Talking with business owners and entrepreneurs everyday, you come to understand the many dos and don’t of starting a new business. If you are an entrepreneur who hasn’t done a startup yet, you may want to pay close attention to the next thing I am going to tell you… YOU ARE GOING TO FAIL! YES, I just started my blog post by telling you something negative. You may not fail in the next week, or month or year, but sometime in the next while, you will fail. I don’t say this to scare you, but to inform you.

[quote cite=’Ryan Boutin’ align=’right’]Any failures you experience only stand to make your success taste even better.[/quote]Every successful entrepreneur has failed in the past and will fail again in the future. Some of the greatest failures have become the greatest successes. There are great resources out there from entrepreneurs that tell you how to fail and the reasons why entrepreneurs fail. This article is not going to focus on the reasons why you fail, but rather help you see a great approach to help you succeed.

When I speak with business owners about their startup, the best advice I can give them is “take bite-size pieces.” A business plan for future growth is necessary, but realizing the stages of growth is equally, if not, more important.

[mark]Plan for growth in phases.[/mark] It is important to focus on one area of growth at a time. You may find that your plan for growth changes dependant on customer response and sales figures. Once you have found that your initial idea and focus are working well, bite off another piece to chew on. You cannot eat the whole steak at once, but piece by piece. You may find that trying to grow with too many products or services at once is counter-productive and actually limits growth. Do what you do and do it well… then bite off another piece.

My company provides web development and small business marketing, but our roots began in graphic design. Website design is something we’ve added to our services, because it is what our clients began asking for. Since the addition of website design, the business has grown leaps and bounds. We found that focusing on one item and then expanding in phases, caused steady and consistent growth.

Ask yourself the important questions and determine if timing is feasible. Will the next product or service be a compliment to my business? Can my business handle the logistics of growth? What will suffer if our focus changes?