Just around the corner

The feeling that one has as an entrepreneur that break-even or profitability is imminent is a "just around the corner" feeling. Since nobody knows the future and since new ventures lack a past from which to extrapolate, the best that can be done is to develop a strategy that looks like it will produce results just around the corner. A case study is presented about a specialty chemical company. The first person account discusses the problems that occurred as a result of the entrepreneurial attempt. Some of the possible problems include lack of market research, problems developing products suited for local markets, insufficient investment in sales and marketing, or a lack of market focus. It is argued that most R&D-based manufacturing startups take 5 years on average to break even.