I’m dead serious about this. You have to pay your taxes. And you have to pay them on time. If you don’t, it will cost you dearly. The penalties and interest you have to pay on back taxes will devour the profit you make in your business. The IRS doesn’t care if you had a bad year. They figure if you can’t pay your taxes, you shouldn’t be in business. They will sell off your assets and get their money. They will put a lien on your house, your bank account, your dog, and your first born. This is serious. Keep them off your back and pay your taxes on time.

With persistence, and some fortuitousness, you may start making more money than you ever have before. Maybe more money than you can sensibly use. It’s what you have been working for. Enjoy it -- for about five minutes. This is a dangerous place to be. You are at a crossroads. It is here that ordinary mortals fall. When you are making a lot more money, you relax. You let down your guard. You forget the tough times when you didn’t have enough money for a loaf of bread. This is when you need to remember the tough times. This momentary glimpse of prosperity may not last long. You need to prepare for the lean years in case your money trucks run out of gas. Put some money aside. Make necessar

1. Think for Yourself

   It’s your business and the buck stops with you. You must be independent and make your own decisions. It’s fine to get advice from those who are more experienced or more knowledgeable than you. But at some point, you must bite the bullet, learn to make your own decisions, and live with the consequences.

   There will always be people who give you their opinion of what you should do. Consider the source, smile, be polite, and listen to what they have to say. But make your own decision based on the information that you have.

   People will criticize you, even if you are successful. It goes with the territory. You can’t let it bother you. If you can’t take the heat, do something else. There are armchair quarterbacks and then there are professionals who earn the big bucks. Be a professional -- you can’t please everyone and you shouldn’t try.

2. You Will Make Mistakes – Learn from them and grow

   You are not infallible and you will sometimes make a bad decision. It happens to everyone -- just don’t do it too often. Learn from your mistakes. Study, get more information, look at things from a different perspective.

   If possible, don’t make important decisions when you have an excessive amount of stress. Step back, think, take a walk, relax in a Jacuzzi bath, sloooooowww downnnn. When your head is clear, come back to the problem and make your best decision.

3. Money still doesn’t grow on trees – Use it wisely

   Most small businesses do not make much money at first. But whether you do or not, you must still use your money wisely. You must learn the difference between a good value and something that is cheap. For instance, Ink Jet printers are cheap but laser printers are a good value. If you don’t need color printing, buy a laser printer. Your initial cost is higher, but the cost of supplies is much less expensive and you will save money in the long run.

   Comparison shop for the things you use in your business. Don’t just take the first quote you get. And just because you’ve been buying from a certain place your whole life doesn’t mean that’s where you get the best value. Check around. Talk with other small business owners. Check local stores, check your local wholesale club or discount chain, and check the Internet (don’t forget about shipping costs!). This will take a bit of your time at first but will save you money in the long run.

   The Internet is your friend. If you know where to look, you can find good and useful information that can save you time and money.

   Beware of credit cards. They can be your friend, but normally, they are enemies in disguise. Having a credit card for your business is practically mandatory -- but be cautious. Don’t run up the bill buying frivolous things that you can do without. The interest you pay will drain profits from your business. Use them wisely. Find a credit card with the best interest rate and use it only when necessary. Better yet, get a card that you have to pay the balance off each month.

   Advertising may be a necessary expense when you first start out. Advertising salesmen will tell you that the key to results with advertising is consistency. But that also means you have to spend a lot of money. I’m not convinced that the results of consistent advertising, is worth the amount of money you have to spend.

   With the advent of the Internet, there are inexpensive advertising and marketing tools you can use in your business. Get a web site. Check out articles and books on Internet Marketing and Guerilla Marketing. Of course your best advertising is satisfied customers – spend a lot of your efforts on that. It’s much easier and less expensive to keep satisfied customers than it is to get new ones.

4. You Don’t Know Everything

   As much as you may know about your business’ primary focus, there is so much more to running a business. Talk to other small business owners. Call the Small Business Administration. If you grow your business at all, you will need the services of an attorney and an accountant. They are expensive, but they will save you money in the long run.

