What's the Most Important Ingredient to Startup Success?

Forget business plans. Forget leadership books. Forget innovation. If you're just starting your business, the most important task is keeping your company afloat. How do you do it? You do it through quick, efficient, and effective sales. Cashflow, as they say, is king. As cliche as that may sound, and as "de-mythified" by the pseudo "biz-expert-cuz-I-declared-so" crowd as it's been, cashflow for a startup has and will always be king. If you don't have the cash, you won't have the resources to serve your grand ideas. You won't be able to manage employees because you have no cash to pay them. You can't use the various Web 2.0 tools for your business because, well--you're living with your mama. No, I'm not saying you should be focusing on the me-first selling attitude. I'm saying this: serve your customers well, but in areas where they'll pay you--quickly, and surely. Rough rule of thumb: the money you make is proportional to the value you provide to your clients. So, serve them well. Focusing on something besides cashflow will keep you in mom's basement. Word.

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