What do a cheesecake chain, a green energy company, a medical software firm, and an online broker have in common? They are among 49 U.S. companies that hit a special milestone last year: $1 billion in annual sales. Many of these superstars you've probably heard of. The broker is ameritrade (Research). The restaurant chain is Cheesecake Factory (Research). Others are less well known, including Cerner, a medical software firm in Kansas City, and Headwaters, an alternative energy company in Salt Lake City.

Though in vastly different industries, all 49 of these businesses started small, grew rapidly and profitably, and followed many of the same seven management practices - most of which were evident early on and can be applied to any small business. We know all of this thanks to David Thomson, an intense former technology executive and management consultant who has spent the past three years figuring out exactly what it takes for a startup company to reach that magic revenue threshold of a billion dollars.

Blueprint to a billion

Thomson, 52, calls these fast-track firms Blueprint companies because his research revealed that they followed a similar plan for growth. He lays out his findings in a new book called Blueprint to a Billion (for more information, see blueprinttoabillion.com). FSB spent several days on the road with the author, testing his theory in conversations with CEOs from what we call the Blueprint class of 2005. And we got him to identify the still-small companies that he believes are poised to join the billion-dollar club over the next few years.

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