The document provides 5 tips for pushing a business forward: 1. Have a great idea and identify the appropriate market. If investors are not interested, refine the idea. 2. Assemble a team of well-rounded, flexible people who can handle anything during the startup phase. Having a strong team can increase chances of funding even without a compelling idea. 3. An MBA is not necessary for success - some of the most successful entrepreneurs like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did not have advanced degrees. What matters most is being smart, capable and having a great supporting team. 4. As the business scales, it may require different types of specialists instead of the original employees. Founders must remain unattached

1. 5 Way to push your business
1. Start with a great idea. It might seem simple, but having a great idea—either
a groundbreaking new product or an innovative service—is half the battle.
If you have a great idea and are able to identify the appropriate market, then
the company will grow organically and investors will line up to obtain a piece
of the business. But if you find that you—re having trouble securing interest
from investors, then something is simply not clicking.
Either your idea isn—t as great as you thought it was or there isn—t enough
market potential for it. If this happens, it—s time to take your idea in a
slightly different direction. You—ll have to keep doing this until you hit
something that works, or run out of money.
2. Find the best people. The team behind the idea is essential to making the
business stick. During your company—s time as a startup, the first 5-6 employees
are often
people who are specially fit for this phase: They—re well-rounded, flexible and
extremely innovative. During the startup phase, you want a team of aggressive
and dedicated generalists who are able to pitch in and do anything necessary at
the drop of a hat. If a startup idea isn—t compelling enough to secure funding
but the team behind the idea is solid, your chance for investment increases.
3. An MBA education is not necessary. At best, an education can be an indicator
of ability. However, it—s important to understand that a lack of education is
not an
indication of the lack of ability. While hiring from top universities is an easy
way to identify promising employees, there are plenty of high-caliber
individuals who
may not have a Harvard Business School degree.This is especially true in
entrepreneurship. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs—such as Bill Gates
and Steve Jobs—did not receive degrees from undergraduate or graduate programs.
And your clients will not care where you went to school; what they will care
about is whether you—re smart, capable and have a great team supporting
4. Don—t get too attached. Once you have a working product and a few clients,
it—s then time to scale your company. As mentioned, this may take different
types of
people than those you started with, as specialists will be essential to the
company—s long-term success and growth. Some of your original employees will be
able make
this transition and some won—t. It—s a simple fact. it—s important to remain
unattached to both your company and employees. Sometimes good people have to be
let go because they no longer fit with the company—s mission or needs this is
something that must be accepted.
5 Always be transparent. This last point is important. A team should know the
truth about what—s going on at any company and this is especially true at a
startup. Your
employees are (hopefully) fully invested—living and breathing your company—s
mantra day in and day out. They deserve access to information from the
management team and
will expect an honest working environment. And if you—re also a good manager on
top of having a great idea and team, then your company should be well on its way
to long-term success.