John Haag most recently guided CallisterHaag, where he provided informed solutions to issues confronted by growth companies in need of operational support. John Haag’s experience extends to enabling companies to achieve funding goals that enable go-to-market strategies to reach fruition.
A recent Forbes article points to the hard realities facing startup businesses, with some 80 percent of entrepreneurs failing at their venture within 16-18 months of launch. With lack of cash a major issue, half of small businesses fail within the first year and only three percent of growth companies make it past their fifth year.
With funding increasingly difficult to obtain, a significant challenge involves the sheer number of startups competing for limited venture capital. This results in higher benchmarks and less room for error among funded companies. In turn, many entrepreneurs are driven toward creative ways of bootstrapping their venture with minimal amounts of capital.
For those entrepreneurs seeking to avoid a complete reliance on sweat equity, the business plan is essential. In as concise a way as possible, it must provide measurable steps toward meeting goals, as well as realistic assessments of target audiences and the competitive landscape. One key attractor is for a venture to make the extra effort in defining exactly when it expects to launch a product or service, and how it will achieve a disruptive niche within a specific market or sector.
