3 Business Truths Young Entrepreneurs Must Embrace
When you are young and trying to make your way in the business world, you tend to face two contrary scenarios. People with valuable information don’t want to tell you anything to help you that might hurt them. And other people just won’t stop offering advice you didn’t want in the first place. That’s why it’s so special when you come across someone who actually has something to say that’s worth hearing. That’s happened a few times in my early career, and now I want to pass on some of the best advice they gave me.
1 – Understand the value of everything you do
When you are just getting started there will never be enough time or enough money, but there will be more of both when you realize that both are finite commodities that require careful budgeting. Schedule everything, because now is the time you are establishing habits that must sustain you through tough times and restrain you when tempted to undue extravagance.
2 – Keep your focus and hone your perspective
A few years back the business world was all abuzz about having Big Goals and Audacious Plans. Those two phrases sold a lot of books and buried countless poor saps in endless PowerPoint hell, but boiled down to bare bones, that was nothing more than having a big, specific vision. Focus will keep you on course, save you from distraction and help you progress through your action steps to your goal. Now, you might read some nonsense about your vision being your Polaris, your guiding star and all that. Forget it. Your vision must be more reality based and down to earth than that. It needs to be grounded in the real world, so you know how to approach and attain it. Stars are fine for wishes, but visions are about action.
3 – Don’t waste time tinkering
Some younger entrepreneurs know a good idea when they see it, but they can’t resist trying to “tweak” it to make it their own. Just stop. If you have a way to make something good better AND it fits within your action plan, fine. But if you are trying to “enhance” or “fix” perfectly good processes in order to Put Your Stamp On Them then you are missing an opportunity to use tools someone else developed to build something truly your own.
In closing, here’s a bonus tip – don’t quit. I know, I know, you’ve heard it before. But has anyone ever told you there should be an asterisk on that phrase? There should. If you are doing the wrong thing or doing the right thing the wrong way, by all means, QUIT. Then start doing the right thing the right way and never stop!
Gennady Barsky is a real estate mogul and the CFO of JetSmarter. Barsky owns several businesses in the US