Handshake deals have been made and lived by since the dawn of time. But this is the 21st Century, and we humans have repeatedly proven that we should not be such a trusting lot. Get all the essential terms and conditions of your deal in ink or in pixels, and make sure it is readily available to all viable parties as soon as the contract is drafted.
When a person steals your idea and takes the glory and the credit, sit back and watch the show. They stole your idea because they have no ideas. You have plenty of ideas.
Just because you have some knowledge does not mean you’re competent. The best business people are not the smartest people in the room, but they are smart enough to know they don’t have to be and find partners or hired hands to fill in the missing gaps.
You must study and learn from your competitors. What they may be doing right or wrong, or in line with the market and contrary, makes a difference, and figuring out what may or may not work for you based on the lessons learned from others, even direct competitors, is always helpful.
Successful business people can only reach a level of achievement by putting in the blood, sweat, and tears (plus plenty of time, money, and crushing defeats) it takes as your ‘down payment.’ How much sacrifice you will make early to reap any benefits later makes a real difference.
Just because you have the skills to do a job and may need the work, it doesn’t mean you will be inspired to finish the jobs you will have to work to find if you start a business around them.
The difference between an amateur and a professional is easy to distinguish in the world of sports, and it is just as easy to see in the world of business when you compare full-time work to side-hustle gigs. Don’t rush to advance if you are not ready to give up your ‘amateur’ business status.
A successful business keeps detailed records, making it much easier to pull information from the past to answer questions you don’t know will be asked in the future. Get in the habit of keeping good records from the initial kick-off of your business.
Determine how many one-and-done, short-time loyal, and lifer-type customers you need to maintain healthy profits and business success.
This episode will examine the good and the bad in following a quote about business and success from Warren Buffett.