Tips from Experienced Entrepreneurs on Owning a Business

• Regardless of the brilliance of a strategy, it is worthless if not adopted and implemented
• Creativity is enabled at the intersection of Freedom and Passion streets
• More time spend in user testing could have saved us time in the long run, because it would have allowed us to catch our mistakes and get ahead of them.  Haste makes waste.
• I'm a big supporter of failure.  I truly believe that success does not happen without it.  If you're not failing your not doing anything.
  
• Everytime the day to day stress of operating a business gets to me a little I realize how wonderful it is to be a part of one of the most important days of customers lives.
• I wish I would have learned early on to let go of some responsibilities and delegate better to others.
• Never have a plan B to fall back on.
• Building a business is a lonely process
• Perform a brutally honest self assessment: It is so important for an entrepreneur to evaluate their skill compared to the skills necessary to build the business.
  
• Take care of yourself: The business does not survive without the entrepreneur.
• I really thought I could make do with very little, and I did, but I could have saved myself a lot of money in the long run if I had $5,000 to start my business instead of the $200 that I started with.
  
• Hire an attorney to trademark your name properly.
• Hire a good business / intellectual property attorney.  I didn't at first and it ended up costing me in the long run.
• Get good, sound financial and business advice from experienced b+usiness people. 
• I've been going to SCORE since I started my business and I continue to do so.
• Tell everyone and anyone about your business. Promote it however you can.  Barter, trade ad space, make deals.  Your business won't grow if you don't talk.
  
• I probably wouldn't start a business with a friend again.