10 Business Lessons You Should Know by Age 40

10 Lessons You Should Krow by Age 40 Business Business is a crazy ride. But with age comes experience, and with experience comes a little bit of wisdom. Every entrepreneur picks up a few lessons along the way, but here are 10 you should definitely know before you're 40. You can't control everything. 1 No matter how hard you work or who you know, many things will be out of your control. The sooner you realize that, the less frustrated you'll be. Work hard at the things you can control and learn to react decisively to the things that you can't. Money is not the only measure of success. 3 Money is important since it's the most visible way society keeps score. However, earning enough money doing something you love to support your family is the true measure of success. Love everyone, trust feu and paddle your own canoe" Assume that people have the best intentions, but only trust those who have earned it. Your business is what 4 you make of it. Don't depend on others for your own success. Jts not what you do; its who you are doing it with. Remember that your happiness at work ultimately depends on your relationships with your partners, employees, customers and vendors. 6. Bvernight success can take seven to 1o years. Most financially successful business owners have been working at it for almost a decade. Patience is trulya must-have virtue for every small-business owner. Accept that success takes a very long time. We can't always learn something prom failure. Contrary to popular wisdom, sometimes when we fail, there is nothing to learn. When this happens, quickly let go of that failure so you can move on to the next chance to succeed. There will always be winners and losers. It's a lot more fun to be a winner, but learning how to be a "good loser" is important too. Don't be happy about losing, but accepting defeat will allow you to move forward. 7 8 Sales are vanity, cash is sanity. Forget about how big your revenue number is or how many people you employ. Learn how to read a cash flow statement and find out how 9. much cash you actually get to keep instead. Focus. Focus. Focus. Those small-business owners who want to be everything to every customer will ultimately fail. Customer loyalty comes from doing one thing extremely well for them. 10 There are other things in life besides business. Most entrepreneurs spend too much time at work or thinking about it. This obsession creates a very narrow, and sometimes lonely, world. Getting and giving support to family and friends will make your life journey much more enriching. Published on OPENForum.com Design by Susannah Brinkley Text by Barry Moltz OPEN forum