   Again, the Internet is your friend – lots of good info about starting and running a small business there.

5. You Can’t Do Everything

   At some point you will have more to do than you can possibly do. You will have to hire an employee. Maybe more than one. Now it really gets complicated with workers comp, payroll taxes, vacation time, sick time, health plans, and everything else that goes along with having employees.

   You will be tempted to hire friends or family. That’s good and bad. You absolutely have to weigh the pluses and minuses of that. You have a business to run. You are a professional. Your business needs to be efficient. You need to hire the best at what they do. And it’s okay to hire people that are smarter than you.

   To me, honesty is a major plus when hiring someone. More so in some businesses. Unfortunately, honesty cannot easily be measured. That’s where hiring a family member may be advantageous -- but not always. I was serious when I said that hiring employees is where it really gets complicated.

   You can try running help wanted ads yourself but you may also contact some employment offices and see what they can do for you. They can ask applicants questions that you, as an employer, can not ask.

   Once you have good employees, you have to let them do their jobs. Help them, train them, but don’t micromanage. You have other things to do. You have to keep the birds--eye vision of your business. It can be a little scary here. You will lose a little control and you won’t always know how to do everything. That’s fine. Your business is starting to run itself.

6. Set Yourself Apart from the Competition

   If you have no competition when you start your business, count yourself blessed. At some point you will. In fact, if you are very successful, you will have a lot of competition wanting a slice of your pie. You just have to be better, in some way, than the competition. Having the lowest price is not always the answer, though you do want to be competitive on price. Having quality products and services and friendly and knowledgeable salespeople is a big plus. In some way, always go the extra mile. This will set you apart. Under promise and over deliver. Exceed your customer’s expectations. Let them know how much you appreciate them.

7. Don’t Get Sidetracked

   Focus on what your business is good at. As you succeed and grow, you may see other opportunities for expansion of some kind. It may be an expansion of size, locations, products, or services. You must be careful not to stretch you and your resources too thin. If possible, approach these expansion opportunities in small steps. Instead of taking on a whole new product line or area of services, try just a little bit and see how it goes.

   Go with what got you here. That’s where most of your time and money needs to be. Look for ways to continually improve what you are currently doing.

8. Be Flexible – The times they are a changing

   At first, this principle seems to be at odds with the previous principle. But it is really just a different phase of business. You are fortunate if your business is the type that just doesn’t change much over time. But because of this tsunami called the Internet, most businesses involve a fair amount of change, and you must change too, or close your doors.

   It may be that your products or services are becoming obsolete. As a business owner, with vision, you should see the handwriting on the wall. The speed of their obsolescence will determine your course of action. You may need to explore related product lines or service areas. You may need to find a completely new product or service. You may need to combine both of those approaches.

9. Renew your Vision

   At some point you may lose interest in your business. You may even want to quit. But you can’t quit now because its way past complicated. You don’t know what to do, so you do nothing. Or you keep the same old routine going but you have no desire, no passion. That’s called burnout. I wish there were three easy steps I could give you to permanently eradicate burnout, but there’s not. If you are seriously burned out and really don’t care about your business, you may sell it if you can. If you can’t sell it, you may just have to close it. If you can’t afford to close it, if it’s still earning you a good living, you are just going to have to tough it out. Sorry. No easy answers. It’s your monster – you feed it.

   You can try taking some time off and doing something you really enjoy. That may help. You are fortunate if your business pretty much runs itself and just needs someone there to manage it. You can try doing something else for a change while someone else, that you trust, manages your business. Step away from it if you can. But keep in mind, no one cares about your business as much as you (or at least as much as you used to care about it). You may get someone to manage your business while you are away, but they are still an employee working for a paycheck. No one else will treat your business the way that you do. Be careful.

10. Go Without Food, Ride the bus, but Pay Your Taxes

    I’m dead serious about this. You have to pay your taxes. And you have to pay them on time. If you don’t, it will cost you dearly. The penalties and interest you have to pay on back taxes will devour the profit you make in your business. The IRS doesn’t care if you had a bad year. They figure if you can’t pay your taxes, you shouldn’t be in business. They will sell off your assets and get their money. They will put a lien on your house, your bank account, your dog, and your first born. This is serious. Keep them off your back and pay your taxes on time.

