1. Qualified & Ready for the Race

Now that you have a written business plan that explains your vision for starting your company and growing it into a large corporation, it’s time to look more closely at the process of getting ready to take your company public. In this lesson, we will consider three important questions:

• What will requirements will my company have to meet?
• How do I get ready?
• Why should I be concerned about this right now?

Taking a company public is described by most CEOs as a grueling process. Like the professional runner who trains for six months or a year to run a marathon, an entrepreneur who ultimately wants to go public often starts getting ready two or three years beforehand. But if you really want to make the process easier, you can start getting ready right now, while your business is just entering start-up stage.  

Take a moment now “fast forward” in your mind to the point in the future when you decide it is time to take your company public. How do you feel? Are you scared and confused, or are you excited and confident?

In Lessons 10, 11, and 12, we are going to have a “dress rehearsal” that will help you prepare for going public. We want you to become confident that you can really make this happen. So as you work through the next three lessons, let’s assume you are now the CEO of a prosperous, growing company — the very company you envisioned when you wrote your business plan in Activity 18 — and you are now getting ready to go public. It’s an awesome time for you and your business! Let’s see what happens!

Click the race car to continue

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