As a business mentor, I often see this phenomenon. A small team about to or has just launched their operations with mega enthusiasm mixed with trepidation.. and then somebody asks “what next?”

And the answer is an embarrassed silence. Ouch! So how do you avoid that painful scenario?

First, as the kick off day comes ever closer, take a step back and from an objective position ask yourself: “what do I need to enter this business”? What are the resources required? Be honest and respond in detail.

An obvious suggestion, when you coldly read it here. I once met up with a great team, who had been planning away for ages. They knew all the the google refs and more. But when faced with the question of needs, they were flummoxed. It felt like several minutes before somebody could respond. Today, they have a wonderful start up.

Now ask the same question about yourself. What skill-set do you require? For example, if you are operating a one-person enterprise, you will need to be just as adept on the tech side as with sales and with time management. In truth, few of us possess such all round qualities and even less will admit to that. You will need to be able to call on help, advice and even outsourcing services, quickly.

If not, you will almost invariably be left wondering what to do next.

Above all, there is a need to stay focused. A recent article from the Harvard Business Review  referred to this as the “coherence premium“. Personally, it took me far too long to admit that I was a great procrastinator, and it is a common failing I see in others.

You need be able to ask yourself why you find all kinds of “alternative activities”, which keep you busy, but do not actually have anything directly to do with accelerating revenue. In fact, because we are scared or afraid or not ready or whatever, the “now what syndrome” is often quickly converted into something more dangerous. And that is leave-me-alone-as-I-am-busy-doing-lots-of-nothing.

Starting a business should be hard work, fun and rewarding. What few people realise in advance is that Stage 2 can be just as challenging as the preparatory efforts  and you need to be equally focused to cope with it.