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1. Have A Goal and stick to it – Too many fast- growth business leaders change their goals too often, never quiet completing the plan before starting the next. Set medium-term goal and deliver it. Be flexible about how you achieve your goals.
2.  Listen to Customers – Customers have the most relevant ideas, the most immediate feedback increasingly happy to help (through social media for instance) and they pay the bills. So put in place a formal approach to listen to Customers and acting on their input
3.  Optimise your Product/ Service – What makes you different? Define, document and communicate the difference. Be clear on what your key product/service is. The one that drives the delivery of your vision and make you the serious money. Once you are clear, focus on making Number 1 in the market and constantly reinforce its differentiation. Also experiment in low cost ways to innovate & improve. Also make it difficult for your Competitors to copy
4. No such thing as too much revenue – More revenue leads to more choices about the future. If you don’t have enough revenue, things can get tough very quickly. Put at least 80% of your effort on driving the Sales growth, (whilst making sure the profit is as planned)
5. Punch above your weight in Marketing – Just because you are not yet Glaxo or WPP, does not mean that you cannot act like one in your marketing. Be clear on your Brand message and drive it through all channels confidently
6. Build a strong resilient team – The sooner you build a capable team to take on the day-to-day management of the business, the sooner you will be able to focus on the bigger picture and bigger sales deals and ultimately realise Value
7. Cash is King – Any business, no matter how successful, will fail ultimately, if it runs out of cash. The working capital needs of a fast growth business mean they suffer more than most- particularly if they have to pay bills, before they receive payments. Learn from Private Equity Gurus – collect cash early, keep costs variable, arrange finance before you need it and drive revenue.
8. Focus on High Value Actions – A problem with any business is staying on top of the relentless barrage of problems and issues. Don’t get side-tracked. Identify the things that directly lead to revenue now or in the future and ensure that everyone focusses them as well.
9.  Measure the Actions that Lead to results – Most Businesses measure their results. Its OK to review what has happened in the past but successful fast-growth firms focus on the key activities, which drive future business success. How do your key personnel know whether they have done a good job in the last week/ month? Do not wait for the Accountant to give you the yearly profit.
10. Get Advice – We all make mistakes. Mistakes can be costly, but they are inevitable. Understand the reason for the mistakes. However, repeating mistakes is just stupid, so learn and get advice from someone, who has been through it before – as has been said “Lets make some different mistakes this time”.

(Added to Iain Johnston’s words of wisdom)