Are you interested in owning your own business at some point? If you are and if you are feeling a little overwhelmed by all the information around you, here’s some of the top things you should look into or at least think about. These are the things I’ve learned about business either by making the mistakes myself or by observing others do it.

So if there’s a business owner dying to come out within you or if you are already a business owner trying to understand how to take your business to the next level…grab a cup of coffee and let’s begin!

Here’s part 1 of the top 50 things you need to know before starting your own business:

1. It’s not easy – It really isn’t easy being the boss (and the employee at the same time). You’ve got to make tons of decisions and you’ve got to make them fast. Being your boss and earning as much as you want sounds like a ton of fun but the road to get there, my friend, isn’t quite easy.

2. You need to take full responsibility – People who like pointing fingers and playing the blame game need not apply. If you want a successful business you’ve got to say “Oops…my fault! Now let’s fix it by doing so and so…..”

3. You need to put in long hours – It’s like pulling all nighters to get those college essays done again.

4. Time is your best friend or your worst enemy - Time Management = your key to success in business. You’ll be wearing so many different hats that without proper time management skills you’ll drive yourself (and your family, clients and employees) insane.

5. Organize, Organize and Organize – It doesn’t matter how skilled you are at finding your personal files and clothes, owning a business means the number of files you need to manage has just gone up by at least a factor of a 100. Organize, Organize and Organize! Your mental peace depends on it.

6. Your emotions begin to depend on business profits – Try to watch for the grumpy lack of sales days. Other people around you may not understand how passionate you are about your business and how that’s affecting your emotions. My best advice is to catch yourself every time this happens and try to emotionally detach yourself from your profits. Your relationships depend on you being able to do this!

7. Shutting your computer will sometimes feel like pulling the plug on a loved one - High stress time? Own an internet business? Having to turn off the computer can be stressful and equally challenging when your family won’t go away from your office until you turn the little monster off and spend time with them again. They are probably right and besides, you need a little break too!

8. Don’t lie or make false promises - Besides this being a good moral practice and good ethics. Tell you what? I’ve encountered several business owners who’ve lied to me and the sad thing is as a business owner you have so much going on that you don’t even have time to keep track of your lies. So, just speak the truth all the time, it’s a lot less stressful.

9. It takes time to build momentum - Building a business isn’t easy and so is gaining momentum too and it takes a lot of patience and courage to sit through the agonizing waiting period.

10. Don’t get emotionally attached to your products and services – Let the market be your judge. I’ve had to walk away from a lot of business ideas I’ve had, a lot of product and services I’ve created …even the ones that looked like they’re doing well. And that can cause an incredible amount of stress…and please stop calling your product or services “my baby”…that just increases the attachment you have and makes it harder for you to walk away.

11. Keep an exit strategy – As mentioned above, walking away from your ideas is one of the most stressful parts of being an entrepreneur. Make it easier by keeping an exit strategy, which means building your business/services etc. so they can be sold or taken care of in your absence. Remember, you’re in business to enjoy life and NOT to be held a prisoner inside it!

12. Identify your support group – There are going to be times when all you want to do is run away screaming. There are going to be times when all you want to do is sit down and sulk and that’s exactly when you need your support group. This is a group of individuals you can count on to comfort you and tell you to hang tight when you feel like running away. This can include your friends, family, mentors, significant other, or other business owners who you’ve built a lot of trust with over a number of years.

13. You’ve got to be Up, Up, Up for the people you hire – Your employees are not your support group. You are the leader in your business and what happens when the leader walks around acting defeated? Everybody loses focus.

14. Go out and meet people - Running a business by yourself is lonely, uncertain and scary. Meet people, call up other business owners and chat up! It’s a great way to start a friendship and even a profitable partnership.

15. You must fully commit yourself to your business growth – Even if it’s a home business, you need to set aside the hours you want to work and work during those hours. Laziness can kick in and that will kill your chances of growth.

16. Track your numbers – You got to track your income, expenses, return on investments for everything you do.

17. Take care of your health – Your business depends on you (it’s a scary realization to have…I know).

18. Seek out mentors and coaches – Having a mentor and/or a coach increases your accountability, gives you more confidence and helps you learn faster. That’s exactly where you want to be.

19. It’s addictive - At some point in your business you get addicted to the “high” of getting things done and making things happen and that will cause tremendous withdrawals during your family vacations. Solution — keep a way to stay informed about your numbers so you can get your “high” anytime you want . Or just find a way to cure your addiction and let me know when you’ve found one.

20. Manage information flow – How many business owners does it take to change the light bulb? Depends on how much paper work they are buried in. Information gets crazy when unmanaged. The simplest thing you can do right now is to setup an “IN” and “Out” tray for information whether its mail, paperwork or some cool website you found. Everything that doesn’t help you do what you are trying to do right now can be thrown into the IN tray for later use.

Read Part 2 Here

Read Part 3 Here