The 10 Commandments of Survival for the Entrepreneur
It seems as if everyone wants to have their own business these
days. With so many large companies permanently downsizing,
Entrepreneurialism is attracting many people. Having our own
business for the last 28 years has given us a tremendous amount
of freedom and opportunity. However, there were some tough times
that we could have avoided had we been smarter.
One of the easiest ways to start your own business and get up
and running as soon as possible is to associate with someone who
has already done a lot of the preliminary work for you. Network
marketing is offering tremendous opportunities for many people
who would otherwise waste time looking for a business or be
stuck in traditional jobs with all the limitations thereto.
For those of you who are thinking of stating your own business
or already have, I offer the following thoughts for your
consideration.
1. Don't RE-INVENT THE WHEEL. Take advantage of all of the
resources that are available to you. There is very little that
is new to the world anymore. Seek out those resources.
Especially when you are organizing your company, use the already
proven methods.
If you are a franchisee or something like that, your sponsoring
company has done this before, listen to them. They want you to
succeed, study their success stories and see how you can
organize and develop the skills necessary.
2. KEEP OVERHEAD LOW. Show fiscal responsibility. When people
start their own business they sometimes go a little bit crazy
and skew their thinking. For example, I know of several
individuals who began living off their gross income instead of
their net income. This results in new cars, more staff, a bigger
computer system, a fancier brochure., etc. We all realize how
exciting some of those deals can sound, but remember, if you
live off your gross, life in this business will be very short.
The Tax man cometh!
3. DON'T GET INTO DEBT. Get rid of the debt you have. This is
part of fiscal responsibility as we just mentioned. But it is so
important that it gets its own category.
We are often asked by college students, other young people, and
fledgling entrepreneurs how they can start their own businesses.
What we say is not exactly what they want to hear. First, we say
they should NOT buy the fancy car, stereo system, take an exotic
vacation, etc. but get their financial house in order. Many of
the college students we talk with seem to think that graduation
should be followed by a really exciting (and expensive )
vacation.
Guard your credit rating at all costs.
The reason is, most of us spend more than we make right now. If
you are going to take a risk and go into your own business, you
will need to have the ability to financially cover the time when
cash flow is short or non existent. If you live from pay check
to pay check you have no options. Incidentally, if you are not
familiar with the term "cash flow" you will know it real well as
soon as you start your business.
4. PUT AWAY MONEY. Keep an attitude fund. This comes along with
#3. As your business begins to make money there is a very strong
tendency to want to reward yourself. After all, you risked, you
worried but "gutted it out" until the sales started and now that
you have some "extra money" you deserve something nice. Besides,
it is fun to let your friends know that you have finally made it!
This is the time to put away some "attitude money" as one
financial adviser used to call it. This is the stuff that will
let you sleep through a whole night. It is amazing how having
$30,000.00 or $40,000.00 in a money market fund changes your
perspective on the world. Incidentally, never touch your
"attitude money," unless it is an emergency.
5. DON'T BURN BRIDGES - it's all in the relationships. There is
an old saying, "be nice to people on the way up, because you are
bound to meet them on the way down." You don't necessarily have
to be on the way down to meet up with those people. I think it
is always important to be courteous and honest with everyone
with whom you associate, regardless of what they do. Always do
what is right! That means pay your suppliers when your are
expected to pay, or sooner. Get a good reputation for integrity
and guard it with your life. That way you never have to watch
over your shoulder. It just makes your life a lot easier.
6. SELL CONSTATNLY - prevent peaks and valleys (and sleepless
nights). Most people think that companies fail for lack of
sufficient capital. It is my observation that they fail because
the person running the business is not prospecting and selling
on a regular basis. Incidentally, lack of sales leads directly
to insufficient capital!!
7. LEARN - all that you can about your business and business in
general. I am constantly amazed at the business people who have
horrible corporate organization, estate planning, lousy and
expensive benefit plans, terrible accounting and tax work, and
are just plain bad managers. Yet they are always griping about
how hard they have to work. Remember #1? Don't Re-invent the
wheel, keep your house in order, people have been doing it right
for years use your advisers wisely. I look at this just as
really dumb management.
When I recommend meeting with and getting a good small business
attorney and/or accountant too often I get the response "we are
too small" or "I can't afford it." This is just stupid. In every
situation that I have pursued this with friends I have found
that good professional advisers were no more expensive than
lousy ones and are a lot cheaper than non at all. Add to this,
the fact that they will get you headed in the right direction if
you are off course and you can't afford not to have them. But
get good ones, not friends simply because they will cut their
fees!
8. LEARN FROM DOING!!! Don't be afraid to make mistakes. "You
can't make course corrections, if you aren't moving." We hear
this often, but few people understand what it means. My thoughts
are that you have to be willing to try a multitude of new ways
of doing things in order to find what is best for you in almost
everything. (Don't confuse this with Re-inventing the wheel,
this refers to your specialized skills needs.) You did it in
golf, tennis, bowling, or whatever, why not budgeting, work
hours, marketing, prospecting, selling, etc.? Within reason
nothing should be ruled out until you have tried it correctly
and for the right length of time and then found that it didn't
work.
9. SET GOALS - chart your course. This is one of the oldest
adages of recorded motivational wisdom. From Napoleon Hill and
Dale Carnegie to Denis Waitley we hear of the importance of Goal
Setting. Yet, most people still do not have written goals, or
indeed any real goals at all. This is one of the primary reasons
people do not achieve the success they feel they "deserve."
SET and WRITE down: * your specific goals * when you plan to
achieve them * and how you plan to go about achieving them.
This should be done early in the planning of your new business
venture. It will help you to focus on what you will really need
to be doing every day in your new business. This is also a great
way for you to see whether this is the business for you.
10. MAINTAIN FLEXIBILITY. I entitled this article "The 10
Commandments..." Unlike the original 10 Commandments, you will
probably need to add to these rules for the specific industry in
which you will be venturing. Flexibility in these 10, however,
will get you started on the road to success.
Remember, not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur despite
what you hear and read. If you have something that you love to
do, but you don't want to be bothered with sales, marketing, and
the administrative work required to run a business - don't waste
the time, effort and money. Find a job that let's you do what
you love to do and leave that other stuff to people who want to
do it.
If these 10 Commandments are too much to swallow in one bite,
here is one that is easy to remember, DO WHAT IS RIGHT and DO IT
WITH INTEGRITY.
Sell Well and Often.
Bill Truax Bill@BlitzCall.com 800-253-1214