11. Money – the Stumbling Block of Mere Mortals

    With persistence, and some fortuitousness, you may start making more money than you ever have before. Maybe more money than you can sensibly use. It’s what you have been working for. Enjoy it -- for about five minutes. This is a dangerous place to be. You are at a crossroads. It is here that ordinary mortals fall. When you are making a lot more money, you relax. You let down your guard. You forget the tough times when you didn’t have enough money for a loaf of bread. This is when you need to remember the tough times. This momentary glimpse of prosperity may not last long. You need to prepare for the lean years in case your money trucks run out of gas. Put some money aside. Make necessar

    The Top 10 Things They Don't Teach You In Business School
    Here are 10 subjects that academia should be teaching their students in business school:1. Generate revenue for your companyWhat academia doesn’t teach you is that the real purpose organizations hire you is to generate revenue. Pure and simple. How do you do that? Look around and ask yourself, how can I increase productivity, efficiency, effectiveness and profitability in my area of responsibility? If you work in a non-profit arena, you ask yourself the same question. It is not “profit” in your case, it is “surplus funds.” In reality, there is no such thing as “non-profit.” You have to have money to open the doors and turn on the lights, don’t you?Remember, there is a rule of thumb when you are hired. It is the 2.5 times rule. This means you will have to generate 2.5 times your salary (including benefits) in order for your employer to break even on you. How do you do that? Generate revenue!2. Move every two to three yearsWhen you think about who has been “reduced in force” in the last 10 years, it appears that it has been individuals who have been in their same job description for at least 10-15 years. Moving every two to three years gives you a competitive edge in any organization even if it means taking a “lateral” position or even a “demotion.” Who will be more valuable to an organization, a person in the same job for 10+ years, or the individual who has worked in a variety of positions within the organization? If you were the CEO, who would you retain when it comes to “downsizing?”.3. Learn and apply business and social etiquetteHave you noticed how many people lack civility today? The lack of thoughtfulness and consideration is ra
    money wisely. You must learn the difference between a good value and something that is cheap. For instance, Ink Jet printers are cheap but laser printers are a good value. If you don’t need color printing, buy a laser printer. Your initial cost is higher, but the cost of supplies is much less expensive and you will save money in the long run.

    Comparison shop for the things you use in your business. Don’t just take the first quote you get. And just because you’ve been buying from a certain place your whole life doesn’t mean that’s where you get the best value. Check around. Talk with other small business owners. Check local stores, check your local wholesale club or discount chain, and check the Internet (don’t forget about shipping costs!). This will take a bit of your time at first but will save you money in the long run.

    The Internet is your friend. If you know where to look, you can find good and useful information that can save you time and money.

    Beware of credit cards. They can be your friend, but normally, they are enemies in disguise. Having a credit card for your business is practically mandatory -- but be cautious. Don’t run up the bill buying frivolous things that you can do without. The interest you pay will drain profits from your business. Use them wisely. Find a credit card with the best interest rate and use it only when necessary. Better yet, get a card that you have to pay the balance off each month.

    Advertising may be a necessary expense when you first start out. Advertising salesmen will tell you that the key to results with advertising is consistency. But that also means you have to spend a lot of money. I’m not convinced that the results of consistent advertising, is worth the amount of money you have to spend.

    With the advent of the Internet, there are inexpensive advertising and marketing tools you can use in your business. Get a web site. Check out articles and books on Internet Marketing and Guerilla Marketing. Of course your best advertising is satisfied customers – spend a lot of your efforts on that. It’s much easier and less expensive to keep satisfied customers than it is to get new ones.

12. You Don’t Know Everything

    As much as you may know about your business’ primary focus, there is so much more to running a business. Talk to other small business owners. Call the Small Business Administration. If you grow your business at all, you will need the services of an attorney and an accountant. They are expensive, but they will save you money in the long run.

    Again, the Internet is your friend – lots of good info about starting and running a small business there.

