Eight Things I Wish I'd Known Before Starting a Business

Some of the biggest surprises in business have also been some of the best rewards of being an entrepreneur.

Written Jul 31, 2008, read 722 times since then.

When I started my first business, I didn't know another self-employed person. There also was no Internet and not many books that were written for someone wanting to create a one-person operation. It was all trial and error...lots of error.

Today there are abundant resources, but some of the most important things I learned still aren't being acknowledged. Here are eight things I wish I had known sooner.

The business you start out with is not the business you end up with. By it's very nature, business is an evolutionary process. As you change and grow-and as the marketplace changes and grows-you'll make adjustments. The good news is that you can get started wherever and whenever you want without having to know every detail. Be willing for your business to deliver pleasant surprises.

Refuse to take advice from uninformed sources. It's easy when you're filled with self-doubt to listen to dreambashers. Don't do it. And don't solicit advice from those who have failed. It's amazing to me how often I talk to people who have abandoned a great idea because someone who knew nothing about their business (and probably wasn't even an entrepreneur themselves) talked them out of it.

Know the difference between an expense and an investment. Many new self-bossers see any outlay of money as an expense. While your business will have costs associated with running it, spending money now to produce a greater good in the future is an investment. Your money needs to go to both.

What you don't know can be learned. Part of building a successful business is determining which parts of it make your heart sing and which make your heart sink. Once you know that, you can farm out the parts that you're not good at. Equally important is learning how to research your ideas and connect with informed sources. If you operate on the assumption that you can acquire the information and skills you need at every stage of development, you'll always have the pleasure of being a voluntary student.

Personal growth is a daily activity. Paul Hawken says, "Being in business is not about making money. It's a way to become who you are." I became an entrepreneur because I was curious about what I could become. Self-employment continues to be my best teacher. There's a basic truth you need to keep in mind: you can't outperform your self-image. In order for your enterprise to reach it's fullest potential, you have to reach yours. An occasional seminar or personal growth book or CD isn't going to have the impact that daily work on your self will. Happily, there's an abundance of tools to help you do just that.

Don't confuse a project with a dream. Your dreams are your ultimate destination; a project is a step along the way. Too many people use a project failure as an excuse to abandon their dreams. Know the difference.

Patience is your best friend. There's a fine line between being patient and being a procrastinator. It seems to me that what many people call failure is simply running out of patience, giving up before their idea had a chance to blossom. For most entrepreneurs, patience is an on-going challenge.

Know the difference between taking a risk and taking a calculated risk. Timid people who are not self-bossers think that you're a wild person jeopardizing your family and finances. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Studies have shown that successful entrepreneurs take risks, but they're cautious, calculated ones based on research-and intuition. Part of the appeal and adventure of being joyfully jobless is not always knowing exactly how things will turn out.

Learn more about the author, Barbara Winter.

Comment on this article

Posted by Terra Vita, Seattle, Washington | Aug 01, 2008

All so very true!
Posted by Krista Dunk, Olympia, Washington | Aug 01, 2008

Love it Barbara - so true. Great insight you've shared here.

Krista NWweddingplace.com
Posted by Kathie Nelson, Portland, Oregon | Aug 01, 2008

Great content. You hit the nail on the head.

The only thought I would add to your first comment about the business you start out with is not necessarily what you end up with is this:

I wish someone would have told me how hard it would be to let go of things I LIKE to do to do more of what I LOVE to do (and makes me more money). For some reason I thought that it would be easier to distinguish and let go but 6 years into this, I find myself doing things because I can do them and I like them...but they keep me from doing more of what I love. I am working on this right now so it is a high on my response list.

And....that takes us to the continuous personal growth topic. The never ending cycle. Gotta love it...and I do!

Thanks for putting this out there.

Kathie Nelson - Business Strategy for Busy People
Posted by David Berkey, Edmonds, Washington | Aug 01, 2008

Barbara What a great article. Couldn't agree with you more. Of course, living in the most entrepreneurial place in the world helps support the 'tude. ;-) ~David
Posted by Kimberly LeRiche, Cornelius, Oregon | Aug 01, 2008

What a great article and so many good points/reminders. When you talk about daily personal growth and the tools that are out there to help with that, can you give some examples what you were referring to?
Posted by Taylor Ellwood, Portland, Oregon | Aug 02, 2008

Excellent article and something I definitely needed to read today
Posted by Jennifer Manlowe, Bainbridge Island, Washington | Aug 02, 2008

Barbara, I love your writing style. Thank you for being one of the first pioneers to bring the rest of us along toward solo-preneurship in an alt.fashion.

I'll love the point you make about growing into who you are through crafting your own business. I find that to be so true, in my case. I always say, "know yourself, know your niche."

Another thing I didn't know was that my dreams and desires have been designing me all the time and I was always ignoring them in service of the illusion of security. All I had to do was drop what no longer felt like me and then I had the makings of a business based in authentic joy. Now I know I can "give that away" -- so to speak.

Dropping the dreambashers in my life has freed up a ton of energy. Now I write a lot and am able to volunteer as a patient advocate for people wth MS. When I'm focused on listening to people I want it to be for fun (my livelihood) or for free (easy service).

Thanks for modeling for me how to make a life based on following what you love to do!

Jenn p.s. Don't miss Barbara's book, folks: Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for Creating Work That You Love

Jennifer Manlowe, Career Counselor & Book Coach
Posted by Ruth Hartmann, Seattle, Washington | Aug 02, 2008

Thank you, Barbara, for the gentle reminder to remain flexible, enjoy the journey and give ourselves room to grow and "be all that we can be." The distinctions you make between dreams/projects, risk/calculated risk, expense/investment are very valuable.

