把一個創意變成一家初創公司，再將這家公司變成一家欣欣向榮的企業，并不是一個線性的過程，其中既有坎坷與波折，也有挑戰和風險。但不管一家公司的創業之路是否平坦，它總是從一個創意開始的。以我創立的這家名叫Insightly的公司為例。在創辦這家公司之前，我正在經營另一家公司，當時我正在尋找一套客戶關系管理解決方案，以解決這家小公司的需求。但市面上當時并沒有能夠滿足這種需求的CRM產品。沒過多久，我把公司股份賣給了我的合伙人，基于這個創意開發了一套專門針對小企業的CRM產品。

我開始在我家的地下室一個人鼓搗這款產品。在長達9個月的開發期內，我自己和家人的一切開銷都要靠我的個人存款來支撐。計算機專業背景給了我開發產品所需的技術能力。在此期間，我也充分利用了我以前作為一家小企業老板的經驗。我經常問自己：“如果我是用戶的話，我會希望這個產品能做些什么？”在項目的每一個環節，這些問題的答案都為我提供了指引。

事實證明，與Google Apps整合，并且在谷歌應用市場發布Insightly應用，是一種在我們的目標市場——也就是小企業客戶群——打出知名度的好方式。幸運的是，我們發布這款應用時，谷歌應用市場總共才有幾百個應用。我們還借助這一途徑從客戶那里獲得了很多建設性的反饋意見。用戶報告了一些Bug，并且給出了一些關于附加功能的有益建議。

在谷歌應用市場上架之后，下一個挑戰就是如何將業務做大。Insightly剛上架的時候，我設置了電子郵件提醒功能，每次有新用戶注冊Insightly的時候，我都能收到電子郵件提醒。不到48個小時，我妻子就要求我關掉提醒，因為我的手機每五分鐘就會響一次。不到三個月，Insightly已經吸引了超過2萬名用戶。在Insightly上架五年后的今天，我們已經擁有超過100萬用戶。在用戶群增長的同時，公司自身也需要增長。而創業公司在增長過程中面臨的最大難題之一，就是缺乏資金和資源。

創業公司要想把業務做大，就要做到以下三件事：

1、做自己最擅長的事，把剩下的事交給其他人去做。

要想把企業做大，需要的不僅僅是吸引新顧客。要滿足用戶的需要，就意味著你要不斷添加新功能和新選項。作為一家創業公司，雖然我們已經打響了第一炮，但我們仍然缺乏一個大型的研發團隊，也缺乏經驗豐富的IT人員來構建、測試和發布新功能。為了讓Insightly的增長勢頭更加強勁，我們積極推動與現有應用進行整合，使用戶能有更多的工具來運營他們的公司。

我從這個過程中得到的一條經驗是，創業者一定要擅于揚長避短，在添加新功能時，要避免做一些你還沒有準備好的事。你的客戶之所以選擇與你合作，是因為你的產品和服務能解決一個問題。如果你自曝其短，那你就無法獲得任何人的青睞。不管你是采用什么手段來添加新工具和新功能，是通過招募人才也好，還是通過合作或收購也罷，你都不要偏離當初為了使你的產品或服務更有吸引力而確立的價值定位。

2、學會授權。

創業公司的高管往往有一種大包大攬的傾向。但CEO的角色也是需要隨著公司的發展而演化的。如果你在營銷上面花費了太多時間，就需要將這個職責授權給別人。對于招聘或者其它管理工作也是一樣。如果你的項目因為你正在忙著翻簡歷而延誤了，那么你就應該把這項職能授權給其他人。

在早期階段，公司員工往往要頂上很多個頭銜。隨著公司步入正軌，每個人的角色才變得固定起來。通過有效地將部分職能授權給他人，一些有能力的員工也可以承擔起新的任務。這就是為什么創業公司從一開始就要做出明智的招聘決策。這也是我把公司從澳大利亞搬到硅谷的原因之一。我們需要招聘熟練的開發人員，以及像我一樣對Insightly抱有熱情的工程師，而我們在澳大利亞很難找到這種人才。我們不愿意招聘平庸之才，所以就將整個公司搬到美國，開始進行具有戰略意義的招聘，比如招聘一些專門負責產品改進的工程師。這時我才稍微放松下來，能夠放心地將重要的任務授權給其他人，并且相信我一手締造起來的團隊能夠推動公司順利發展，只需要我提供最低程度的指導，他們就能夠創造卓越的成果。

如果你招聘的員工具有和你一樣的熱情和目標，那么你的客戶在與他們打交道的時候，將獲得與你直接打交道時一樣多的關注和關心。小企業的優勢之一就是能夠為客戶提供更多的個性化服務。一定不要忘了這一點，這也是人們一開始選擇你的公司的原因之一。

3、尋找正確的人，承擔一些風險

失敗當然不是企業家愛聽的一個詞。無論是作為個人還是作為企業，我們肯定都希望每件事都能成功。但總有一些戰略會失敗，總有一些創業公司會折戟商海，這是難以避免的。如果你覺得你的公司需要一些東西，或者需要進軍另一個市場，不妨制定必要的計劃，并且大膽嘗試。不要擔心自己會孤軍奮戰，如果你找不到合適的人跟你一起打拼，不妨先自己去做。如果你認為你的創意能成功，就大膽去干。有時雖然創業失敗了，但你也能從中學到寶貴的經驗和教訓。當我剛開始創辦Insightly的時候，一切都靠我自己。而現在公司已經有一支才華橫溢的精英團隊，他們把客戶的成功看得像自己的成功一樣重要。在這個過程中，我學到了一個重要的經驗，那就是當我看準了什么事情時，一定要相信自己的眼光。為了獲得長期的利益，經歷短期的挑戰是值得的。

