I learned these 5 lessons hard, so you don’t have to | Businessman

Almost 20 years ago, when my company was still in its infancy, I published a list of jobs that reads: “A new software company needs someone responding to phones and e-mails, leading for sale, customer support and manage my correspondence when I am away. I earned modest revenues from the software product I was building, but among the support tickets, dirty fears and the development of products at the peak of my full-time work-I knew it was time to hire the first employed.

Looking back, it’s a miracle that anyone breathes. But one person did-and the first rental became one of our longest busy employed. Although I do not regret how it turned out, since then I have learned a lot, including how many big potential candidates I have probably frightened with it out of advertising for the cuff. Like many early entrepreneurs, at the beginning, at the beginning, I looked at instinct and gravel than on experience and strategy.

The start of business was one of the most interesting and most fulfilling chapters of my life – but it is also unpredictable, humiliating and often much harder than it looks from outside. The way, the way you are valuable lessons – many of them hard. Here are a few pieces of hard -earned wisdom that I would like to know from the first day.

Related: I wish I knew four things there before starting my own business

1. Create a company that supports you every day

Lesson number one: You have to love what you do. If you do not do so, the burnout will crawl on you quickly. Starting the company simply because it sounds exciting because you like the idea of ​​business, or because you want to be your boss is not enough – the initial energy will take you so far. Everyday grind business is full of solutions to problems, failures and too much. Without real passion and efforts for the problem you solve or work itself, you will probably like momentum or ending soon.

Every task will not excite you, but a larger picture should. Continue yourself: I’m excited to get to work today? If the answer is yes more often than no, you are on the right track – and much more likely to find a sustainable success.

2.

In the early stages, it is practical in every part of business the fastest and cheapest way to understand your operations from the inside. You will quickly learn what works, what not and what to delegate when growing. When I founded my software company, I hardly encountered my live experience and basic understanding of chipping, business management and programming. While many entrepreneurs have decided to work with a partner or team from the beginning to fill in the gaps, I was able to build software, manage everyday operations and develop business without external help or financing. That set me to keep society demanding bootstrapped, and we are still today.

Today, even IS almost 20 employees, with another set of skill, it serves me continuously. I don’t have to do everything anymore, but I can sit on a developmental meeting and assess whether the screening is realistic. Release that our financial image and tax obligations are well enough to make the informed decisions and keep the costs low. Evaluate your own transferable skills and accept the opportunity to learn what you know so far. The All-Hands-on-Deck approach is not sustainable forever, but the more you dive, the better you recall, hire, keep and change with confidence.

Related: 5 things I wish someone told me before I became CEO

3. Always look for double -sided (or create it)

It never made sense to enter any business relationship if both parts do not lead better. There are two results in any negotiation: objective value (material result of agreement) and subjective value (as each side feels about the output). In my experience, a day that is a subjective value is often much more important because Howon feels about the partnership that re -creates their open work with you.

I always try to build long -term relationships with my employers, sellers, partners and customers, so I rely much more on the subjective outcome of any negotiation, prefer confidence and mutual respect for short -term profits. If you can land results where both parts feel heard, awarded and happy-when compromises are created, you build a reputation that opens more doors than any one-sided agreement ever.

4. Get off and talk

If you want to be part of a meeting, project, event or speaking engagement – don’t wait for you to be invited. Soon in my career, I often suggested that if people see value in my work they would ask me to contribute. But after decades of climbing the corporate ladder and two other buildings of my own business, I learned that the most valuable opportunities rarely land in your lap – you have to see it actively.

Location as a leader of thought is devoted to eagerness, interest and trust to move forward – even before you feel completely ready. When you present the idea, volunteering of management or addressing to cooperate, ownership of your voice and its connoisseur is a powerful tool that it has at hand. Especially for entrepreneurs who start new businesses, visibility and credibility are crucial for building brands. Opportunities are there if you want them – you just have to follow them.

Related: Do you want to be an entrepreneur? Start with these simple steps.

5. Leading with honesty and integrity

It may sound simple, but unfortunately honesty and integrity are shortage in the business environment. For me, this is not the construction of a company that gains long -term confidence. Treat your employees, customers, partners and sellers with the same respect and honesty you would expect from them. I fire my team to take it a step further and go Aboo and then to do the right thing for our customers – where someone noticed or not. If this standard becomes part of your corporate culture, it will define your brand over time.

I believe that this management management is one of the main reasons why our employed has an average holding of eight years, why we have maintained the same high -quality suppliers for more than ten years and why our customer turnover is extremely low. When a customer knows that your company is working with such a high integrity, they will not turn anywhere else, knowing that they will not find this level of service anywhere else. In the competitive market, it could only be your strong thegetiotor.

No two business trips are the same, but the foundation on which you build a company will shape everything that follows. The lessons will come quickly, but wisdom is held only if you are willing to learn how to go. You keep with purposes, stay curious and never stop refining your strategy.