Rules Entrepreneurs Live By

As a business owner, the best way to ensure your success and the success of your company is to learn from those that have gone before you. The more you study successful people the more you will see trends that start to pop up. Entrepreneurship isn't for everyone, but for those that take on the challenge, work hard, and learn from others, it can pay huge dividends. We've compiled some of these lessons here for you.

Value your time more than you value money

We all have a finite amount of time we, so it's very important to not waste it. If you can delegate a job to someone earning a lower wage than you can generate in that same time doing something else, delegate it. If a task is unimportant in the big picture, don't do it.

Fail

Yes, fail. Fail big and fail often. The list of incredibly successful people that have failed repeatedly is large and prestigious. Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln... Learn from every experience, and apply what you learn toward your future success.

Speaking of learning...

Invest in your continuing education. Read business books, take classes, attend seminars. The most successful people continue to learn throughout your careers and find ways to apply these lessons to their business.

Go outside your comfort zone

As they say, that's where the magic happens. It's all too easy to become comfortable in what you always have done, and not make changes to how you operate in your business. However, if you want to grow, you need to change periodically, and it's not always comfortable. For example, if you

typically spend 40 hours a week at your desk, cut it down to 35 and spend the rest at networking events. Your bottom line will thank you.

Focus on your strengths

If your strength is big picture visionary stuff, you may not be best served to spend all of your time doing detailed accounting work. Delegate that work to someone else and do what you're great at. That's why you got into business to begin with right?

Build a team

No one does it alone. No matter who you are, you'll need a network of people both inside and outside your company to help you succeed. This could be referral sources, people you delegate work to, or an advisory board of other business owners (which may or may not be formal).

Believe in yourself

When you went into business for yourself, you had faith in your own abilities. It's often not easy to run your own company, and live or die by your own skill set. Don't be discouraged. Your perseverance will pull you through.