13. You Can’t Do Everything

    At some point you will have more to do than you can possibly do. You will have to hire an employee. Maybe more than one. Now it really gets complicated with workers comp, payroll taxes, vacation time, sick time, health plans, and everything else that goes along with having employees.

    You will be tempted to hire friends or family. That’s good and bad. You absolutely have to weigh the pluses and minuses of that. You have a business to run. You are a professional. Your business needs to be efficient. You need to hire the best at what they do. And it’s okay to hire people that are smarter than you.

    To me, honesty is a major plus when hiring someone. More so in some businesses. Unfortunately, honesty cannot easily be measured. That’s where hiring a family member may be advantageous -- but not always. I was serious when I said that hiring employees is where it really gets complicated.

    You can try running help wanted ads yourself but you may also contact some employment offices and see what they can do for you. They can ask applicants questions that you, as an employer, can not ask.

    Once you have good employees, you have to let them do their jobs. Help them, train them, but don’t micromanage. You have other things to do. You have to keep the birds--eye vision of your business. It can be a little scary here. You will lose a little control and you won’t always know how to do everything. That’s fine. Your business is starting to run itself.

14. Set Yourself Apart from the Competition

    If you have no competition when you start your business, count yourself blessed. At some point you will. In fact, if you are very successful, you will have a lot of competition wanting a slice of your pie. You just have to be better, in some way, than the competition. Having the lowest price is not always the answer, though you do want to be competitive on price. Having quality products and services and friendly and knowledgeable salespeople is a big plus. In some way, always go the extra mile. This will set you apart. Under promise and over deliver. Exceed your customer’s expectations. Let them know how much you appreciate them.

15. Don’t Get Sidetracked

    Focus on what your business is good at. As you succeed and grow, you may see other opportunities for expansion of some kind. It may be an expansion of size, locations, products, or services. You must be careful not to stretch you and your resources too thin. If possible, approach these expansion opportunities in small steps. Instead of taking on a whole new product line or area of services, try just a little bit and see how it goes.

    Go with what got you here. That’s where most of your time and money needs to be. Look for ways to continually improve what you are currently doing.

16. Be Flexible – The times they are a changing

    At first, this principle seems to be at odds with the previous principle. But it is really just a different phase of business. You are fortunate if your business is the type that just doesn’t change much over time. But because of this tsunami called the Internet, most businesses involve a fair amount of change, and you must change too, or close your doors.

    It may be that your products or services are becoming obsolete. As a business owner, with vision, you should see the handwriting on the wall. The speed of their obsolescence will determine your course of action. You may need to explore related product lines or service areas. You may need to find a completely new product or service. You may need to combine both of those approaches.

17. Renew your Vision

    At some point you may lose interest in your business. You may even want to quit. But you can’t quit now because its way past complicated. You don’t know what to do, so you do nothing. Or you keep the same old routine going but you have no desire, no passion. That’s called burnout. I wish there were three easy steps I could give you to permanently eradicate burnout, but there’s not. If you are seriously burned out and really don’t care about your business, you may sell it if you can. If you can’t sell it, you may just have to close it. If you can’t afford to close it, if it’s still earning you a good living, you are just going to have to tough it out. Sorry. No easy answers. It’s your monster – you feed it.

    You can try taking some time off and doing something you really enjoy. That may help. You are fortunate if your business pretty much runs itself and just needs someone there to manage it. You can try doing something else for a change while someone else, that you trust, manages your business. Step away from it if you can. But keep in mind, no one cares about your business as much as you (or at least as much as you used to care about it). You may get someone to manage your business while you are away, but they are still an employee working for a paycheck. No one else will treat your business the way that you do. Be careful.

18. Go Without Food, Ride the bus, but Pay Your Taxes

    I’m dead serious about this. You have to pay your taxes. And you have to pay them on time. If you don’t, it will cost you dearly. The penalties and interest you have to pay on back taxes will devour the profit you make in your business. The IRS doesn’t care if you had a bad year. They figure if you can’t pay your taxes, you shouldn’t be in business. They will sell off your assets and get their money. They will put a lien on your house, your bank account, your dog, and your first born. This is serious. Keep them off your back and pay your taxes on time.

