7 Common Strategies My Company Avoided That Helped Us Grow Tenfold in a Year

What does it take to grow a company tenfold in a single year?

At AdEspresso, our revenue was a “mere” $500,000 12 months ago. Fast forward a year and we recently hit $5 million.

It is easy to focus on the moves we made to reach this goal. Conversely, it is also important to focus on what we didn’t do. It may sound strange, but this was very much the case at AdEspresso.

Here are seven things you think you should do to grow your revenue, but are probably better off avoiding.

Don't Let Overthinking Your Product Launch Cost You Competitive Advantage

When an entrepreneur comes up with a brilliant idea for a business, the first step is usually to spend months on intensive research. They will develop a prototype, market test it repeatedly, and hone the design until all possible bugs have been removed.

But is this the right approach? As many entrepreneurs have learned the hard way, there’s a downside to preparing for months for a business launch. In fact, there are some good reasons to forego delaying a launch in favor of opening for business as soon as possible.

The Long Game: 6 Prerequisites for a Killer Product That Lasts Forever

Given the fact that only 29 percent of startups see the light of day 10 years after opening their doors, it’s no secret that to stay in the entrepreneurial game for the long term requires not just the individual capacity to focus, work collaboratively and take calculated risks but also the market awareness to constantly refine your product for appeal.

In other words, there are two simple questions every entrepreneur must ask that will determine one’s long-term viability to stay alive in the marketplace:

What is the problem I want to solve?

How does my product or service solve that problem?
Let’s assume you’ve already defined the problem set to solve for. The next step is a bit trickier and necessitates a detailed outline that should serve as an entrepreneurial blueprint. Here are six prerequisites for how your killer product should answer the call: