Some Timeless Advice for Those Who are in Business (Or Who Want To Be in Business):

1. Always do what you love. You can make great money doing things you dislike, but the extra cost of removing or diffusing the stress will take its toll on your physical and mental health as well as your bank balance. Take it from the guy who had a stress-related heart attack at age 33, followed swiftly by a six-figure divorce: all the money I made was not worth it. Do fun things that you love, because some days you may not feel like "going to work" but it can always be 'playtime' :)

2. People say "Do what you love and the money will follow". If this was true, I could sit on the couch eating popcorn and make millions. The more correct version is "SHARE what you love and the money will follow". Nobody will pay me to binge-watch streaming services... unless I start a podcast, movie review site etc and share my insights. Ditto for writing, painting, sculpting, knitting or any creative endeavour: share it and get paid.

   
   

3. Outsource repetitive tasks or things you do not love to do. These days you can hire a bookkeeper from any country in the world, a website developer for a few dollars and have someone answering the phones or emails from anywhere. Focus on what you are great at, and what you love to do, and outsource the rest for a couple of dollars an hour by using VOIP and the internet.

   

   
   

4. Resist selling your "baby" until it is fully grown. We have heard tales that Blockbuster video turned down the creators of Netflix in its early days when Netflix asked for $50 million. Now the streaming monolith is worth over $100 Billion. If your business becomes attractive to the competition in the first couple of years, hang in there, keep making improvements and check back when the business is 5-10 years old.

   
   

   

   
   

5. The best time to start a business is when you find an opportunity for sharing your passion with others. The best time to sell a business (aside from the 5-10 years mark) is when you are no longer passionate about it. If the thrill is gone, and you find yourself daydreaming about something else, sell the existing business and follow your heart into creating your new passion project.

   

   
   

6. Always have a business coach or mentor. My first business failed in six months, and my second one in 18 months. Then I hired a business coach. Michael Jordan's coach was not a better player, but he could see things from another perspective. Since hiring a business coach I have gone on to create a dozen startups and sold a few as ongoing concerns. Once the student becomes the master, you can always profit again or pay it forward by mentoring others.