Momentum is a critical aspect, one that needs to be maintained in a business regardless of  size and maturity. Momentum does however have a greater level of importance in the early stage of the business cycle. What many start-ups fail to comprehend is that running a business is more like a marathon rather than a 100m dash. Many a time I have seen teams give it their all for around 4-6 months, but eventually fail to keep the level of momentum going. This creates a host of problems as start-up teams do not have enough vested at this stage, and if they do not see enough progress, team members begin to bail out. In order to stop this from happening a business needs to:

1. Have a clear vision where the business is headed.

2. Milestones need to be broken down into manageable and regularly monitor-able goals.

3. Remain focused on immediate short term goals. Avoid distractions at all costs.

4. The entire team needs to be result oriented and rewarded on execution.

5. Follow up wins with bigger milestones and projects. Avoid complacency at all costs.

Building momentum is one of the toughest challenges one will face as an early stage entrepreneur. There will be many ups and downs that need to be weathered in order to create the traction that is needed to get your business moving forward. Be relentless and persevere. If you feel your team is losing momentum, make it your responsibility to not drop the torch regardless of your position on the team. Once momentum is gathered, it becomes an awesome force that will help your business  achieve great levels of success.