Thanks, Imajane – very interesting; however, I’m not sure most of us would qualify unless we lie about how many employees we have – bummer. I could fit into either the Rampup or Speedup categories but only have 1 employee unless I count the manufacturer with 18 employees and apply for Rampup. The strange thing is that I would only have to have TWO customers but 5 employees. Here are the three stages of their plan:

My Business is a Startup
I formed a business entity (corporation, LLC., partnership, s corp, sole proprietorship) after January 1, 2006. My business has a minimum of two or more employees (two co-founders – please enter co-founders in the paid employee field -or founder plus employee). My business is somewhere between the product or service concept phase through launch and is focused on the business value proposition.

My Business is a Rampup
My business, founded in 2001 or after, is focused on customer growth and customer needs. My business currently has a product or service in market and has at least two customers. My business’s team (minimum of 5+ people) is developing a sales and marketing plan that can drive growth. My business’s product or service has demonstrated profit potential.

My Business is a Speedup
My business’s growth is being driven by customer demand and is expanding into new markets. My business has a management team in place, has at least 25 employees and is adding employees on a quarterly basis. My business has established a revenue run-rate of $10mm.