5 Business Lessons From the School of Hardknocks
A bit of my story
In 2006, I quit college and decided to start my business. Despite many pleas from my parents and relatives, I refused to go back to school. I was convinced I could make it in business, if I just put in the effort.
A few months before quitting college, I skipped classes and went to the library instead. I was studying for a Bachelor of Science in IT, but my library time was spent in the commerce section studying business textbooks. I learned a lot, from marketing to writing business plans and also read many business leaders’ biographies.
By the time I started my business I was convinced that I could do it. I soon learned that there is a big difference between theory and practical life. I have many horror stories of my up and downs running the business (feeling like I jumped off a plane without a parachute) but I will leave them for another day.
For today I am going to share some business lessons I have learned in the last decade.
1. Avoid the Overheads
Don’t hire when you cannot afford it. I know; it seems obvious, but for me it wasn’t. The thought of having a team was very romantic, so as soon as I started making a bit of cash, I started hiring.
The money that I could have spent buying equipment and other business assets was spent on staff that were not really necessary at that point in my business. Some of them spent more time on YouTube than on work. And at the end of the month I had to pay salaries whether or not they were productive to my business.
I soon ran out of cash and started delaying salary payments. You can imagine how hard it was, trying to motivate a team that I haven’t paid. I lost the confidence to demand the best from them and soon I had to perform the hardest task; firing them.
If you can handle the job, do it yourself until the time you cannot deliver without extra help.
Don’t rush to get an office. I made this mistake on the outset of my business career. I thought having an office was a must for clients to take me seriously. Most of my clients never set foot in my office, yet I was paying for it. This is money I could have spent on business assets or marketing the business.
Another disadvantage of renting an office is the hustle of commuting to and from work. That is time and energy that could have been spent on the business rather than on the road.
When you start hiring, or if your clients have to come to your premises, then you can rent one.
2. Narrow your Focus
Don’t diversify to early. I don’t think diversifying in a business is wrong, but there is a time for everything. I am one of those people cursed with many talents. Yes! it’s kind of like a curse. (though lately, Scott Adams has been convincing me otherwise.)
From my perspective, people with only one talent are lucky, since they know where to focus their energy. When I started out in business, I wanted to offer services in graphic design, web design, computer support, online marketing, software development, photography, video production etc. You can imagine me selling, to prospective clients. They saw a jack of all trades, and found it very hard to trust me with their business.
It took me a while to find one I knew I could focus all my energy on, without regretting abandonment of the rest. Once I focused; my business started growing and I didn’t have to throw away the rest of the talents.
If you have many talents like me you can choose one to sell and use the rest to support it. For example if you had my talent stack: You could decided to offer software development as a service to your clients; then use photography, graphic design and video production to brand your own business and develop marketing materials. You could then use the online marketing skills to market the business, and computer support to maintain your own equipment. This will save you on the money you could have spent on outsourcing or hiring.
3. Keep Learning
The hustles of running a business can take a heavy big toll on the entrepreneur. There is a great temptation to forego learning and focus on working and rest. This would be a big mistake.
In this century, technology changes almost every month; learning the latest techniques in your industry can help ease the burden you carry.
Always watching out for new tutorials in my industry keeps me up to date and I learn new techniques that make work easier. Learning business and leadership skills makes me a better person to work for. How your employees treat your customer largely depends on how you treat them.
4. The Best Marketing Is Great Service
Granted, there are some clients from hell; but you should never let them change you. In the past I found myself resenting clients because some other client had let me down or treated me disrespectfully. When I let my emotions rule me, I lost a lot of business, in spite of the fact that my work was excellent.
When I contemplated on what was going wrong with my business, I had to put myself in the shoes of customers. Where do I like shopping? Is it not where I feel respected and welcomed? I learned that a smile is one of the greatest assets for an entrepreneur.
Great service will make your clients evangelists. They will go out of there way to refer their friends and acquaintances to your business.
5. It’s all My Fault
I consider this one of the most important assets for any entrepreneur. Running a business is largely about solving problems. Solving problems for your clients; solving problems for your employees; and solving problems for the business itself.
Taking responsibility for everything, makes us think of solutions to the problems we face. If we blame the economy, the government, our clients or our employees then we are helpless. But if it is all my fault, I will find a way to win. Come rain or sunshine; I will figure out a way to come out on top.
I pray what I have shared is of great help to you. I hope you don’t make the same mistakes I made. If you have any more lesson to share, please comment below; let’s help each other grow. Until the next post, happy enterprise building!!
#small business #bootstrapping #entrepreneurship
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