Serial Entrepreneur Shares 11 Most Important Lessons He’s Learned About Starting A Business

Written by C. James on updated
starting a business lessons

Starting a business, and then making that business successful, is not as easy or glamorous as it might seem. But the hardest part of anything in life — whether it’s launching a business, getting in shape, or even investing — is the simple act of starting.

But what happens after you set up your LLC, open a business bank account, make a shiny new website, and design a logo? As annoying as some of those initial steps can be, when it comes to running a business, they are the easy part. Figuring out how the hell you are going to succeed is the difficult task that all entrepreneurs face.

Earlier today, we came across a Twitter thread from an entrepreneur who, although anonymous, claims to have spent 15 years building several multi million dollar companies. Regardless of the number of businesses he’s started or how many millions he’s made, the advice he provides in this thread is packed full of valuable knowledge.

Thoughts on 1: If you hate selling, find someone to be a part of your team who loves it. Incentivize that person to also love your business. Skin in the game is an incredible motivator.

Thoughts on 2: When you’re running your own business, it can sometimes feel like you’ve swam to the middle of the ocean. If you want to succeed keep going, because swimming back to the shore is going to be just as painful.

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Thoughts on 3: What we would add to that is you can also gain knowledge of how every part of a business works.

Thoughts on 4: This is spot on. In life and in your business, you usually get what you pay for. Find value — true value — in the services you pay for and employees you hire.

Thoughts on 5: A perfect example of this might be all the FBA businesses on Amazon. Or building a business leveraging social media. User other people’s genius ideas to make yourself rich.

Thoughts on 6: To expand upon that, your business doesn’t need to be “cool” or culturally impactful to be successful. Creating the next Supreme is much harder than creating the next Fresh Clean Tees. Get blank t-shirts, add a logo inside, get men to buy them in bulk. Unsexy. Super profitable.

Thoughts on 7: Working night and day is exhausting, stressful, and generally not enjoyable. It is, however, essential when you are starting a business.

Thoughts on 8: Good help is essential. Incentivize the ones you want to keep. You can’t build an empire alone.

Thoughts on 9: Online businesses are fine, but don’t sleep on blue collar “sweaty startups”. You can build an entire power washing/gutter cleaning business with cheap labor and a few thousands dollars in equipment.

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Thoughts on 10: Truthfully, businesses fail and that “overnight success” might never come. But don’t let that stop you from trying or starting another business.

Thoughts on 11: The answer is you should find out. Starting a business, even a small solo business, will make you learn a lot about yourself. And, most importantly, it will help you grow as a person and a business owner.

Author
C. James

C. James is the managing editor at Wealth Gang. He has a degree in finance and a passion for creating passive income streams and wealth management.