大多数公司做不下去的原因是什么?

企业家内部网络是美国的一个在线社区，美国创业界最睿智、最有影响力的一些大咖会在这里及时回答与创业和职业有关的问题。今天的问题是：“如何令一家创业公司保持成功？”回答问题的是 Xero公司的营销总监安迪•拉克尔。

创业是件很有意思的事情。你的公司刚一成立，你就会意识到，自己已经在管理一家真正的企业了。

作为创始人，你必须考虑怎样融资，请谁当顾问，怎样写计划书，如何路演，如何把公司做大，等等。同时还需要考虑如何打造一家全球性的公司，以及如何能与一群潜在投资人搭上线。

我每年都会与很多创业公司的创始人聊天，在我看来，要想让创业保持成功，就要做好三个根本问题：

1、时刻牢记基本面

很多公司之所以做不下去了，是因为他们没有足够的客户或资金——很多公司甚至既没有客户，也没有资金。所以只要到了可以开发票的时候，就要尽快开发票。在你的业务开始或结束前就开票则更好。要把开票和收款当成一项日常工作来干。千万别以为客户越大，他们付款的速度就越快，因为通常来说，情况恰恰相反。你一定要对付款条件极为清楚，而且如何可能的话，尽量要求对方降低这些付款条件。如果你的贸易条款规定付款时间为90天，那么尽量要把它压缩到60天，这将有益于改善你的现金流。

你需要注意的基本要素有很多。我曾见过很多创业者在公司启动前还没拿到关键的合同，也见过很多创业公司一开始没有雇一名自己的会计。要知道，如果你做到了这些基本的东西，你的成功几率就会大大提高。

2、不集中精力就会失败

你要么在具体的任务上集中全部精力，要么就会彻底玩完。

成功会带来机会，而机会则会带来一些令你分心的事。商业导师、印度教领袖丹达帕尼解释道，你的注意力在哪里，你的精力就会跟到哪里。在一家新公司刚刚成立的时候，我们会把很多精力花在公司上。而在取得一些成功之后，我们的注意力就会扩展到一些其他的事情上，而我们的精力也会跟过去。

经常会有人问 Xero公司的创始人罗德•特鲁里，问他是否愿意向一些即将成立的初创公司投资，或是为其提供指导，或者加入他们的董事会。他的回答经常是：“对不起，我把所有精力都投入到Xero上了。”他刚刚创立Xero的时候，公司只有一些名不见经传的小客户。如今，Xero已经成为一家全球性企业，坐拥数十亿美元市值，订阅用户超过60万名。所以说，你要么全心投入，要么就会彻底玩完。

3、精力和激情是成功的一半

如果老板们对他们的公司很有激情，那么他们浑身都会散发着一种正能量，会对公司的产品、客户尤其是对自己的员工抱有极高的热情。

我曾经见过一家大型咖啡烘焙店的老板。第一次见面，他就花了足足20分钟时间，跟我讲他手下的那些咖啡师有多优秀，讲他们多有创意，讲他们曾给顾客带去怎样优秀的体验。他还说，他曾掏钱送他们到世界各地参加各种咖啡烘焙比赛。

他并非只是创造了一个快乐的工作环境，而是使这种快乐具有了传染性。在他的传染下，他的员工们都精力十足地为顾客服务，从而使他的公司具备了业内无与伦比的产品和顾客体验。

你想让你的初创公司保持成功吗？方法很简单。首先，永远不要忘了那些基础的东西。其次，要集中精力，把全部精力投入进去，以免丢西瓜捡芝麻。再次，是要想方设法将工作变成乐趣。这三点并非只是嘴上说说那么简单，而是需要你去点燃每名员工的激情。这三点中，如果有任何一点没有做到，那你恐怕不久就会变回光杆司令了。如果这三点都没做到，你很快就得再次创业了。（财富中文网）

译者：朴成奎

The Entrepreneur Insiders network is an online community where the most thoughtful and influential people in America’s startup scene contribute answers to timely questions about entrepreneurship and careers. Today’s answer to the question “What are some tips for maintaining a successful startup?” is written by Andy Lark, CMO of Xero.

Startups are funny things. No sooner than you’ve launched, you realize you are managing a real business.

Founders need to think about fundraising, boards of advisors, pitch decks, roadshows, and their ability to scale. They need to figure out how to build a global company and how best to pitch a group of potential investors.

For the many startup founders that I talk to every year, maintaining success distills down to three simple things:

Never forget the fundamentals

Most operations go out of business because they don’t have enough customers or money—normally at the same time. So invoice as soon as you can, preferably before you start or finish the job. Make invoicing and collections a daily ritual.

Never assume that the bigger a client is, the faster they’ll pay. Normally it’s the opposite. Be extremely clear on payment terms and consider reducing them where possible. If your terms of trade are 90 days, squeeze that down to 60. It’ll help to boost your cash flow.

The list of fundamentals is a long one. You’d be amazed the number of businesses I go into that fail to get key contracts in place before starting jobs, or fail to sign on a bookkeeper or accountant at the beginning. Your chances of success increase exponentially when you do.

Focus or fail

You’re either all in on a very specific task or you’re all over the place.

With success comes opportunity. And with opportunity comes distractions. Business coach and Hindu leader Dandapani explains that where your attention goes, your energy goes. In the early days of a new venture, we allocate a lot of energy to it. As success lands, we expand our focus and our energy goes with it.

Xero founder Rod Drury is often asked if he’d like to invest in up-and-coming startups, mentor, or sit on boards. More often than not, his response is, “Sorry, I’m all in on Xero.” He’s built a business from a few customers at the bottom of the world to a global enterprise worth billions of dollars, servicing more than 600,000 subscribers. You’re either all in or all over the place.

Energy and a passion to win are half the battle

When business owners are energized about their companies, they create a sense of hustle. They are passionate about the product, the customer, and especially the people.

I once met with the owner of a major coffee roaster, and he spent the first 20 minutes telling me all about his amazing baristas—how innovative and creative they were, about the amazing experiences they were creating for customers, and how he was flying them all over the world to compete in coffee-making competitions.

It wasn’t just that he was creating a fun work environment. He was making the fun infectious. His passion for energizing his people around the customer was resulting in a product and customer experience that is simply unrivaled in the industry.

So, you want to maintain your startup’s success? Simple: Never forget the fundamentals. Focus—go all in to avoid being all over the place. And make it fun. Combined, that means lots more than lip service. It means igniting the passion of every employee. Fail to do any of these three and you will be a startup of one employee pretty quickly. Fail at all three at once, and you’ll be starting again.