Fitness experts and athletes know that when they are lifting weights, the number of sets and repetitions within each set vary according to weight. On normal days their weightlifting tends to be three sets of 10 to 15 repetitions. Good athletes understand that the first eight of ten or thirteen of fifteen reps do not make the muscle grow. It is always the last two or three reps that causes the growth. They put all of that work up front, just for the last few reps.

If you have ever pumped a bicycle tire then you understand that after during the first ten pumps, the tire still looks flat, like nothing has changed. The same is true for the athlete. Work too hard in the gym and their muscles react and feel fatigued. That reaction is called over training. Over pump a tire and it explodes.

The same is true with entrepreneurs. It takes a significant amount of work upfront to understand customers, markets, and value chains in order to ultimately lead to a business model. Validating and testing customers as well as building prototypes is just preparation to get to the starting line. What about that last lift to finish? That’s just one more repetition to get to a first sale. And it is that last “rep” that is the hardest.

The same is true in all sports: Running a yard short of goal doesn’t make a touchdown, hitting the goalpost doesn’t score a goal, landing a golf ball an inch from the cup doesn’t matter at all. Nothing matters until a score is made.

Sports are games of inches, preparation, and work, and so is a startup. Entrepreneurs need all that preparation in order to travel that last inch and beyond.