Owning a business is an amazing, exhilarating thrill ride, full of many ups and downs. In a lot of ways, your business will become a part of you. You must take care of it, nurture it, and dedicate yourself to making sure it’s healthy and growing. Because having a business is a lot like raising kids, there are plenty of life lessons that
Lesson #1: People won’t always believe in you
This may be depressing to you. You’d think that if you started a successful business, everyone in your life will be incredibly happy for you, but it doesn’t happen as much as you think it should. A lot of the time, your success makes others jealous. They feel like a failure in comparison, even if they have a great thing going for themselves. This is especially true when your success translates to bigger and better toys.
Being successful can bring about struggles in a marriage. If owning a business is a lot like raising kids, then you know having kids is time consuming and stressful at times. What happens when you start working late? Or when you must invest gobs of money into your business? A lot of the time, a spouse might not be so understanding. So, be prepared and make the decision now on what comes first.
Lesson #2: You must put your business first
This ties in directly with lesson one. To be successful and thrive, all your attention and focus must go into it. If you don’t, then you’re distracted. Distracted people rarely become the best at something. That means you’re setting aside time with your family and friends. It means you might have to make budget sacrifices, like deciding not to go on that big vacation this year.
You might have to sacrifice a little time with the wife and kids. It might be rough for awhile, but when the money is flowing, life will be good. You can make up for a little of the time lost. At the same time, don’t completely abandon them, either. You will harm your marriage and be so stressed out on all fronts. You can enjoy life, but you also have to give your business everything you have to make it successful.
Lesson #3: Do what you say you’re going to do
Being a man or woman of your word is crucial to your success. Honor your deals. Don’t look for shortcuts or ways to screw others to get ahead. You need to understand just how important relationships are in business. You will go a long way with a good relationship with your vendors, clients, and customers. In that way, being a person of your word means they can rely on you. They know you’ll always make it work out and that’s always good for business.
On the flip side, if you’re dishonest, it will come back to haunt you. Customers talk to each other. They can either recommend your place or tell a friend to avoid it. Now that we have the internet, you’re one bad Yelp review away from losing business and money. If you can’t honor it, don’t promise it.
