What 10 Years of Small Business Taught Us

Becoming an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. Running and growing a business can be challenging – that’s why about 90 percent of all new businesses fail.  Since the odds are stacked against you, it takes hard work and perseverance to achieve success.  Whether you have a business or looking to start a one, it’s important to listen to your peers and mentors. Some lessons you will have to learn on your own but some small business tips you can learn from others.  Collectively, Thomas and Andrew have ten years of experience under their belt running small businesses. Today they will share their most valuable lessons and small business tips.  Don’t quit your day job.  When you are just starting out, bringing in a consistent profit month after month can be challenging and stressful. You don’t want to be the position where you’ll do anything for a quick buck.  You want to focus on building something that will make you $2000 passively everything month down the road and not worry about making $100 to survive the week. “A successful business is a marathon, not a sprint.” Keeping your day job until your business is financially stable will reduce pressure so you can focus on what matters. Remember – it’s not how you start the race, it’s how you finish it. For Andrew, constraint breeds creativity. Having limited hours to get work done forces him to do the things that matter and make the most out of his hours. Study the pros. You can read all the books on what you need to do to grow a successful business but what will push the needle is to study what the pros do. Find people inside and outside of your industry that you admire and dig into what they are doing with their businesses. For example, let us say you are super inspired by Pat Flynn and looking to run a successful online business. He has some great content online outlining what to do but go beyond that. Study what the pros do more than what they teach. Analyze their code, writing styles, videos, etc. Of course, don’t blatantly rip people off but take infl