19. Money – the Stumbling Block of Mere Mortals

    With persistence, and some fortuitousness, you may start making more money than you ever have before. Maybe more money than you can sensibly use. It’s what you have been working for. Enjoy it -- for about five minutes. This is a dangerous place to be. You are at a crossroads. It is here that ordinary mortals fall. When you are making a lot more money, you relax. You let down your guard. You forget the tough times when you didn’t have enough money for a loaf of bread. This is when you need to remember the tough times. This momentary glimpse of prosperity may not last long. You need to prepare for the lean years in case your money trucks run out of gas. Put some money aside. Make necessar

    Case Study - Small Business Branding by Maid in the Shade
    Effective branding is key to getting your small business to spread. Maid in the Shade is an example of how two women with an entrepreneurial spirit and dedication can create a successful business with hard work and solid branding. They’ve been in business for almost 20 years now, and have a staff of over 30 people. They consider their branding to be an important part of their business’ development.Maid in the Shade wanted to emphasize that they were not just providing their clients with cleaning services, but giving them more quality time in their lives. This could mean more time for family, friends, projects and recreation. For commercial clients, the value of Maid in the Shade would be that they could increase employee productivity and gain more respect from their clients by always having a clean workplace. Another element they wanted to portray in their image is that they are well-established, professional and trustworthy.The Maid in the Shade logo, which they call “broomy”, has been a key element in their branding. The logo is of a smiling broom with sunglasses. This catchy image sticks in people’s minds and helps them to stand out among their competitors. They receive a lot of positive feedback about their cute name and logo.Maid in the Shade has used various means over the years to build their brands. They have used Yellow Pages ads, ads in local papers, flyers, networking and search engine marketing. Their recently updated website helps build their image by using a Flash animation on the home page, quality content explaining their experience and commitment to quality, and easy to use navigation and forms. The clean, professional look of the web
    s so much more to running a business. Talk to other small business owners. Call the Small Business Administration. If you grow your business at all, you will need the services of an attorney and an accountant. They are expensive, but they will save you money in the long run.

    Again, the Internet is your friend – lots of good info about starting and running a small business there.

20. You Can’t Do Everything

    At some point you will have more to do than you can possibly do. You will have to hire an employee. Maybe more than one. Now it really gets complicated with workers comp, payroll taxes, vacation time, sick time, health plans, and everything else that goes along with having employees.

    You will be tempted to hire friends or family. That’s good and bad. You absolutely have to weigh the pluses and minuses of that. You have a business to run. You are a professional. Your business needs to be efficient. You need to hire the best at what they do. And it’s okay to hire people that are smarter than you.

    To me, honesty is a major plus when hiring someone. More so in some businesses. Unfortunately, honesty cannot easily be measured. That’s where hiring a family member may be advantageous -- but not always. I was serious when I said that hiring employees is where it really gets complicated.

    You can try running help wanted ads yourself but you may also contact some employment offices and see what they can do for you. They can ask applicants questions that you, as an employer, can not ask.

    Once you have good employees, you have to let them do their jobs. Help them, train them, but don’t micromanage. You have other things to do. You have to keep the birds--eye vision of your business. It can be a little scary here. You will lose a little control and you won’t always know how to do everything. That’s fine. Your business is starting to run itself.

21. Set Yourself Apart from the Competition

    If you have no competition when you start your business, count yourself blessed. At some point you will. In fact, if you are very successful, you will have a lot of competition wanting a slice of your pie. You just have to be better, in some way, than the competition. Having the lowest price is not always the answer, though you do want to be competitive on price. Having quality products and services and friendly and knowledgeable salespeople is a big plus. In some way, always go the extra mile. This will set you apart. Under promise and over deliver. Exceed your customer’s expectations. Let them know how much you appreciate them.

22. Don’t Get Sidetracked

    Focus on what your business is good at. As you succeed and grow, you may see other opportunities for expansion of some kind. It may be an expansion of size, locations, products, or services. You must be careful not to stretch you and your resources too thin. If possible, approach these expansion opportunities in small steps. Instead of taking on a whole new product line or area of services, try just a little bit and see how it goes.

