The 70 Lessons of Running A Business On One's Own
The 70 Lessons of Running A Business On One's Own
1. Being a entrepreneur is more than a way of making a living, it is a way of living your life.
2. Entrepreneurs~{!/~} main payoff comes in personal satisfaction, in autonomy, in deliverance from office politics, in the freedom to make our own mistakes instead of being forced to execute the misjudgments of others.
3. Discover who you are. You are your business~{!/~}s chief asset.
4. Passion is a wild card; it transforms and gives power to everything you do.
5. Who knows how many stillborn businesses there are~{!*~}possibly very successful ones~{!*~}that were doomed by a loss of nerve, an unwillingness finally to take action?
6. Starting a business is an encounter with forces far more powerful than yourself.
7. Reality rarely, if ever, follows our plans. And although we might be tempted to see that as reality~{!/~}s problem, it~{!/~}s really ours.
8. Running your business builds confidence and humility~{!*~}both at the same time. You~{!/~}re surprised by what you~{!/~}ve done wrong, and by what you~{!/~}ve done right.
9. Learn to think strategically, not just romantically. Find something that might provide the clue for the next stage of your business.
10. Believe in your visions, and keep having new ones.
11. Identify your strengths and design your business around them.
12. The spark for a successful business is as likely to come from your personal life as from your professional one.
13. When you do what you love, the money doesn~{!/~}t necessarily follow. You have to be doing something that people value highly enough to provide the level of income you require.
14. No matter how carefully you have tried to plan, things won~{!/~}t work out as you expected.
15. When things don~{!/~}t work, don~{!/~}t panic. Figure out why. When good results come from areas where you weren~{!/~}t expecting them, listen to what the market is telling you.
16. Get over getting fired, then worry about your business plan.
17. Expect to fail a few times.
18. You never know where the money will come from.
19. Forget who you used to be.
20. Selling is like breathing: Stop and your business dies.
21. Promoting your business isn~{!/~}t just for bad times. And it~{!/~}s not just for good times. It is for all times.
22. You~{!/~}re promoting your business, not yourself. If you learn to make the distinction, it is easier to sell and not so devastating to be turned down.
23. Small customers have money too.
24. Be prepared to be successful. A business plan is useful, but if it~{!/~}s too restrictive, it can blind you to opportunities that you~{!/~}re well equipped to realize.
25. Opportunities are often what we define them to be. Entrepreneurs are frequently faced not with well-defined challenges, but with ambiguous situations. What we make of such chances can alter everything.
26. When people want you, they~{!/~}ll find a reason to value you. But when you~{!/~}re trying to sell your services to people who are not ready to use them, you~{!/~}ll never win regardless of how logical, useful, valuable, or perfect you are.
27. Sometimes you win despite yourself.
28. One of the most powerful things you can do is to be out and about, reminding people you~{!/~}re still in business.
29. Your first client is yourself.
30. Confidence is money. Self-worth can translate into net worth.
31. Build confidence like a muscle, by facing anxieties, meeting challenges, and discovering that you have lived to tell the tale.
32. Business is a contact sport. Looking, acting and feeling sure of yourself gives you a big edge.
33. Ask for what you need to do a good job.
34. Determine what risks you can live with, then take them.
35. A brand is a distillation of identity and an affirmation of quality. Big companies use brands to give their products attributes that most entrepreneurs already possess.
36. Stay true to what makes you unique.
37. Most people dress to belong. The entrepreneur must dress to bill.
38. Don~{!/~}t pretend to be something you~{!/~}re not. But create a good package for all that you are.
39. While developing your business is the most important thing in your life, it isn~{!/~}t the most important thing in anybody else~{!/~}s life.
40. If you want people to help you, don~{!/~}t see them as targets.
41. Being known as someone people can depend on is the best promotion of all.
42. Charge enough to live. If you don~{!/~}t, you won~{!/~}t have a business.
43. Part of pricing is a science. The rest is confidence in action.
44. To justify your price, numbers are stronger than self-esteem.
45. Your billing must be timely and clear, or you will spend your life in a cashflow squeeze.
46. Serve your customers well. Don~{!/~}t count on being loved.
47. Seek a sane balance between work and life.
48. When you become your own boss, learn not to be a slave-driver.
49. Your business won~{!/~}t succeed if you die trying.
50. When you become independent, you realize how much you count on others.
51. To be able to ignore a ringing telephone is the beginning of sanity.
52. Find your business a room of its own.
53. Stay in touch with people you like.
54. Other people~{!/~}s anxieties are what keep us in business.
55. Choose the anxieties you can live with.
56. Anxieties are less troublesome when we~{!/~}re busy. A regular routine helps keep them at bay.
57. Don~{!/~}t let crazy customers drive you mad.
58. There are few things that cause more anxiety than the aspiration to safety; suddenly everything life throws at you jeopardizes your illusion of security.
59. Rejoice in good times, have faith in bad times.
60. Survival itself is reason to celebrate.
61. To sustain yourself, you must sometimes make painful compromises.
62. Even if you encounter the ghost of failure, don~{!/~}t let it haunt you.
63. Sometimes the worst happens. That~{!/~}s when you have to do something else.
64. Apparent disaster may hold the seeds of future success.
65. Every business needs to evolve, but not every business needs to expand.
66. You can~{!/~}t make a plant grow by pulling on it.
67. It~{!/~}s not your overhead, but what~{!/~}s in your head that counts.
68. You don~{!/~}t need to change your size to change the world.
69. When your business expands, you have to become a manager.
70. Entrepreneurs want freedom and independence. Building an ever-expanding empire is optional.
The 70 Lessons of Running A Business On Ones Own - To learn more about this author, visit James Chan's Website.
