Lessons Learned: Spotting 'warning' signals

Entrepreneurs should be "flexible" and "adapt" to the environment, said coComment CEO Matt Colebourne. "Don't be afraid of making mistakes," Matt said. "The reality is that things will change." That's particularly the case with businesses on the Internet and with startups. In small companies, "you have to take risks, even when you're not 100% sure." To this end, one of the big lessons Matt learned was identifying the signals that indicate it's time to change strategy or products or target customers. The way to do that is to set goals and milestones. If they're not made, then you have to go back to the drawing board. "Make sure you have a vision of how something is going to progress," he said. "And, as soon as it diverges, go have another look."

This is great advice and something many entrepreneurs have suggested: It's never too late to change a business model or plan. But you have to spot when you're going the wrong path. Next week, I'll be releasing Scott Banister's lessons an advice. In that interview, Scott talks about how PayPal had about 40 employees before the payment platform transitioned from being a payment solution for Palm Pilots to a payment solution for online sites, like eBay.