ENTREPRENEURIAL - DOS AND DON’TS

I hope this article could be useful for those who are running a business. Regrettably, the author could not be identified. But I am sure he or she would be pleased that I had posted this article for our entrepreneurial knowledge.

 

 

Things to remember after you have started the business

 

·        Nothing stays the same. Don’t quit researching your field. Competition and so on. Think constantly about how the industry is changing and how the market is shifting.

·        Don’t ever let your guard down or stop paying close attention to quality and details.

·        Don’t allow yourself to get diverted and lose sight of your business plan.

·        When you are growing, watch your costs, but when business is waning, spend money and do the things that drive growth.

·        Have a strong vision for what you want in the long run. Examine and reevaluate it periodically to make sure that it still holds for the current situation.

·        Revisit plans and strategies regularly.

·        Keep looking over your shoulder, and be prepared to act.

·        Paranoia is good. Ultimately you will be copied or someone else will do the job better. So continually look for ways to do a better job. Look for ways to reinvent your business.

·        Focus on how the company is doing, rather than only how much money it is making.

·        Always be looking for ways to add value to your business.

·        You always have to strive to do better.

·        Give every detail about your business your attention, but try to see the forest in spite of the trees.

·        Recognize mistakes and be willing to make changes quickly.

·        Step back and ask yourself periodically. “Am I best person to take this company to the next level?”

·        Realize that in most cases a new skill set equates to a new person leading.

·        Don’t expect that any one set of skills can lead the company through every stage of its development. The same skills that you started may not get you funded and will not get you through to financial solvency.

·        Get up from your desk every day and walk the floor. Speak to everyone within the firm.

·        It’s critical to identify and maintain your competitive advantage. Recognize every perspective customer has figuratively tattooed across his or her forehead the question, “so what?” This is even more important as competition increases.

·        Don’t expand for the sake of expansion; grow only when it makes strategies sense.

·        Don’t get cocky. Don’t let your successes lull you to sleep at the wheel. Remember the past success is no indication that you will avoid future disasters.

·        Maintain a big picture perspective.

·        Don’t forget to plan for the future.

·        Constantly develop new strategies to sell your product.

·        Come up with new ideas constantly and apply them to your business.

·        Don’t over stretch your plans. Be future oriented, but be realistic, too.

·        Expect the unexpected all the time. Every day be ready for new problems, new people, and different challenges.

·        Don’t be satisfied with how good things were yesterday; it won’t pay the bills today.

·        Remember that too much of a good thing can be bad. Celebrate your successes. Enjoy the wins along the way, but don’t become complacent. Don’t take your eyes of  the ball.

·        Take care of your health.

·        Take vacations every once in a while to reward yourself and recharge your batteries.

·        Don’t rest on your laurels. Continue to raise the bar.

·        Reinvest profit into business instead of supporting your lifestyle.

·        Avoid getting caught in a rut.

·        Don’t let minor setbacks deter you.

·        Don’t wear technical superiority blinders – you’ll be caught off guard and lose market share.

·        Don’t lose track of keeping your accounting records current or your taxes.

·        Don’t begin in expansion project without enough preparation.

·        Know when and how to expand.

·        Avoid expanding too quickly because overhead could eat you alive.

·        Use the down times in business to prepare business for the up times.

·        Keep your skills up to date.

·        Keep up with modern technology.

·        Constantly look to catch the big waves.

·        Don’t do anything halfway.

·        Don’t be afraid to take on a loan to help your business expand, but know how much of a loan you can handle so that you are to keep the business finances healthy.

·        Learn to get energy from the good days so that you can make it through the bad days.

·        Be loyal to the people who take the best care of you.

·        Don’t be afraid of change. You should continuously question your most cherished assumptions.

·        Take incremental growth steps.

·        Don’t try to get too big, too fast. As businesses grow, there are various inflection points along the away, and which require action /organizational change. Success will depend on how these inflection points are managed.

·        Always stay focused on the long-term objective, because if you don’t, things will not go as planned.

·        Don’t exceed your capital and go into too much debt.

·        Don’t expand beyond what can be managed to your satisfaction.

·        Don’t be afraid to admit when you are wrong.

·        Learn from your mistakes and move on.

·        Don’t leave the business to someone else too early in the game.

·        Keep business and personal life separate, and definitely have a personal life outside work.

·        Make sure you take personal time. Work hard but do not forget to take vacations as well, even short ones. You need sometime to recharge your batteries if you expect to be profitable.

·        Make sure to have balance in your life. Take one day a week for non-business activities.

·        Don’t forget about the people who got you where you are; don’t neglect your family and loved ones; not everyone understands your drive. Don’t build your entrepreneurial house and lose those close to you, or get divorced and lose half assets.

·        Don’t fall prey to every organization that wants a charitable donation.

 

 

CLOSING POINTS

 

• Keep your ego under control.
• Don’t lose your entrepreneurial spirit.
• Know when to exit. Don’t invest too much time or money into the business if it is failing. Knowing when to quit and minimizing your losses is very important, since this may determine if you’ll have anything left for the next venture.