If you’ve always been an entrepreneur, then you’re probably comfortable with chaos and you’ve learned that, when it comes to running your own business, you actually can and do figure things out as you go along.
But if you’ve come from a corporate job, starting a business can be a real shock to the system and all the stuff that you learnt in the corporate world is helpful, but only to a degree…
There are some tough lessons that one learns as an entrepreneur, so I wanted to share some of the things that I wish someone had taught me when I was starting out….
1. Don’t rush into any big decisions. Mull over things, give ideas time to develop and mature before making final decisions
2. Do your research! Don’t assume things and ask lots of questions to anyone and everyone that can add value (not friends – they mostly just tell you what they think you want to hear)
3. Differentiation is key. Make sure that you have a point of difference for your business, your brand and/or your products. Look at what your competitors are doing and ask yourself how you are doing it differently or better
4. Don’t be too attached to what the outcome of your business should look like. Explore options and allow your business to evolve – you’ll almost always end up in a better place than what you initially planned for your business
5. There are dreamers, there are doers and there are delegators! You can’t do it all yourself and the sooner you learn to delegate, the sooner your business can grow
6. If you’re not selling, you don’t have a business, so even if you don’t think you’re a salesperson, you should still spend 80% of your time on generating sales and 20% on the rest of your business.