I would pay the extra money for auditing (we did audits every three years, reviews on the other two) and then have a systematic way to insure that the recommendations in the management letter were followed.
Don’t Know Much About Acronyms
Pick an acronym common in your industry and ask your accountant if (s)he knows what it means. If they do not, then you are using the wrong accountant.
Don’t Work From Home
Working from home means you’re always working and you never turn off.
Don’t Make Commitments
Don’t make commitments on behalf of a vendor. They do not have the same motivation you do.
Don’t Take A Partner
Do not take a partner. Money will separate you with at least hard feelings, and at the most a law suit. In my case criminal prosecution of my partner.
Don’t Go It Alone
Some people do great things all by themselves. Not me. I’ve come to accept that I need a team – or at least a teammate.
Don’t Keep A Wrong Partner
Not firing my partner when I knew it would be best for the business, in order to be fair to him. I should have let him go and continued on with the company I built.
Don’t Forget To Get It In Writing
I wish I always got it in writing. Now I always follow up a conversation with confirming email stating what transpired in the phone call.
Don’t Pick A Wrong Partner
Picking the wrong partners is a big one for me. I tried to start several projects with partners from scratch and each time I found that we were not compatible with each other.
Don’t Share Office Space With A Stranger
I opened a shared office with someone I barely knew on the advice of other people I barely knew.
Don’t Put Off A Website
Don’t delay in creating a website. It’s the first place people look.
Don’t Start On Next Product
Not carefully critiquing my first work product before starting my second and third.