Nail It Then Scale It 

Successful entrepreneur and NISI author, Paul Ahlstrom will be the keynote speaker at Salt Lake Community College's, Miller Campus, on May 22nd, 8:30am. He will be speaking on why most new businesses fail and why a few entrepreneurs have a habit of winning over and over. He will show the audience successful methods for identifying markets and business channels and provide insights as to how entrepreneurs can effectively scale production and sales, leading to business success.

1. Nail the pain. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Avoid the three big mistakes, of guessing but not testing the pain (on real customers), selecting a low customer pain (solution is only nice to have), or selecting a narrow customer pain (small number of customers willing or able to pay).
2. Nail the solution. Neither breakthrough technology nor maximum features will assure that “if we build it, they will come.” In fact, NISI recommends starting with the minimum focused set of features and technology that will drive a customer purchase. Success demands testing the solution early and quickly in the market, then iterating to get it right.
3. Nail the go-to-market strategy. In parallel with nailing the solution, you need an in-depth understanding of your target customer’s buying process, the job they are trying to get done, the market infrastructure, and a stable of serious pilot customers. Do real tests with real pricing to see if customers will pay you, without being pushed.
4. Nail the business model. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model. For example, when you think about distribution channels, revenue streams, or the relationship with the customer, ask customers what they expect. Don’t forget a viable financial model of costs, margins, customer acquisition, and break-even.
5. Scale it. Don’t attempt to scale it until you have a proven repeatable business model that predictably generates revenue. Only then is it time to focus on the get-big-fast strategy, and the transformation of three key areas from startup to a managed growth company. These areas include market, process, and team transitions.

http://www.nailthenscale.com
http://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2011/09/18/adopt-the-new-startup-model-nail-it-then-scale-it/