perfectly confident we’ll find our way and develop a remarkable vision for the future of Imulus.

Until then, I’m open to suggestion, tips and any seasoned advice. The blueprints are out there for everyone to start a company; the growth, well that is an art which is a bit harder to master.