    Go with what got you here. That’s where most of your time and money needs to be. Look for ways to continually improve what you are currently doing.

23. Be Flexible – The times they are a changing

    At first, this principle seems to be at odds with the previous principle. But it is really just a different phase of business. You are fortunate if your business is the type that just doesn’t change much over time. But because of this tsunami called the Internet, most businesses involve a fair amount of change, and you must change too, or close your doors.

    It may be that your products or services are becoming obsolete. As a business owner, with vision, you should see the handwriting on the wall. The speed of their obsolescence will determine your course of action. You may need to explore related product lines or service areas. You may need to find a completely new product or service. You may need to combine both of those approaches.

24. Renew your Vision

    At some point you may lose interest in your business. You may even want to quit. But you can’t quit now because its way past complicated. You don’t know what to do, so you do nothing. Or you keep the same old routine going but you have no desire, no passion. That’s called burnout. I wish there were three easy steps I could give you to permanently eradicate burnout, but there’s not. If you are seriously burned out and really don’t care about your business, you may sell it if you can. If you can’t sell it, you may just have to close it. If you can’t afford to close it, if it’s still earning you a good living, you are just going to have to tough it out. Sorry. No easy answers. It’s your monster – you feed it.

    You can try taking some time off and doing something you really enjoy. That may help. You are fortunate if your business pretty much runs itself and just needs someone there to manage it. You can try doing something else for a change while someone else, that you trust, manages your business. Step away from it if you can. But keep in mind, no one cares about your business as much as you (or at least as much as you used to care about it). You may get someone to manage your business while you are away, but they are still an employee working for a paycheck. No one else will treat your business the way that you do. Be careful.

25. Go Without Food, Ride the bus, but Pay Your Taxes

    I’m dead serious about this. You have to pay your taxes. And you have to pay them on time. If you don’t, it will cost you dearly. The penalties and interest you have to pay on back taxes will devour the profit you make in your business. The IRS doesn’t care if you had a bad year. They figure if you can’t pay your taxes, you shouldn’t be in business. They will sell off your assets and get their money. They will put a lien on your house, your bank account, your dog, and your first born. This is serious. Keep them off your back and pay your taxes on time.

26. Money – the Stumbling Block of Mere Mortals

    With persistence, and some fortuitousness, you may start making more money than you ever have before. Maybe more money than you can sensibly use. It’s what you have been working for. Enjoy it -- for about five minutes. This is a dangerous place to be. You are at a crossroads. It is here that ordinary mortals fall. When you are making a lot more money, you relax. You let down your guard. You forget the tough times when you didn’t have enough money for a loaf of bread. This is when you need to remember the tough times. This momentary glimpse of prosperity may not last long. You need to prepare for the lean years in case your money trucks run out of gas. Put some money aside. Make necessar

    Metal Pens As Corporate Gifts For Great Customers
    Plastic pens are great promotional items for everyday use, and customers who take them will use them, be grateful to you for them, and likely pass the pens on to friends, relatives, or even strangers over the course of time, possibly spreading awareness of your business and hopefully increasing your customer base. This is great news for any company looking for cheap, easy promotion.Almost everyone in the western world uses pens at some time or another, and many of us use them at least once a day for various things, be it work, chores, school, or errands. Pens are the ideal promotional item because they fill a need that everyone has, but because they are so ideal, they are frequently used and the need is frequently filled by the time a customer gets a hold of one of your own For really great customers, you want to do something more. A promotional pen that is not just functional but durable and stylish will attract them much more than a cheap plastic pen, and the right metal pen can look like a really great gift for your bigger customers and your most loyal clients.Check out the variety of metal pens available, and prepare to wow your best customers with your service. You should be looking at some of the more expensive promotional metal pens, which look beautiful, work well, and can be engraved with your company name and information to keep that information handy for your customers. They will love that you thought highly enough of them to spend the extra money on them for a real gift, and will use your pen frequently in place of all of the cheap plastic pens that litter their desks.Corporate customer
    swer, though you do want to be competitive on price. Having quality products and services and friendly and knowledgeable salespeople is a big plus. In some way, always go the extra mile. This will set you apart. Under promise and over deliver. Exceed your customer’s expectations. Let them know how much you appreciate them.

