Starting
Few things not to do when you first start your business:
- You dont need a physical office
Save that money and work from home or even a cafe and is still cheaper than paying rental monthly
- You dont need an accountant
Until some money starts coming in that can help pay yourself, transportations, and until you get that first warning letter from the authorities
- You dont need the latest gadgets
Not the latest iPhone, iPad or laptop. Have something that works first to do your excel spreadsheet and proposal. Get a simple working device and push most of the stuff up to the cloud to do your stuff
- You dont need to look expensive
Dont spend unnecessary money to impress others, just dress clean and proper with a good pair of walking shoes. You need that to walk miles and keep that back straight to push you further as your run the business
- You dont need to eat at expensive place
Let the discussion be the focus and not the taste of the food. Do meetings at cafe, a rented meeting room and focus on the content and the deliverables. You can eat better but with folks that support you when you hit that first million dollar
- You dont have to borrow money
Make sure you figure it out as much as possible on the business model and how you are going to make profit for your business. Trial and error until you start seeing some money rolling in. Take risk but not the stupid ones to borrow money to look good, to eat expensive and nothing delivered.
Go long and not just short term gain
- You dont close sales just by texting
Face to face discussion always beats texting and calling. Dont assume that your clients dont want to see you at least once a month. You can explore new opportunities just over that cup of coffee to know the direction of the business
There are many 'Don’ts' out there but start off with these and maintain it for as long as you can. Even if you hit it big, live simple, run simple, and pass these down to the next generation of successors to build a solid business empire.
