Al and Laura Ries * make the point that being first to market with a new product or invention doesn’t mean you win. You also have to be first in the market’s ‘mind’ for that product.

Before you decide to expand you need to examine several aspects of the company, such as skills set, your operations, the financial situation, the rationale for the expansion and the exit. Use this below to prompt your thinking:

This spreadsheet will help you to record and analyse petty cash expenses for your business.

The favoured export market entry strategy favoured is to select a first-priority region, secure initial business revenues and then focus on building operations there, rather than trying to expand into all regions at once. This is termed the win-and-build approach.

This spreadsheet will help you to record and analyse payments made by your business.

Many start up entrepreneurs rush headlong into developing their new product concept, focussing particularly on the technical and operational build aspects.

The favoured export market entry strategy favoured is to select a first-priority region, secure initial business revenues and then focus on building operations there, rather than trying to expand into all regions at once. This is termed the win-and-build approach.

This tool will help stimulate your thinking about a ‘key customer account’ – in a way that you may not have before.

Ken Morse*, Managing Director of the MIT Entrepreneurship Centre, shared these insights into targeting the buying committee in typical B2B sales transactions:

As the business enters into rapid growth stage and marketing and sales effort increases, it is important to focus new staff in sales and service on the target segments.

This spreadsheet will help you to summarise three years' projected cashflows for your business, in a format suitable for inclusion in your Business Plan.

The following market mapping questions can help a supplier better understand how buyers see and rank the solutions and provider brands in their market.

SEC Report filings such as 10-Qs are issued quarterly for public companies and contain their financial results and significant changes/events. Report 10-K is their annual report and outlook for the future. Access these reports, via the internet by googling), for the major public companies that you know operate in your market.

The ABC sales: contribution analysis helps companies to identify the relative value of different market segments and assists in deciding on resource allocation as a result.

What amount of money is needed? How will the funds be used? What interest rate (lending) or return on investment (equity) is the business able and willing to pay? What risks is the business willing to take on for the funding - loss of control through equity financing or loss of the business through liquidation associated with debt financing?

Stefan Stremersch, a visiting associate professor of marketing at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School, has been working to demystify the takeoff of new products around the world.

One of the most important research and analysis requirements is to identify the ‘market category’ in which the ventures ‘product’ competes, along with other brands. This is a significant challenge, not alone at start-up /emerging stage, but also an ongoing basis for established entrepreneurs.