27. Don’t Get Sidetracked

    Focus on what your business is good at. As you succeed and grow, you may see other opportunities for expansion of some kind. It may be an expansion of size, locations, products, or services. You must be careful not to stretch you and your resources too thin. If possible, approach these expansion opportunities in small steps. Instead of taking on a whole new product line or area of services, try just a little bit and see how it goes.

    Go with what got you here. That’s where most of your time and money needs to be. Look for ways to continually improve what you are currently doing.

28. Be Flexible – The times they are a changing

    At first, this principle seems to be at odds with the previous principle. But it is really just a different phase of business. You are fortunate if your business is the type that just doesn’t change much over time. But because of this tsunami called the Internet, most businesses involve a fair amount of change, and you must change too, or close your doors.

    It may be that your products or services are becoming obsolete. As a business owner, with vision, you should see the handwriting on the wall. The speed of their obsolescence will determine your course of action. You may need to explore related product lines or service areas. You may need to find a completely new product or service. You may need to combine both of those approaches.

29. Renew your Vision

    At some point you may lose interest in your business. You may even want to quit. But you can’t quit now because its way past complicated. You don’t know what to do, so you do nothing. Or you keep the same old routine going but you have no desire, no passion. That’s called burnout. I wish there were three easy steps I could give you to permanently eradicate burnout, but there’s not. If you are seriously burned out and really don’t care about your business, you may sell it if you can. If you can’t sell it, you may just have to close it. If you can’t afford to close it, if it’s still earning you a good living, you are just going to have to tough it out. Sorry. No easy answers. It’s your monster – you feed it.

    You can try taking some time off and doing something you really enjoy. That may help. You are fortunate if your business pretty much runs itself and just needs someone there to manage it. You can try doing something else for a change while someone else, that you trust, manages your business. Step away from it if you can. But keep in mind, no one cares about your business as much as you (or at least as much as you used to care about it). You may get someone to manage your business while you are away, but they are still an employee working for a paycheck. No one else will treat your business the way that you do. Be careful.

30. Go Without Food, Ride the bus, but Pay Your Taxes

    I’m dead serious about this. You have to pay your taxes. And you have to pay them on time. If you don’t, it will cost you dearly. The penalties and interest you have to pay on back taxes will devour the profit you make in your business. The IRS doesn’t care if you had a bad year. They figure if you can’t pay your taxes, you shouldn’t be in business. They will sell off your assets and get their money. They will put a lien on your house, your bank account, your dog, and your first born. This is serious. Keep them off your back and pay your taxes on time.

31. Money – the Stumbling Block of Mere Mortals

    With persistence, and some fortuitousness, you may start making more money than you ever have before. Maybe more money than you can sensibly use. It’s what you have been working for. Enjoy it -- for about five minutes. This is a dangerous place to be. You are at a crossroads. It is here that ordinary mortals fall. When you are making a lot more money, you relax. You let down your guard. You forget the tough times when you didn’t have enough money for a loaf of bread. This is when you need to remember the tough times. This momentary glimpse of prosperity may not last long. You need to prepare for the lean years in case your money trucks run out of gas. Put some money aside. Make necessar

