Don’t ever trust your competition to be honest / fair.
Don’t Scimp On Capital Reserves
A huge mistake I made was not having enough in capital reserves for the lean months/years.
Don’t Make Commitments
Don’t make commitments on behalf of a vendor. They do not have the same motivation you do.
Don’t Barter
Barter = Bad. Both parties always feel like they got the short end of the stick.
Don’t Hire Someone Less Intelligent Than You
Never hire someone who is less intelligent than you.
Don’t Be Cruel
Be kind to people always.
Don’t Take Someone’s Word For It
I did not ask enough questions before handing over money to buy into the franchise.
Don’t Put Off Planning For Retirement
We did not plan for retirement/investments. That’s by far our biggest mistake.
Don’t Think Your Clients Like You
Your clients don’t like you as much as you think they do. Think of who you would stay in touch with if you sold the business.
Don’t Keep The Disgruntled
Fire a disgruntled employee. Today. They poison the well and will never be happy, no matter what you do for them.
Don’t Keep A Screwed Up Client
Once you screw up a client, drop them. They will always remember that time when things went awry and will remind you of it as soon as things seem off again.
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 Put Off Saving
The biggest mistake is not putting money (even a little) away for rainy days. We have been in business for 38 years and have always spent as it came in.
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 Befriend Employees
Don’t think you are befriending your employees. They do not think of you as a friend and are there for one reason – to earn a paycheck. When they laugh at your jokes, it’s because they are plotting their next raise.
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 Under Value Your Staff
Don’t under-value your staff. Getting the right group of people who are self motiviated to get the job done, even if you have to pay them more, is what works best.
Don’t Be Hasty
Biggest mistake – Left positions in companies due to frustration with my boss,