Over the years I have learned a lot about business and I still have a lot to learn but there are several lessons that have made there way into my life and have proven to be very invaluable.

I started in business in my early twenties and back then there was this arrogant part of me that thought I knew everything – boy was that kid wrong. I made a lot of mistakes, but I learned from each one of them and now that I am further down the road, I wanted to share some of the most important lessons.

1. Make money fast. The simple fact is that a business that is not making money is an expensive hobby, so you have to lace up the boots, hit the streets, and find paying customers.
2. Building a business takes and investment of time, energy, and money. You must be willing to invest all three.
3. Under-promise and Over-deliver. Give the customer more than they expect and you can expect more customers than you can handle.
4. Network, Network, and Network some more. Business is about personal connections. Invest in people and people will invest in you.
5. Build Your Database. When you go out to network, don’t just collect cards – collect relationships.
6. Develop Your Personal Brand. People will buy from people they know, like, and trust so put time into your personal brand and people will put their trust into you.
7. Marketing is what makes the Magic happen. Regardless of the business you may think you are in, you are actually in the business of marketing. The best person doesn’t always get the customer, but the best marketer will never go hungry so invest in becoming a student of marketing.
8. Do what you say. You can’t be everything to everyone so pick your customers based on the one’s that you can help the most and they will in turn send you more business. If you make a pricing mistake, eat it yourself.

How did I learn these the hard way? Simple I made mistakes. But remember a mistake is only a mistake if you make it once. If you repeat it, then it becomes a habit.