Do What You Know Works, But Try New Things Too

When launching or building a business, folks can go one of two ways: stick with tried-and-true techniques, or go for the latest, greatest method. We would argue that the best path lies somewhere in the middle and as with most things in life and in business, balance is the best technique to employ. To that end, we encourage our clients to do what's already been proven to work while making room for new things too.

What do we mean? First off, most entrepreneurs who launch a new business will typically have some relevant experience in the industry. This will naturally inform their decision-making process, goals, and projections. Second, most businesses have a track record of what has worked in the past or is currently working with a similar project.

An entrepreneur should leverage both their personal experience and the historical experience of the business they're buying as they work to launch and grow their new venture. Whether this means leaning on their knowledge of the industry and/or repeating methods that have worked to grow the business in the past. Both choices are based on precedent and bring a measure of safety to the process. It's reassuring to fall back on what's worked previously.

At the same time, it's an unavoidable truth that markets and methods are continuously changing. To match that trend entrepreneurs also need to continuously try new things, employ new methods, and branch out in their techniques. These could extend to and include everything from what, how, and when to make offers to customers to how to deal with partners and third parties. Whether launching a new business from the ground up or working with an existing, recently acquired business, the same advice applies.