TODD PRICE

1. Give Yourself Plenty Of Runway

Businesses usually need longer to take off than you might think; it's rarely a case of "build it and they will come." If you don't have enough funding–or prospects for funding and revenue–to carry your business for at least two years, then you might not be ready to take the plunge. It's not the same as "fail fast," but not everyone can afford to fail repeatedly. - Daniel Altman, Instawork

2. Commit To Your Own Vision Of Success

It might look like others are rocketing straight to the top, but that's just the final leg of a much longer journey. Commit to your own vision of success and take consistent action to achieve it. Most people have great ideas, but very few bring them to life because they can't execute them consistently. People who look like an overnight success have almost always been working on it every day for years. - Andrea Fryrear, AgileSherpas

3. Realize This Is A Long-Term Game

Entrepreneurs have first off got to realize that this is a long-term game. You have to have patience. The wide array of channels to reach potential customers is a game changer, however, a majority of entrepreneurs compare themselves to others. Don't do that! There will always be people ahead of you. Just focus on your goals, be genuine, learn from failures, stay positive and never give up! - Todd Price, Perimeter Roofing

4. Giving In To The Pressure Can Result In Mistakes

Succumbing to pressure to succeed is an immediate failure. Anything worth anything takes time. The result of pressure is making the No. 1 mistake of raising money too soon. Organically growing your business and learning what’s right and wrong takes time. You have to do it that way to understand your market. If you’re not learning lessons, you will feel pressure—it’s a warning that you don’t have a viable business. - Peter Strack, The Strack Group

5. Create Your Own Paradigm Of Success

In this life, it is useless to compare yourself to anyone else. The sooner you realize the only competition is you, the faster you can confidently do the things that will make you successful. I create a five-year vision of where I want to be professionally, personally and health-wise. I then work towards that vision and create my own paradigm of success. - Joe Crandall, Greencastle Associates Consulting

6. Focus On Steady Growth

There is no shortcut to success. Every entrepreneur should focus on creating a sustainable business with steady growth rather than immediate results. Immediate results can be good for boosting your confidence but if the strategy is not repeatable, you will soon struggle to grow and scale. - Sneha Lundia, Step2Growth

7. Define What Success Means To You

Start by defining what success actually is and time-box it. Depending on the startup, simply developing a prototype, acquiring a single client or hiring your first employee within a given timeframe may be a great indicator that you are on the right track. - David Nugent, Next League

8. Balance Passion, Persistence And Purpose

Be patient. The entrepreneurial roller coaster is one laced with excitement, frustration and confusion. Be diligent about who you view as mentors in addition to potential customers of your product or service. Balancing passion, persistence and purpose are key in terms of how you present your “message" to your audience. Building a brand is paramount, and distinguishing your value proposition is key. - Pete Tseronis, Dots and Bridges LLC

9. Maintain An Ongoing Feedback Loop

First, you should define your goals and be sure they match up with your definition of success. As you implement a strategy to achieve these goals, a key driver of what channel you pursue should be how fast the existing entities in this space can match your potential competitive advantage. Maintain an ongoing feedback loop to determine growth, profitability and the competitor's response. - Charles Divencenzo , NAFA (National Association for Fixed Annuities)

10. Embrace The Pressure To Be Successful

Embrace the pressure to be successful fast. It's real. If you can’t, pivot. The secret to investors is that they expect you to do all the prospecting since you're hunting for the gold seam, and it's their job to bring in the heavy, expensive equipment to get that gold out of the ground. Find the gold seam in your space, as nobody will find it for you. Ideally, you find it first, so the clock is ticking! - David Perry, Carro

11. Don't Rush It

The success of a company takes more than just a good idea and some money, it also takes time. You've got to invest in every aspect of your business for it to truly be a success. Don't rush it, as Rome wasn't built in a day and overnight successes didn't happen overnight. Invest in time, invest in people, invest in your mission and invest in your business. - Chase Flashman, ShipSigma

12. Work With Customers To Scale

This new landscape of access to customers and entrepreneurship unlocks the opportunity for customer/problem-driven innovation. This means you can actively work with customers to incrementally identify and solve issues while at the same time scaling your product and processes to support growth. While this approach in the short term is slower, it ensures product market fit and long-term growth. - Joseph Knecht, Proteus

13. Meet Customers Where They Are

Take the time to understand where your customers are and meet them there—whether it is at a golf course, by text or over email. Reaching customers takes not only time and money, but also the willingness to understand who they are, what they care about and what pain points you are alleviating. If you can invest in learning, you will build better customer relationships through channels that matter. - Emilia D'Anzica, Growth Molecules

14. Take Risks And Innovate

When you're an entrepreneur, it's your job to take risks and innovate. Sometimes those risks don't pay off, but that doesn't mean you can't turn things around and make them work out in the end. If something isn't working as planned, adapt and try something new. You may be surprised at how quickly things can turn around if you're willing to adapt or change your approach. - Meg Yim, MSA Security



15. Do The Work

This isn’t the same as “wait your turn,” which I always hate hearing myself, but when I look at whether I’ve actually performed at the level from which I expect results, it becomes perfectly clear whether or not my impatience is warranted. - Carson Porter, REV Agency Syndicate