We all love to hear the stories of individuals who started a business and became overnight successes. You know the narrative. The entrepreneur starts working out of their basement or garage. Creates a great product or service. Gets noticed or catches a lucky break and suddenly is making over seven figures.

I love to read about these motivated individuals, but I also know that the reality is very different for many business owners. Everyone wants to grow. No one wants to be just a caretaker. But growth is tricky. Do you want to grow quickly? Perhaps sell and move on? Are you in it for the long haul? Want to leave a legacy? There is no right answer, but what you do and how you operate is impacted by your choices. Here are a few things to consider if you want to be an overnight success.

Related: I Built a $20 Million Company by Age 22 While Still in College. Here's How I Did It and What I Learned Along the Way.

If you want to grow quickly and be that "overnight success," you need the cash to scale up all areas of the business. However, one of the key impediments to growth for entrepreneurs is access to capital. Without cash you cannot buy raw materials, machinery or other equipment. You also need people to do the heavy lifting at start-up and then keep a steady work pace once you are past the rush. Even when entrepreneurs have planned for the budget to operate, they often forget about the cost of marketing. Without that you simply cannot get noticed today and grow at a rapid pace. The cost of marketing in a digital world are far more than you expect.

Over the years, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has said that "small businesses with less than $5 million in annual revenue and net profit margins between 10-12% should allocate around 7-8% of their gross revenue to........

© Entrepreneur