GALT Consulting LLC

The thing to know about pursuing that “great idea” is that you don’t know what you don’t know.  The maker of the first sliced bread machine had no idea that it would catch on fire soon after it was built (true story…  I wonder if he also invented toast…).  You don’t really know who your customer will be or why they will ultimately use your service.  You don’t know how your product will be perceived and you certainly don’t know what your competition will do.  There is always uncertainty in business, but in the beginning of a new venture, your judgment lacks it’s most valuable asset… experience.

Let me be blunt.  The day you decide to launch your business is the day you know the least about what you are doing.  You will never again know less about what you are doing.  You are green.  Do you remember starting your first job and all of things you had to work through just to function?  You’ve seen these same “green” employees come into the company and struggle to do anything.  Yeah… that’s you.  Again, even if you are experienced in business, you are not experienced in this “new idea” because it is a NEW idea. 

Therefore, having established that you, the “new idea” greenhorn, are about to enter into the unknown on a quest that will take you 3-5 years to get up to full speed IF you are successful, I propose some logic to you.  Does it make sense that it is probably a bad idea to spend a lot of money while you know next to nothing about your business?  I’m not saying not to spend money or even not to borrow money.  I’m just saying that you should be aware that you know NOTHING and, if possible, it just might be a good idea to wait until you know SOMETHING.

OK… I’m being a little dramatic here, but I have seen more than a few businesses fail because they spent too much money on things they didn’t need or execute well on.  A friend started a business out of his house and quickly got a few clients (not up to full speed mind you).  Then he heard about a small business loan program and immediately borrowed several thousand dollars.  He hired some employees, bought some equipment, invested in a nice website, and leased an office.  Within 6 months, the website did nothing for him, especially after a trademark issue forced him to change the name of his company.  The office turned out to be a burden and he didn’t really bring in the right people to help him grow his business.  He went out of business with a significant debt.  Would his “great idea” work?  Maybe, but he will never know.  That’s not a great position to be in.