Start small, dream big

Every entrepreneur dreams of going big, and that’s the way it should be. But don’t rush to expand or you might just compromise your core business. Start small, dream big and plan ahead.

Q: I’m from the UK, but currently live in Oslo, Norway. Several months ago, I identified a gap in a market here and jumped on it. I set up a resale website for designer clothes, and during the development stage, the business evolved to a point where I began to see the potential for it to grow much bigger, and possibly more lucrative. Should I pursue the path that is much more scalable, or should I play it safe and focus on my current business model? — Zoë Gale, Norway

The business world is incredibly exciting — just thinking about all the potential opportunities out there can make an entrepreneur’s head spin.

Some people jump from concept to concept in search of an idea that will make them rich, but this is the wrong approach to take: If you get into business solely to make money, you won’t.

Zoë, it sounds as though you’re off to a great start. Entrepreneurship is, and has always been, about finding a market gap and then providing a product or service that makes people’s lives better. You appear to have nailed this part, so congratulations!

Now you have a big decision to make: Do you scrap your old plan and scale up quickly, or should you keep moving steadily forward?

Before you decide, it’s important to evaluate why you got into business in the first place.

I have always sung the praises of dreamers — they move the world forward. While entrepreneurs should dream big, they should also realise that there is value in starting small.

Being passionate about your product and reaching small but important goals can help you turn a big dream into a big reality.

How? Starting small enables entrepreneurs to focus on creating the best product or service possible and ensure that it has long-term value. Once value has been demonstrated, it’s time to think about scaling up the business.

Your experience brings to mind the story of Tradesy, an online marketplace that specializes in selling used women’s clothes.

Years ago, Tracy DiNunzio launched a website aimed at making it easier for women to buy and sell pre-owned wedding dresses. She was passionate about the idea, and she believed that the site would make a big difference. Within six months of launching, Tracy made a profit, and then she began to recognise new possibilities.

She decided that she would expand her business quickly; she put everything she had into starting a website aimed at reselling items for babies and children.

Tracy had been warned about the dangers of getting distracted from her core business so early on, but she ignored the naysayers, hoping that she could make both sites successful at the same time.

Unfortunately, even though Tracy worked hard, her new site failed.

And since it consumed so much of her time and energy, her original concept began to fail as well.

Tracy was resolute about succeeding, so she scaled back and focused on her original business. She did a lot of research and listening, and eventually the core site began to grow and turn a profit once again. Eventually, she felt confident enough to launch a new site, Tradesy.

Today, spurred by everything she learned from her experience with failure, Tracy has grown her business to the point that her website has more than four million users and she has raised more than US$40mil in venture capital financing from investors, myself included.

Her overarching advice for all entrepreneurs who are looking to scale up and expand is to never get distracted from your company’s core focus — and I wholeheartedly agree.

That said, there’s no harm in looking ahead.

In fact, having a clear understanding of where you would like your business to go will be useful when you’re overcoming the obstacles that are bound to pop up. At the very least, it will help keep you motivated.

My advice for you, Zoë, and for any entrepreneur who is weighing the pros and cons of expanding her business, is this: Focus on your passion, start small, dream big and plan ahead.

Scale up only when you are ready — not just because opportunity knocks. — Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate

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