PS - I'm also curious to know what some of your favorite personal growth tools are.
Posted by Ute Medley, Seattle, Washington | Aug 02, 2008

"Self-trust is the first secret to success." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

I like that you mention that business is an evolutionary process and that we evolve while we walk on our path.

If someone would like to know the meaning of numbers, search inside my book on Amazon.

Ute - SUM UNIVERSAL

woventhoughtdesign.com
Posted by Marlene Rockey, Seattle, Washington | Aug 02, 2008

Barbara,

Well done! Your writing style is so comfortable. It makes me feel like we actually know each other. I totally agree with you about being open to the evolutionary process of starting a business. Who knows what surprises we will experience along the way and where that could eventually lead us. I really enjoyed your article and the reminders it contained. Thanks for sharing your experience and thoughts with us. Best regards, Marlene

marlene...revealing your home's true beauty
Posted by Deb McClanahan, San Mateo, California | Aug 05, 2008

Barbara, What a great article! You've brilliantly stated a lot of thoughts I've had over 12 years in my own business (happy birthday to me this month :^).

It also makes me think that I should do more publishing myself - thanks for the encouragement on that front too.

Deb McClanahan BroadBand HR Consulting San Mateo, CA and Tumwater, WA
Posted by Susanna Baxter, Marina del Rey, California | Aug 05, 2008

Love this article. I wish I could have you as a cheerleader in the corner of my office everyday!

I would love to see you put a few links into this article for your favorite resources, such as the tools for self growth that you have found useful.
Posted by Kelly Lenihan, Edmonds, Washington | Aug 05, 2008

Hi Barbara, What a great article. As a newbie solo-preneur, your advice is timely and extremely helpful. Thank you! Kelly
Posted by PJ Portlock, Portland, Oregon | Aug 05, 2008

Great article! Thanks for the advice. I particularly enjoyed the parts about not taking advice from uninformed sources and people who confuse failure with a lack of patience.
Best, PJ
Posted by Jen Vondenbrink, Foxboro, Massachusetts | Aug 06, 2008

Hi Barbara. Thank you for this article. My biggest take away was that the business you start isn't the business you end up with.

It reminded me of my father and grandfather's businesses. Neither started out as what it is now. I've just started my business and I will keep this wise advice in my back pocket.

Thanks again, Jen
Posted by Michael Max, Beijing China | Aug 08, 2008

Yes, business as Journey. So true!
Posted by Michael Yanakiev, Sofia, Sofia Bulgaria | Aug 08, 2008

Hi Barbara. This is an article full of accumulated wisdom, which we often fail to adopt. We all evolve into something we could not predict in advance. What is interesting most of all, is your ability to learn from your errors and reflect that the most important things that one learns the hard way are still difficult to be acknowledged. MY personal feeling is that a major challenge for our ' business communities' is the necessity of a quantum leap into the slippery and fuzzy world of "Interactive Complexity",since the conventional 'management thinking' is helpless, because of the lack of an adequate perception of reality! These perceptions are already 'obsolete' and an urgent change in our "MINDSET"(UNLEARNING) and the ability to flexibly learn what is really needed about (Reality, Realists, Restrain and Responsibility,etc) is a must necessity. But how is this requirement to be fulfilled? Who is going to start the process and keep it going? Is it truly possible to achieve this massive change in our brains so that we can transform the existing bureaucracy into rejuvenated productivity? Shouldn't we take in mind that rigid routines erode the brain's amazing plasticity and halt growth? Such grand changes are very difficult to administer without major sacrifices that create fear and anxiety. This causes the human 'recession brain' to shrink and shuts it down to block learning or progress. Dictated information robs stimuli a brain needs to apply new information! Ineffective information leads a brain to vent rather than problem solve!? Lack of advanced organizers nails any window to a brains renewal!? Mistakes hidden or denied,which is the mass case, diver attention from growth, passion or purpose. Timeworn traditions transform younger brains into old hebbian learners!? Integrating 'Analytical Thinking' and 'Advanced Systems Thinking' and introducing 'Trans -Disciplinary Design Thinking' is worth considering, but this scientific orientation is still developing and it is too early to run into radical conclusions. It will be of great interest to hear Barbara's opinion and views on the paradoxes of 'Human Nature'? How do we deal from our prspective -'Changing the World' with the universal human drive towards security, risk reduction and the will to achieve desired objectives with minimum efforts? Isn't it a living paradox that to realize this basic human drive, humans are willing to take greater risks and workload? Solutions please!?
Posted by Deb Mashock, M.A., Bellevue, Washington | Aug 09, 2008

Enjoyed your article very much! Came across this quote yesterday and thought of it while I was reading:

“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.” Karen Ravn

Thank you Barbara!

:-) Deb
Posted by Alina Bas, New York, New York | Aug 20, 2008

Barbara,

What a lovely, down-to-earth, and clever article! I love your writing style. All the best,

Alina
http://www.AllowAPossibility.com
Posted by Marla Brandt, Edmonds, Washington | Sep 02, 2008

Barbara,

I enjoyed your article! Great insights and reminders. I have been a bodyworker for 22 years and changing modalities is like starting a new business. And moving into what gives me passion is a choice requiring risks and much patience. But the rewards of doing what I love is worth it.

Thank you again!

Marla (Zero Balance Practitioner)

"Feel good from the inside out!"
Posted by Kathy Slattengren, Kenmore, Washington | Sep 04, 2008

Thanks for the great article! I'm actively working on the patience piece!
Posted by Carolyn Osborne, Fircrest, Washington | Sep 24, 2008

I'm glad I saved this article until I had time to read it. The entire time I was saying, "that's so true". And it was written in such a wonderful possitive way. Thank-you!