如何將一家公司做大并不是一門嚴謹的科學。每家公司的成功之路都各有不同。但是沒有一家公司是不用承擔風險就能增長和成功的。有時候，單單是成立一家自己的公司，似乎也是一個重大的風險。如果你已經成功到了一定程度，正在考慮如何做大，那么為什么不再承擔一次風險呢？（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

審校：任文科

Turning an idea into a startup and a startup into a thriving business aren’t linear processes. There are twists and turns, challenges and risks. But no matter the journey a business takes, it starts with an idea. For Insightly, that bit of inspiration came when I was working at another business that I started and went looking for a customer relationship-management solution that addressed the needs of my small business. Unfortunately, there wasn’t anything on the market specifically made to meet those needs. Not long after, I sold my portion of the business to my partner and set out with the idea to develop a CRM purpose-built for small companies.

I bootstrapped the business for nine months from my basement with only personal savings to support me and my family. My computer science background gave me the technical ability I needed to create the product, and I used my own experience as a small business owner in the development of Insightly. At every turn, I asked myself, “What would I want this product to do?” The answers guided every part of the project.

Integrating with Google Apps and launching the app on the Google Apps Marketplace proved to be a great way for us to gain visibility with small business customers – our target market. We were also lucky to launch during a time when there were only a few hundred apps on the marketplace. It also allowed us to get a lot of constructive feedback from customers, reporting bugs and making suggestions for additional features and functionality.

After its launch on the Google Apps Marketplace, the next challenge was to scale. When Insightly first went live, I set up an email notification, so I’d receive an alert every time a new customer signed up. Forty-eight hours later, my wife made me disable the feature because my phone pinged every five minutes. Within three months, Insightly had attracted more than 20,000 users and today, almost five years since its initial launch, we have more than 1 million users. As our user base grew, we needed to do the same. The great struggle for startups trying to scale is doing so without a lot of money and resources.

Scaling up meant doing the following three things:

Do what you do best, let others do the rest

Scaling isn’t only about onboarding new customers. Satisfying customers means constantly adding new features and options. As a startup, even on the heels of early success, we didn’t have a massive development team or roster of experienced IT professionals capable of building, testing, and launching new features. We kept the focus on improving our core CRM and project management capabilities. To make Insightly more robust, we pursued meaningful integrations with existing applications that gave our customers more tools to run their companies.

The lesson is to play to your strengths and make additions to your business that support new features and capabilities without trying to do something you’re not prepared to. Your customers started working with you because your product or service solved a problem. Veering from that won’t endear you to anyone. Whether it’s through bringing in some talented new employees or through partnerships or acquisitions, adding new tools and features without deviating from your initial value propositions makes your offering more attractive.

Delegate

Startup executives frequently try to do everything on their own. However, a CEO’s role needs to evolve with his or her company. If you’re spending too much time with marketing, you need to delegate that responsibility. The same goes for hiring or any aspect of managing the business. When projects start getting delayed because you’re too busy digging through resumes, that task needs to go to someone else.

In the earliest stages of a startup, employees need to wear a number of different hats. As you grow, roles need to become more defined. By delegating responsibilities, skilled employees can take on new tasks. This is why it’s important to make smart hiring decisions from the beginning. This was one of the reasons I decided to relocate the business from Australia to Silicon Valley. We needed to hire skilled developers and engineers that were just as passionate about working on the Insightly product as I was. We just weren’t finding that in Australia. Rather than settling for mediocrity, we moved the business and began making strategic hires, such as engineers to work on product enhancements. It was at this point that I felt comfortable enough to begin delegating important tasks and trusting that the team I was building would run with the ball and achieve great outcomes with minimal guidance.

Finding and hiring candidates who share your passion and vision will ensure that your customers receive the same amount of attention and care from your employees as they would if they were dealing directly with you. One of the great advantages small businesses have is their ability to provide customers with more personal service. You cannot forget this as you start to grow. It’s one of the reasons people chose your business in the first place.

Find the right people and take some risks

Failure isn’t a word entrepreneurs like to hear. We want to succeed – personally and as a company – in everything we do. Inevitably, there will be initiatives or strategies that don’t work. However, if you think your business needs something or can move into an additional market, make the necessary plans and take a chance. And, don’t be afraid to go it alone. If you can’t find the right people to get started with, do it yourself. If you think your idea can work, go for it. Sometimes it won’t work out, but you’ll learn from it. It was just me when I started Insightly, and the company has grown into a full team of talented professionals committed to our customers’ successes as much as our own. From all of this, I’ve learned to trust myself when I believe in something. The short-term challenge is worth the long-term benefit.

Scaling a company isn’t an exact science. Every company will take a different path to success. However, no organization grows and succeeds without taking some chances. Just starting your company probably seemed like a significant risk at one time. If you’ve had enough success to consider scaling up, why not take another?