Sean: And what were some of the things that maybe give me the top three things that you learned during that startup phase all the way to having two factories and 40 people?

Sean: That's a pretty good scale. It's actually a very good scale. You can live off of that. But from Point A where a lot of people are, you know, a lot of people are starting out, they have no idea, they're clueless where to go, what to do, it's too difficult. It's so difficult to start a business all the way to growing your business, making it more stable. What are the top three things that you could tell us?

Jan: I think one of the things that I would say is don't let that lack of knowledge hold you back. Because so many of us are really ignorant when we start, and even people who've gone to colleges and got book learning, it doesn't totally prepare you for the experience, I don't think, you know.

Jan: And so don't let that lack of knowledge, don't let anything that frightens you hold you back, you're only going to start and at worst you'll fail, but at least you'll have tried. But it's really true that you've got to start. So I think don't let that lack of knowledge make you feel worse than anybody else. You're just as good as everybody else. So that's number one.

Jan: Number two, I think it's really important to decide where you're going and why you're doing it because I think that focus on being passionate. I mean, in my case, initially, it was literally putting food on the table for the children, which is a real push. You know, it does focus you quite well, but if you've got a drive, it can be for your kids, it can be to change the world or to build a huge business or whatever that is pushing you on, be really clear about it and be really determined that that's what you're going to achieve. And then when you have a bad day, you want to stay in bed and we all get them, you know, it doesn't matter because that drive is enough to get you right down and keep you going. So I think that's really important.

Jan: I would say on, let's chuck in a practical one. I think learning your figures is really important. I was terrible at Math at school, you know. It wasn't something that interested me at all. I loved words, ended up a writer after all. So, Math was a horrible subject, but you know, of course, I had to do it when I had a business. And actually, it didn't matter that I was bad about it. I had a calculator and I began to see that money and business is about patterns. That began to intrigue me how you work the patterns, you know, so don't let fear of money and go and find out how to reach your own money. Don't give it to somebody else to tell you what's going on in your business. I think really, it's so important in those early stages to learn everything yourself about the financial workings of your business.

Sean: That's very interesting. A lot of people would say that you should hire an accountant at some point. What do you think about that?

Jan: I think later, the better. I think you will always run it better the more you know about finances yourself, you know.

Jan: And you know, again you get problems later on because, you know, you'll get to a size that you might have an in-house accountant? And of course, you know, or at least an in-house bookkeeper. And if you don't know how to work with figures, I regret to say that human nature is what is facing almost the amount of fraud in the accountancy industry. And you know, if you don't know, or can't read it yourself, you're setting yourself up for a huge fall. But I do think it makes you build a better business if you understand it.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/leadershipstack

Join our community and ask questions here: from.sean.si/discord

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leadershipstack