14 “musts” for a 1st Time Startup to Succeed.
“Starting a business is exciting and scary at the same time. You have the “opportunity” of seeing your dream come true, but also the “risk” of losing a lot of time and $$$, if it doesn’t” Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz
Startup Topics: Love it, be Obsessed, prove “M” wrong, Late and/or Early? Focus, Learn, Management, Partner, Day Job, $$$, Family, Finish.
Fog. I’ve started more businesses than I’d care to admit. In my experience, it’s a bit like driving through a heavy fog where you are only able to see a few feet in front of the windshield. You don’t know what’s up ahead – until it’s upon you. However, the longer you are an entrepreneur, the better you can navigate through that fog of uncertanty from the unknows.
What I learned. As I’ve been driving through the fog for over a decade now, I thought I would take today’s post and boil down __ of the biggest lessons I’ve learned over the past decade of starting & growing businesses. Consider these tips “stuff I wish I had known when I was young & stupid. This is your opportunity not to be. Learn from my challenges.
1. Do something you Love.
Don’t start something you won’t want to do in 3-5 years. Because if you are successful, you’ll probably be doing this for 5 years, because you still have the passion and still love it.
2. There is a fine line between Dedicated & Obsessed (passionate)
Screw the line. Trample right over it. You need to cross that line continually, so never let anyone tell you that you are too obsessed with your idea. Be completely & over-whelmingly obsessed with your business idea. If you don’t think it’s the greatest thing ever invented, integrated – look for something else,
3. Prove the Statistics wrong.
People love to throw around the statistic that 95 % of business fail. Don’t listen to that. It’s an excuse to make you feel it’s not so bad to give up. Biz fail because: most people don’t commit, they don’t follow through to the end or they are stupid in how they manage their Cash Flow.
4. Stay up Later and/or Get up Earlier
Yes, you can, and you should. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Night Owl and/or an Early Bird. The more time you spend doing what you love, you’ll be more energized and can squeaze more hours out of the day (& night)
5. Focus on your higher Pay-off tasks.
Divide up your tasks and determine what are your “$10 per hour” tasks & what are your “$100 to $1,000 per hour” tasks. Focus on doing more of the highest return tasks and fewer low return ones.
6. You are not going to “know” everything.
In fact, you probably won’t know hardly anything when you first start. Start anyway. You learn as you go along – “On the Job.” training. but do research & study to multiply your odds of suceeding.
7. Read – a lot – to get Smarter.
If you don’t have time to read regular Books, listen to Audio Books. And not just Business books. Also read Motivational, Self-help & Success Books + Biographies, etc – to gain knowledge & be inspired.
8. You’re probably going to suck at Managing people at first
It’s OK, we probably all do at first. However, this is one task you must get better about. Hire an Assistant right now, even if it’s only a virtual one for just a few $$$/hour. It will give you some great training on managing, with little financial risk.
9. Never Partner with someone, because it’s convenient.
Partner with someone because it makes a strong team – someone who fills in your skill gaps. The wrong partner will drive you crazy, make you hate your work and end up causing more problems than they solve.
10. Don’t quit your Day Job too soon.
Yes, you’ll have more time to build your business, but let’s be honest: there are 24×7=168 hours in a week, only 40 are consumed by your job and another 40-60 by sleep. You that leaves about 1/3 of your time 40-60 hours (depending on how much you sleep) to create a new Business. But don’t be afraid to quit your job, when your business is having good Cash Flow and you can afford it.
11. Don’t worry about Raising $$$ at first.
Focus on building a business so incredible that people will want to give you $$$ to get in on your dream. If you have a great idea, there’s CrowdFunding and other ways to raise $$$.
12. Your Spouse & Kids matters more than your business.
Never forget to set asside time on a regular basis – to spend quality time with them.
13. Design Business Cards, Logos & Stationery later.
They don’t matter at first. Go build your business and stop doing this busy work that makes you feel like you are accomplishing something. they’re be time for that later.
14. Finish what you Start.
Nearly every Entrepreneur suffers from the same curse: they like to start things more than they like to finish them. It’s the “challenge” of doing new things. In other words, if you are a good entrepreneur, you’ll have a lot of great ideas. Most of them would probably work out well and make you a lot of money. However, that doesn’t mean you should pursue all of them. Pick your best one and go with it until it dies or it makes you rich enough to buy a private island. Otherwise, re-start on #2.
Comments: Do you have any other “musts” needed to Startup a business for the first time?
fm Entrepreneur.com 30 Sept 15 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4.biz
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