The average expansion stage venture fund receives dozens of new executive summaries and business plans every day. These visionary plans typically highlight impressive timelines for product introduction, a trouble-free path to profitability and top valuation exit strategies in the public or private markets. They also feature graphs that detail how a $5 to $10 million investment today will turn into a $100 million revenue producing company within 5 to 7 years. If it were only so easy...

Ask most aggressive business builders about their job function and they will say their primary task is to direct growth and make money. Yes, but this is only half the job. You need a lot of luck and a quick cash out to make this kind of one-dimensional thinking really work. If, however, your goal is to build an enduring enterprise, your performance objective has to be two-fold: to maximize gains and at the same time, minimize losses.

Sometimes the most instructive concepts to help balance business builder expectations are found outside of our optimistic western business tradition. Most people are familiar with the distinctive black and white Chinese symbol Yin-Yang. The interlocking black and white shapes represent the ancient Chinese explanation of why things happen. According to Taoist philosophy, nothing is ever entirely black ("Yin") or white ("Yang").

Ok, so what's the take home value of Yin-Yang to business builders? Taoists believe that both the Yin and the Yang elements are present in every situation. As such, we're reminded that within every business issue are elements of profit and loss, risk and reward, strength and weakness, and success and failure. To assume that any single strategy is a sure winner or has no downside is foolish, unschooled and ironically risky in itself!!

The business plans that get read from cover to cover by angels, venture fund analysts and corporate partners are the ones that acknowledge risk, not just reward. They prefer to invest in management teams that outline current challenges, provide practical assessments of competitive weaknesses, and lay out certain responses to potential adverse market changes and likely moves by well funded competitors.

Another take home of Yin-Yang is the sobering realization that while every problem does have a solution, it may not necessarily produce blockbuster revenue and earnings results. Sometimes the shrewd though unheralded solution is simply taking steps to cut losses before they completely overwhelm a business. Smart strategists are not afraid to back out of dead ends, to fold, shut down, spin off, retire or even fire if it is the wise thing to do. They also don't find honor in going down with the ship. They bail quickly and find another more secure way to achieve their goals.

Conscientious risk avoidance means taking time on every key business decision to consider potential problems. All operating decisions come down to identifying and evaluating realistic opportunities to either (i) make more money or (ii) lose less money. Achieving either objective is progress. Remember, rewards and risk are everywhere, but more rewards go to business builders who take command of risk in a conscientious way.