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These are the 70 lessons of starting, succeeding, and sustaining a business on one~{!/~}s own.
1. Being a entrepreneur is more than a way of making a living, it is a way of living your life.
2. Entrepreneurs~{!/~} main payoff comes in personal satisfaction, in autonomy, in deliverance from office politics, in the freedom to make our own mistakes instead of being forced to execute the misjudgments of others.
3. Discover who you are. You are your business~{!/~}s chief asset.
4. Passion is a wild card; it transforms and gives power to everything you do.
5. Who knows how many stillborn businesses there are~{!*~}possibly very successful ones~{!*~}that were doomed by a loss of nerve, an unwillingness finally to take action?
6. Starting a business is an encounter with forces far more powerful than yourself.
7. Reality rarely, if ever, follows our plans. And although we might be tempted to see that as reality~{!/~}s problem, it~{!/~}s really ours.
8. Running your business builds confidence and humility~{!*~}both at the same time. You~{!/~}re surprised by what you~{!/~}ve done wrong, and by what you~{!/~}ve done right.
9. Learn to think strategically, not just romantically. Find something that might provide the clue for the next stage of your business.
10. Believe in your visions, and keep having new ones.
11. Identify your strengths and design your business around them.
12. The spark for a successful business is as likely to come from your personal life as from your professional one.
13. When you do what you love, the money doesn~{!/~}t necessarily follow. You have to be doing something that people value highly enough to provide the level of income you require.
14. No matter how carefully you have tried to plan, things won~{!/~}t work out as you expected.
15. When things don~{!/~}t work, don~{!/~}t panic. Figure out why. When good results come from areas where you weren~{!/~}t expecting them, listen to what the market is telling you.
16. Get over getting fired, then worry about your business plan.
17. Expect to fail a few times.
18. You never know where the money will come from.
19. Forget who you used to be.
20. Selling is like breathing: Stop and your business dies.
21. Promoting your business isn~{!/~}t just for bad times. And it~{!/~}s not just for good times. It is for all times.
22. You~{!/~}re promoting your business, not yourself. If you learn to make the distinction, it is easier to sell and not so devastating to be turned down.
23. Small customers have money too.
24. Be prepared to be successful. A business plan is useful, but if it~{!/~}s too restrictive, it can blind you to opportunities that you~{!/~}re well equipped to realize.
25. Opportunities are often what we define them to be. Entrepreneurs are frequently faced not with well-defined challenges, but with ambiguous situations. What we make of such chances can alter everything.
26. When people want you, they~{!/~}ll find a reason to value you. But when you~{!/~}re trying to sell your services to people who are not ready to use them, you~{!/~}ll never win regardless of how logical, useful, valuable, or perfect you are.
27. Sometimes you win despite yourself.
28. One of the most powerful things you can do is to be out and about, reminding people you~{!/~}re still in business.
29. Your first client is yourself.
30. Confidence is money. Self-worth can translate into net worth.
31. Build confidence like a muscle, by facing anxieties, meeting challenges, and discovering that you have lived to tell the tale.
32. Business is a contact sport. Looking, acting and feeling sure of yourself gives you a big edge.
33. Ask for what you need to do a good job.
34. Determine what risks you can live with, then take them.
35. A brand is a distillation of identity and an affirmation of quality. Big companies use brands to give their products attributes that most entrepreneurs already possess.
36. Stay true to what makes you unique.
37. Most people dress to belong. The entrepreneur must dress to bill.
38. Don~{!/~}t pretend to be something you~{!/~}re not. But create a good package for all that you are.
39. While developing your business is the most important thing in your life, it isn~{!/~}t the most important thing in anybody else~{!/~}s life.
40. If you want people to help you, don~{!/~}t see them as targets.
41. Being known as someone people can depend on is the best promotion of all.
42. Charge enough to live. If you don~{!/~}t, you won~{!/~}t have a business.
43. Part of pricing is a science. The rest is confidence in action.
44. To justify your price, numbers are stronger than self-esteem.
45. Your billing must be timely and clear, or you will spend your life in a cashflow squeeze.
46. Serve your customers well. Don~{!/~}t count on being loved.
47. Seek a sane balance between work and life.
48. When you become your own boss, learn not to be a slave-driver.
49. Your business won~{!/~}t succeed if you die trying.
50. When you become independent, you realize how much you count on others.
51. To be able to ignore a ringing telephone is the beginning of sanity.
52. Find your business a room of its own.
53. Stay in touch with people you like.
54. Other people~{!/~}s anxieties are what keep us in business.
55. Choose the anxieties you can live with.
56. Anxieties are less troublesome when we~{!/~}re busy. A regular routine helps keep them at bay.
57. Don~{!/~}t let crazy customers drive you mad.
58. There are few things that cause more anxiety than the aspiration to safety; suddenly everything life throws at you jeopardizes your illusion of security.
59. Rejoice in good times, have faith in bad times.
60. Survival itself is reason to celebrate.
61. To sustain yourself, you must sometimes make painful compromises.
62. Even if you encounter the ghost of failure, don~{!/~}t let it haunt you.
63. Sometimes the worst happens. That~{!/~}s when you have to do something else.
64. Apparent disaster may hold the seeds of future success.
65. Every business needs to evolve, but not every business needs to expand.
66. You can~{!/~}t make a plant grow by pulling on it.
67. It~{!/~}s not your overhead, but what~{!/~}s in your head that counts.
68. You don~{!/~}t need to change your size to change the world.
69. When your business expands, you have to become a manager.
70. Entrepreneurs want freedom and independence. Building an ever-expanding empire is optional.
The 70 Lessons of Running A Business On Ones Own - To learn more about this author, visit James Chan's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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