you need to ask for another loan before
you’ve paid off the last one, you’re likely
to see a previously generous lender turn
more reticent than Ebenezer Scrooge.
And similarly …
17. Talk to people when you don’t
need their help. If you get a reputation
of only calling when you want something,
you’ll soon have trouble getting your calls
answered. You’re already enforcing the
same rule on people who call you, aren’t
you? And finally …
18. Remember the (Colin) Powell Doctrine: don’t get into anything unless you
know how you’d get out of it. This is nowhere more true than in a business.
Do you want to keep it for life and pass
it on to your kids? If so, do they want
it? Do you want to get bought out? If
so, do you want that buyout to include
a good job with the buying company?
(Not usually something that works out
for more than a year. You didn’t like
working for someone else’s company,
remember? If you go this route, be
prepared for getting quietly pushed
out.) Do you want to go public and
cash out? Do you want to make a certain amount of money and then quietly
close down?
Your exit strategy dictates a lot of
other decisions. For example, if you
want to retire in 10 years and don’t care
whether the business continues after
that, growing rapidly and hiring a bunch
of people will head you into trouble.
If you plan to go public, high-quality
record-keeping is essential. If you want
to stay for life, don’t get an ambitious
board that might decide you’re holding
the com pany back fr om gr eater
success.
If you have questions, I do happen to
have some time available …
Good luck!
Douglas A. Samuelson (samuelsondoug@
yahoo.com), D.Sc., is president and chief
scientist of InfoLogix, Inc., a consulting and R&D
company in Annandale, Va., and a contributing
editor of OR/MS Today and Analytics. He has
been a federal policy analyst, a high-tech
inventor, entrepreneur and executive,
a consultant and a researcher. He is a senior
member of INFORMS.
Request a no-obligation INFORMS Member Benefits Packet
For more information, visit: http://www.informs.org/Membership
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