IncQuery: How Do I Get to the Next Level?

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"You need to begin by giving yourself more credit for what you've done," says Hendricks. "It isn't easy to build a $10-million company, let alone a $20-million company. I'd say you're doing a fine job, and I'm sure your management skills have grown in the process. If you want to learn more, you should get involved in industry associations. Go to trade shows. Attend business conferences. Spend more time with people who have real hands-on experience in your industry and other industries, and from their ideas, pick and choose the ones that make sense for you.

"There's really no big mystery to keeping up with your business. The main thing is to make sure the company continues to do whatever made it successful in the first place, and never lose track of where you want to go. Everybody told me my company would be different at $100 million, and then at $300 million. People said, 'Oh, man, when you get to $700 million, it's a whole different ball game.' I didn't listen to any of that crap. I just did what was necessary to keep moving forward -- staying in touch with customers and employees, focusing on the basics, learning from mistakes -- and my knowledge and skills more or less evolved. Yours can, too."

The First Step
I have an idea for a business that I think could be very successful -- a gym and recreation center with three or four basketball courts and some weight and exercise equipment. It would be a clean, safe, comfortable place, open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., where men and women would come to work out and play or watch basketball. We'd cater to real basketball fans, although the space could also be used for parties and small-business events. There would be vending machines with snacks and drinks. We'd also videotape the games so that players could watch and analyze their moves the way the pros do. My question is, What should I do first? --Randy

Ari Weinzweig has cofounded seven companies, including a world-famous delicatessen, all of which are part of the Zingerman's Community of Businesses, in Ann Arbor, Mich. He has also advised many other entrepreneurs through Zingtrain, Zingerman's training and consulting business. "I'd start by writing down what success will look like," he says. "You need to have a clear, inspiring, and strategically sound vision, which is different from a business plan. Think about where you want to be in 10 years. What will go on in the gym? Why will it be special? How will customers talk and feel about it? What will the staff feel about it? How will the community view it? What will your role be? How much money will you make? How much time will you be spending in the business? All those things. I've written articles on this, if you'd like to see them.

"Without going through some such process, it's very difficult to know how to proceed. If your vision is to have 300 gyms across the country and a publicly traded company, you need a start-up plan that's very different from the one you'd have if you just wanted one really special gym in Des Moines. For that matter, you might handle the launch one way if food was going to be the differentiating factor and another way if you were planning to emphasize some sort of special equipment.

"So it's important to think through all those issues. Of course, you'll eventually have to decide on specific action steps, but that comes later. You need to begin with the end.

"Once you have the vision down, you should bounce it off people you respect and those who play a significant role in your life -- family members, bankers, partners, advisers, and so on. Not that you should necessarily let them change your vision, but their reactions will help you clarify what you want to do. You can then figure out the near-term action steps you have to take. They'll pretty much flow from the vision."

HAVING TROUBLE SLEEPING LATELY?

Could you use some advice from an experienced entrepreneur who's been where you are and figured out what works and what doesn't? Send your questions to IncQuery@inc.com. Editor-at-large Bo Burlingham, aided and abetted by Street Smarts columnist Norm Brodsky, will find the best people around to answer them. And if you don't like their answers -- well, you can tell us that, too.

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