    Entrepreneurs Know Profits and Cash are Different
    "How come there's never any cash in the checking account?"How many times have you asked yourself that question? You know the business is making money. The Profit and Loss statement shows a profit every month. You are constantly signing checks to pay the quarterly tax payments. Every time you go to the bank for a ninety day note, your banker agrees without batting an eye -- just passes over the papers for your signatures.And he tells you, "That business of yours sure cranks out the profits and it just keeps growing. What a gem."But where's the cash?If your business is growing at a rate of 30% a year, and your gross profit is 25%, you will always be out of cash. It's amazing, but unless the business generates high profits, even moderate growth will kill a business. The business can survive only as long as it has sufficient credit to borrow money -- more money each time it goes to the bank. But when the debt service closes in on the cash flow, any downturn in sales, or slowdown in collections, or increase in costs can stop the availability of credit.How do you increase profits? Raising prices is a good way to start. My barber understands the supply/demand curve as well as anybody I know. He runs a one-man shop and works only by appointments. When he starts to see new faces looking for appointments (more demand), he raises his prices. Certainly some of the old customers leave and try another barber but they soon come back (he's that good.)He's also constantly improving his business by getting rid of problem customers. If you don't show up and you haven't called to cancel (causing him to lose the income for a time slot) -- he just doesn't have any
    ss, you may sell it if you can. If you can’t sell it, you may just have to close it. If you can’t afford to close it, if it’s still earning you a good living, you are just going to have to tough it out. Sorry. No easy answers. It’s your monster – you feed it.

    You can try taking some time off and doing something you really enjoy. That may help. You are fortunate if your business pretty much runs itself and just needs someone there to manage it. You can try doing something else for a change while someone else, that you trust, manages your business. Step away from it if you can. But keep in mind, no one cares about your business as much as you (or at least as much as you used to care about it). You may get someone to manage your business while you are away, but they are still an employee working for a paycheck. No one else will treat your business the way that you do. Be careful.

32. Go Without Food, Ride the bus, but Pay Your Taxes

    I’m dead serious about this. You have to pay your taxes. And you have to pay them on time. If you don’t, it will cost you dearly. The penalties and interest you have to pay on back taxes will devour the profit you make in your business. The IRS doesn’t care if you had a bad year. They figure if you can’t pay your taxes, you shouldn’t be in business. They will sell off your assets and get their money. They will put a lien on your house, your bank account, your dog, and your first born. This is serious. Keep them off your back and pay your taxes on time.

33. Money – the Stumbling Block of Mere Mortals

    With persistence, and some fortuitousness, you may start making more money than you ever have before. Maybe more money than you can sensibly use. It’s what you have been working for. Enjoy it -- for about five minutes. This is a dangerous place to be. You are at a crossroads. It is here that ordinary mortals fall. When you are making a lot more money, you relax. You let down your guard. You forget the tough times when you didn’t have enough money for a loaf of bread. This is when you need to remember the tough times. This momentary glimpse of prosperity may not last long. You need to prepare for the lean years in case your money trucks run out of gas. Put some money aside. Make necessary improvements in your business, but don’t get carried away just because you have the money. There is a difference between a ‘necessary improvement’ and something that would just be nice to have.

    Don’t over-hire. There’s no point in hiring new employees to do new tasks if you can spread the needed work among the ones you have. Be careful here though. Good employees don’t mind doing a little more as long as they are not overburdened. In fact, many people would prefer a little variety in the work day.

    It’s okay to reward yourself a little bit with your new-found prosperity. You have worked hard. But don’t overdo it -- be sensible and tread carefully. You still can’t walk on water so don’t get the big head.

    Having a prosperous business empowers you to make it even better. Do it wisely and the prosperity will last longer. But always keep in mind that the prosperity will not last forever. Make your business stronger while you can so that when the lean times hit, you are able to withstand it.

34. Walk on a Higher Plane

    Follow the Golden Rule. If you don’t do this, you won’t be in business long. This is imperative. It should be the cornerstone of your business. Always do the right thing. Treat people right. Treat them the way that you would like to be treated. Don’t ever try to trick or deceive people, even if it costs you money. If you can’t make a living honestly, then no other business principle can help you.

    Be an eagle, not a chicken. Eagles soar, chickens cluck around in the dirt. Choose to live and work on a higher plane than most. Choose to be above average. Most people just do their job. You should over--deliver. Do more than is expected. Excel.

    You are a professional. Act like it. Treat people with respect. When you talk to people, there’s no need to curse. Cursing is not professional. Be an eagle -- soar above the others.

    You are surrounded by mediocrity. People expect it. Do the unexpected. Go the extra mile. Over--deliver. Set a higher standard. Stand above the crowd. Soar.