Part 3: There’s something to that K.I.S.S. rule

The first two posts of this series told you of some of the issues we had when we tried to partner with an organization to help us grow faster. This experience reminded us about the merits of sticking to what you know and for us that is simplifying your business.

We thought we needed some help learning new ways of approaching investors and funding groups so we could hire the extra staff and develop new products without changing the relationships we currently value. Getting wrapped up in our future issues kept us from seeing short-term potential.

Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, authors of Rework, recommend staying away from financial partnerships and investors for as long as possible. By holding yourself up by the bootstraps you can change direction and follow your entrepreneurial idea through the way you initially dreamt. When you start focusing on raising money, you sacrifice great work to spend time wooing people, filling out applications, and developing a repayment strategy.

Trading external input for bigger digs and more people restricts your progress to the pace of your investors. You will be amazed at what you can achieve with a small, agile team and virtual office space.

We revisited our goals at the end of the process and realized we probably weren’t ready to expand yet. Taking the time to hire slowly allows you to integrate your new employees properly to give them a better understanding of what you stand for and how you operate.

Take a moment to step back from your planning and think about what you are doing, what you could polish, and what you really need. We would love to hear tales of taking it slow in the comments section.

Part Two: Stick to your guns
Part One: Why a meal of crow can be very satisfying