I was looking for a business book that would help me grow my business.
I decided to give it a try.
The book had a lot of great advice, but also a few books I didn’t like.
The title was “How to be an entrepreneur.”
The book didn’t address everything I wanted to know about business, but I found it to be helpful in my journey.
The lessons I learned are pretty important.
1.
Be honest and transparent In the beginning, it was a bit overwhelming, as I had to learn how to write and be honest with myself and others.
It took a few weeks to get used to the idea that I could trust my own words.
Once I got the hang of it, I found that I was very much in control of what I was saying.
I was able to keep my tone and not make my emotions a factor in my writing.
2.
Don’t try to be all things to all people The first time I had this conversation with a potential client, I realized that the first impression was usually one of surprise.
“Wow, this is an awesome idea,” I said.
Then I thought about the client and what it was trying to achieve.
And that’s when I realized, “Oh, my god, this isn’t an idea I can have.”
In fact, my goal was to be able to say that it’s a great idea and to not make a bad impression.
3.
Don�t let your ego get in the way of what you’re trying to accomplish I had this idea that a company was in dire need of an entrepreneur.
I asked the client what they needed to do to get started.
She explained that they had no business plan and that they didn’t have the budget for it.
I was thinking, “Wow, that’s great!
I don’t have to go through that.
I can just have the money, and I can go get this business started.”
But then I thought, “If I don�t have the capital, how am I going to pay for it?”
“How much do you need to get it going?”
I wanted to get this out before I got into it, so I could understand what the client was thinking.
4.
Be an advocate As a founder, it is important to have a vision for what you want your business to do.
It is important for your business, too, to have the resources to support it.
So, if you want to grow your business and help others, you must be an advocate for your company.
5.
Be humble and honest It can be hard to find someone who is an advocate and someone who doesn’t.
So, I decided to try and be humble and to be honest.
I started with some of the principles I had learned from “How To Be An Entrepreneur” and just went from there.
6.
Be open and honest to yourself One of the hardest things to do is to say, “I don�ve figured this out.
I just don�’t have it figured out yet.”
I know that many people who are entrepreneurs can’t admit it, but they are often really struggling with their own business.
So let me say it this way: If you are an entrepreneur, you are in the trenches, fighting the battle of your life.
There is no shortcut to success, and you have to learn to live your life by doing what you love.
But if you are not willing to do that, there are many other things you need in your life that you don’t want to do as well.
7.
Don`t take yourself too seriously I would say this is one of the most important lessons I have learned in my life.
I have always thought of myself as a great person, but sometimes I think, “Why am I doing this?
I can do anything I want.
This is just a waste of time.”
8.
Be realistic and keep your goals realistic When I first started my business, I set a goal of becoming the fastest growing business in the United States by the year 2020.
My goal was achieved in just eight years.
What I had done was take a great risk and took that risk without taking the next step.
I thought that this was going to be the year that I would be the greatest entrepreneur in America.
Instead, I failed, and the world lost another great entrepreneur.
9.
Be a team player As an entrepreneur I am not going to have all the answers, but my team members will always know what I want and I will always be there to help them reach it.
This is how I feel when I’m at a loss for what to say to a customer.
10.
Understand your audience I started with a business I thought would do well, but then realized that it wasn’t going