20 Inconvenient Business Truths
Here are 20 inconvenient business truths. All of them are obvious but easily forgotten.
Here are 20 evergreen and inconvenient business truths for small business owners and entrepreneurs. Doesn't matter what industry you're in, they're still generally true.
Your business isn't about you. It's about your customers' wants, needs, and problems.
There's a fundamental difference between making money online and building a business with an online component.
Hustling is not a business strategy. At best, it's how you execute your strategy. At worst, it's what keeps you from operating strategically.
If you're thinking about starting a business, be careful. There are a lot of people who know more about getting your money than you know about keeping it.
It takes most people at least 18--24 months to build a sustainable business where they have a clear idea of what they're doing. The outliers to this pattern generally have historical, personal, social, or financial resources that they're leveraging successfully.
No matter how much you buy or throw money at a problem, you will make mistakes. You'll be okay as long as it's not a mistake of character.
In the early stages of your business, you need to say Yes to a lot of things. Later, you'll have to say No to much more. Just because you can doesn't mean you should.
If you don't want to succeed, you probably won't. Wanting to succeed will get you only so far, though.
Doing the same thing bigger than you did it last time doesn't solve the problems of a poorly-designed business model.
It does get easier AND you'll still put a lot of hours in.
If you're not thinking two steps ahead, you're a few steps behind.
No one succeeds all by herself.
Simple does not equal easy.
It's hard to steer the boat and chart your course at the same time. Trying to do so normally botches both.
How long it's taking you to build something is less important than whether what you're building is worth building in the first place.
Your business should serve people. If people are serving your business, you've got it backwards.
Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone. It's okay if it's not for you - there are more ways to flourish than there are people who flourish.
If you're reading this, you're in an echo chamber. The second you think everybody knows something you know, it's time to talk to someone you don't know.
When a business truth seems counter to a general truth of life, you should reevaluate the source of the business "truth" or the motives that underlie it. Very rarely do they diverge.
It's all about people.