What’s one thing you wish you’d done before starting a business?
1. Fail at Starting a Business
“I sincerely wish I could have gotten some of those bigger, expensive mistakes out of the way earlier, rather than having them happen on the job during the early days at Attack!. That old adage, “hurry up and fail” is so relevant to those starting a new business. Trial and error through practical application is the only true way to learn and adjust as a small business owner.”
2. Travel More
“So much of starting a business and being an entrepreneur is simply the mindset you have and how you view the world. Traveling the world helps you put things in perspective and prioritize.”
– BRYAN SILVERMAN, InStall Media
3. Work in an Entrepreneurial Environment
“Working in a small business within an entrepreneurial environment is great practice for launching your own startup. It allows you to learn what it takes to run a successful business, without having to make all of the decisions and bear all of the responsibility. It’s a great way to prepare to be an entrepreneur without all the stress that goes along with actually starting your own business.”
– DAVID EHRENBERG, Early Growth Financial Services
4. Work in a Truly Boring Large Company
“Where no decisions are made quickly and nothing gets done — just to get the full effect of how sad I would have been!”
5. Save More Money
“I didn’t plan the timing of the creation of my first business, and only being out of college for a couple years and having recently bought a home, I had little in savings to act as a safety net. Fortunately, this made me hungry to succeed. Unfortunately, it also gave me a lot of undue stress!”
– DARRAH BRUSTEIN, Network Under 40 / Finance Whiz Kids
6. Find a Mentor
“I felt like I jumped into entrepreneurship head first with no one to show me the way. I wish I would have sought out mentorship and connections with other entrepreneurs earlier on in my business. I think it would have saved me some headaches and heartaches”
7. Don’t Waste Time or Money on Irrelevant Things
“I moved too fast on trying to organize the business structure around an idea that wasn’t a business yet. By doing this, I rushed into partnerships and later had to buy out these partners because it didn’t work out. This would have saved money and a lot of unnecessary work.”
8. Learn Basic Accounting
“This is easy — I wish I’d read more accounting books. The single most under-appreciated entrepreneurial skill is basic accounting. Anyone starting a business should understand the lines on a balance sheet, how they relate to the P&L and how to calculate critical cash flow metrics.”
– RYAN BUCKLEY, Scripted, Inc.
9. Work in Management
“The biggest regret I have is not having any management experience. I have made so many people mistakes — like hiring the wrong person, not setting clear expectations, not giving feedback, and then not letting someone go soon enough. I wish I had more training and much more experience before I was experimenting with my own company. It would have saved me many stomachaches and sleepless nights.”
– SARAH SCHUPP, UniversityParent
10. Wander Intellectually and Professionally
“People are in a rush to stay on the path to success. It’s a winding path, and stepping off the path helps prepare you for entrepreneurial challenges. I wish I’d spent a year picking fruit in New Zealand, fishing in Alaska or doing door-to-door sales. A diversity of jobs and experiences have prepared me much more for the uncertainty of startup life (and life in general) than any business class.”
11. Become a Power Reddit User
“Earning street credibility on Reddit is a hard-earned process that takes time and genuine enthusiasm. I wish I had been deeply involved in one of the many awesome health-related subreddits big time.”
12. Outsource Bookkeeping
“I wish I had looped in an accounting firm that could do our books from day one. Doing our accounting in QuickBooks was a nightmare. It took so much time and was a completely worthless skill set. You should absolutely understand accounting and finance, but bookkeeping is something you should always outsource. Your time as a founder is better spent building your product or service, not bookkeeping.”
Originally published by StartupCollective. Syndicated with permission on KillerStartups.com.
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StartupCollective