Think big, start small, act fast.

The stepping out journey of almost every start-up around the world begins in a pretty much similar way. It all starts with a great “disruptive” idea, with a “rock-star team” and a very “sustainable business model” which might lure few good investors to put their money in and everything seems to be in place. But then why majority of these super enthusiastic companies plummet to death? Probably because they are starting out big, thinking small and not acting fast enough.

Think Big

Many entrepreneurs get trapped into the mind-set of incremental thinking.

Growth, market share, revenue.

This is all what they keep on thinking about rather than keeping the bigger picture in mind. Of making something big, of solving the bigger problem, of thinking innovatively. It is very important for the early-stage startups to coherently articulate the company’s mission, vision and the impact it is going to make so that all the stakeholders of the company can align with a singular vision and carve the pathway towards success.

Start Small

Big things often have small beginnings.

Successful entrepreneurs often believe in taking small steps, one at a time rather than jumping head-on to take bigger unmanageable leaps.

Divide your bigger goal into smaller targets and achieve them step-by-step keeping the bigger goal in mind.

Keep on BUILD > MEASURE > LEARN > REPEAT

Starting small gives you an in-depth understanding of the business and since everything is always within arm’s reach you can control and put a growth-checkpoint at each step.

With this approach you can always keep an eye on detailing. No detail is too small to escape. Leave no stone unturned. Leave no dot unconnected.

Act Fast

Learn fast and correct fast. Always follow the approach of Minimum viable product (MVP) first. Do a prototype, gather information, analyse the results and act accordingly.

Many startups fail to generate enough feedback loops, get obsessed with their idea and miss the chance to learn and correct at right moment of time. This ultimately triggers a chain reaction towards failure.

Always be aware of what you are doing and see whether it is leading you towards your ultimate goal or not.

So what is your success mantra or is there a failure post mortem you performed?