Let's talk about opening your new business. First-do you have customers already? Probably not. Businesses long term business is based on the type of relationship you want to have with your customer. Is it just to solve a one time problem? Is it a product or service?  Who do you want to be your customer? If you never get to these basic questions-you have a hobby.  Your business for the first three years probably will be a hobby and most likely will lose money right off the bat as you learn how to do your jobs that you need to learn how to do. Mr/Mrs Startup Are you rich already? Do you need money to live on? Well I am going to tell you the first $10,000 is the hardest money you will ever make. It's a mountain of cash to have ready to go. If you don't have reserves in the bank-you probably will fail. If you have a get some spend some relationship with money, you are going to have a hard time with this.  You have to be honest with yourself about how much money you really-and everyone that depends on you, needs to live without cutting corners. This will stop your divorce from happening, it will insure you will not quit. You need to have everyone on board in reality instead of a maybe this might be fun. 

​What are your skills in the business? Look at the types of jobs you really like and decide what jobs you will and won't do. This is important because every business begins with a sale-no sales no business. Your bank is your score card-quite frankly in the past two years many people made businesses that work well in Covid-19 but now, we are letting people out of cages and they NEED to get out and so lots of those shelter in place businesses are falling on harder times. This includes many streaming services and online ads and other things that require the eye balls, but golfing is coming back into swing, and many other experiences. According to the NYT recent article Broadway is back, but the people are still not,-the problem is people find ways to spend money other than on you when your business is not available to them.  How are you going to reach your target audience? It is an audience remember now not a market segment right? When we first start we may have a word of mouth campaign-which means "I have no money, and I pray every night I get a sale-I have no plan." Word of mouth means that every meeting you do you are the sales person and networking person-the one that is the only sign in the place and often it means that you will fail. Time is the fire in which we burn. Every thirty days we have reminders that life goes on. If you have payments before you start your business consider getting rid of as many of them as possible for you to succeed. This means-no car payments-no gym memberships, not saying you don't need this but money is the bullets you have in your gun, and you need every bit of what you have for as long as possible so you can make it through your first 19 months or so. It takes 10 years usually to be an overnight success. If you have a Starbucks habit lose it,  You have to make choices and the faster you make them the better off you will be. You should learn everything you can about yourself as a business and write it all down. Make sure that you want to do it, and the drive for you is stronger than what it is to staying where you are. There is a drive now for the quiet quitting, but also for people finding out that the grass is not greener only grass. When you open your business you will find out that you have often traded one boss for another-and this boss doesn't always make sure your check clears on a regular basis. 

​Everyone has a dream of financial independence doing what they like to do for a living. If you want money be close as possible to the money up stream. IF you want art-be around artist. The idea is in every field there are always ways to make money doing it. I want to have 20 of the best dev's in the country working for me-I have five people we struggle but we do a damned good job. I know this is sustainable and for me the risk is acceptable. Means I didn't have to lay anyone off in the 'time of troubles'.  If you want loyalty you have to show it, not every time will it be returned, but often you will find being someone that someone trusts is about being worthy of it. 

​* DO A SWOT on you and your business

​*CHECK that you have your house in order-can I afford this for 19 months?

​*ANSWER the question "WHY BUY ME?" 

​*Know who you are and who your competition is.*

​*WHO do you want to be your customers?