According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Business Employment Dynamics, half of all businesses with employees will survive their fifth year and about 30% will survive their 10th. If you’re a business owner, those are daunting odds.

So how can your business be one of the survivors? Or, better yet, a thriver?

Being good at selling your product or service is not enough — especially if your plan is to grow organically. With or without outside money, there is constant pressure to invest and expand thoughtfully, carefully balancing risks and rewards.

Over nearly two decades, SADA Systems has made many good (and some not-so-good) moves, and along the way, we’ve learned several valuable lessons. Here are five of them:

1. Always Be Sourcing

Sales and pipelines are the lifeblood of an organization’s growth strategy, but client diversity is key. Yes, it’s exciting to win your first large deal, but when you’re just getting started, a very large customer creates some risk. It’s easy to lose sight of the overall business by moving too many resources to one customer. It’s also easy to be enamored with a big revenue jump while forgetting that a large percentage of your business now depends on one customer.

The solution: Don’t celebrate the first big customer win too long. It’s fantastic in that the win will challenge your organization to develop new skills, hire and invest in new talent, but keep your eye on the big picture and keep sourcing new customers.

2. Develop Your Own IP