The biggest problem founders and small business owners have is that they\u2019re experts in their field and novices in what it really takes to effectively run a business. That\u2019s what usually trips them up, sooner or later.
\nDon\u2019t let that happen to you. Admit that you don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know about business, starting with these 15 tips guaranteed to help keep you and your company out of hot water. Some are straightforward, others are counterintuitive, but they\u2019re all true. And some day they\u2019ll save your butt.
\nAlways make sure there is and will be enough cash in the bank.
\nPeriod. The most common business-failure mode, hands down, is running out of cash. If you know you\u2019ve got a cash flow or liquidity problem coming up, fix it now.
\nYou can\u2019t fire bad employees fast enough.
\nYou just can\u2019t. Just make sure you know they\u2019re the problem, not you (see next tip).
\nThe problem is probably you.
\nWhen I was a young manager, my company sent us all to a week of quality training where the most important concept we learned was that 90 percent of all problems are management problems. When things aren\u2019t going well, the first place to look for answers is in the mirror.
\nTake care of your stars.
\nThis goes for every company, big and small. The cost of losing a star employee is enormous, yet business leaders rarely take the time to ensure their top performers are properly motivated, challenged, and compensated.
\nYour people are not your kids, your personal assistants, or your shrink.
\nIf you use and abuse them that way, you will come to regret it. Capiche?
\nLearn to say “yes” and “no” a lot.
\nThe two most important words business owners and founders have at their disposal are “yes\u201d and “no.\u201d Learn to say them a lot. And that means being decisive. The most important reason to focus \u2013 to be clear on what your company does \u2013 is to be clear on all the things it doesn\u2019t do.
\nListen to your customers.
\nIt boggles my mind how little most entrepreneurs value their customers when, not only are their feedback and input among the most critical information they will ever learn, but their repeat business is the easiest business to get.
\nLearn two words: meritocracy and nepotism.
\nThe first is how you run an organization \u2013 by recognizing, rewarding, and compensating based solely on ability and achievement. The second is how you don\u2019t run an organization \u2013 by playing favorites and being biased.
\nKnow when and when not to be transparent.
\nTransparency is as detrimental at some times as it is beneficial at others. There are times to share openly and times to zip it. You need to know when and with whom to do one versus the other. It comes with experience.
\nTrust your gut.
\nThis phrase is often repeated but rarely understood. It means that your own instincts are an extremely valuable decision-making tool. Too often we end up saying in retrospect and with regret, “Damn, I knew that was a bad idea.\u201d But the key is to know how to access your instincts. Just sit, be quiet, and listen to yourself.
\nProtect and defend your intellectual property.
\nMost of you don\u2019t know the difference between a copyright, trademark, trade secret, and patent. That\u2019s not acceptable. If you don\u2019t protect and defend your IP, you will lose your only competitive advantage.
\nLearn to read and write effective agreements.
\nYou know the expression “good fences make good neighbors?\u201d It\u2019s the same in business. The more effective your agreements are, the better your business relationships will be.
\nRun your business like a business.
\nFar too many entrepreneurs run their business like an extension of their personal finances. Bad idea. Very bad idea. Construct the right business entity and keep it separate from your personal life.
\nKnow your finances inside and out.
\nIf you don\u2019t know your revenues, expenses, capital requirements, profits (gross and net), debt, cash flow, and effective tax rate \u2013 among other things \u2013 you\u2019re asking for trouble. Big trouble.
\nYou don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know.
\nHumility is a powerful trait for leaders, and that goes for new business owners, veteran CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, and everyone in between. More times than not, you will come to regret thinking you knew all the answers.
\nBehind every failed company are dysfunctional, delusional, or incompetent business leaders. The irony is, none of them had the slightest idea that was true at the time. Even sadder, most of them still don\u2019t. Don’t end up like one of them. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The biggest problem founders and small business owners have is that they\u2019re experts in their field and novices in what it really takes to effectively run a business. That\u2019s what usually trips them up, sooner or later. Don\u2019t let that happen to you. Admit that you don\u2019t know what you don\u2019t know about business, starting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmn.life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmn.life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmn.life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmn.life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmn.life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newmn.life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39,"href":"https:\/\/newmn.life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37\/revisions\/39"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmn.life\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newmn.life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmn.life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newmn.life\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}