Talk to people. Find out from other people who are doing that work, something similar, what its like. Ask them for pointers, talk to them, engage. Its almost like networking, I guess it is networking. Talk to people who have done it. I thought I knew what I was getting into, and for the most part I did, but there were key elements that I was missing that slowed me down. You may find that the experience wasn't anything like you wanted it to be. You may find that its exactly what your are hoping it is but you have to take certain steps to make sure your not going down the wrong path. It's like any other business once you go down a path its hard to back track and start over, or redo even part of it. Talk to people who have succeeded, who are running their own business. Ask them about building a network, acquiring clients, marketing, the legal aspect. Get advice. If you haven't done it before you don't know what you don't know. If you don't exactly how to do something of the things you will find out, at least you know where you are on the landscape and you can plan accordingly.

Branding is everything. People want to do business with people not a logo. That is what I very much stick by. You have to show case who you are as a person, why someone should do business with you, what the culture of your company is. That is what people want to see when they do business with somebody.

Start with the end customer in mind. Figure out who your end customer is going to be and go starting lighting those people up. Because at the end of the day that's who you have to satisfy. So whatever the business deal is just figure out where the end customer is going to be and make sure that through letters of intent or something like that you get a relationship in place. And if you do that  you'll be ok.

Remember that everybody sees the world through their own lens. I was using the example of a telescope with somebody and we all have the view that we see and so as you're starting off in business, or even later on in business, everyone's gonna have that amazing piece of advice. So just really take everything in with a ton of gratitude that people in their heart desire to help you.  But then recognize that everybody's wonderful piece of advice is from their very focused view, from their experience, and it's tinged with all of the the baggage they bring with them in life. So to listen to it but also always make sure that it rings true to your experience. If it feels right double check it. Ask other people if it's well meaning. But again we all have our own perspective and just recognize that everyone's advice is coming from their perspective.

Really do the homework and hone in on your target market. Research, research, research. You have to be clear and spell out your value proposition.

Don't get ahead of your skis. Don't think your idea is so great that you're going to bet the farm on it. First of all, you need to make sure that your business model is solid and the best way to do that is to try it out in a small scale. You find a small venue like a restaurant or any kind of a franchise, you build one and make sure that it works, and I don't mean just hope it works. Run the numbers like I did with that first gift shop. I knew how much my CD's cost, I knew how many I sold and how much I sold them for and I knew what my net profit was. Bingo it's hard numbers you can't argue with them. So make your model, make sure it works, and once you've got a working model then you can go as hard as you can run with it.

Have a good plan. Because I pulled a little bit of a TF2, if people know that video game, where one of the characters asks a support, are you sure this will work and the support replies I have no idea. I just had the idea and then just punched through it really. I just kept punching through it until things started to mold together. If you can sit down and give yourself some time in the day to give yourself a couple hours to look up business establishment. Understanding your company mission, your company values, your mantra, developing an early press kit. Something you could provide to potential investors or employees to show you have a business plan. I'm convinced I could work for you comfortably because your a man with a plan, and I can contribute my plans to that as well.

Find the best solution for every problem. Read professionally or personally. There's a saying of mine, figure out the solution the very first time otherwise you have to figure it out again and again until you master it.

We tell people who your going to hire is most important. As a small business owner that is what I always think about. Our firms slogan is to hire slow and fire fast. We do our best to hire people based on culture and our values, but it doesn't always turn out to be a good hire. We try to be transparent and set goals and milestones for them so we can quickly assess if there a good fit for our company.

Honestly, understand what you want to achieve and why you want to achieve it. You hear that all the time right but, you hear it all the time cause its important. Really focus on making sure you're not limiting yourself and bottlenecking your own growth. Check out that book the Big Leap by Hendricks. One thing I did not mention but is pretty important to me is making sure I write down my goals. Plan my goals ahead and keep track of them daily. One thing I always tell the team is to slow down to speed up. take the time to plan out what you want to do before you go for it.  Lastly remain a student. Don't stop learning when you feel like you've gotten to where you want to go. Keep looking for educational opportunities.