10 Lessons From My First Year as a Business Owner

This week the blog is going to deal with valuable first lessons I had and how important they are to growing a business as a leader.

After leaving the corporate world and going into business for myself I learned a few valuable lessons in the first year that still help me today, almost two decades later.

1. Working for myself is a greater pleasure than working for a large company.

2. It is easier to work 14 hours days for myself than putting in 8 hour days for someone else.

3. There is no one else to blame when you own the business.

4. You have a greater understanding and appreciation of employee costs such as benefits and FICA.

5. Being my own boss means I have to motivate myself to get everything done on time as scheduled.

6. I can take an occasional afternoon off to play golf without having to ask for permission. That's pretty cool.

7. There is no such thing as a paid vacation. All time off is without pay when I own the business.

8. I have a passion for doing what I want to do in the way I want to do it. For better or for worse, this allows me to do it my way.

9. Selling myself takes confidence, guts and persistence; but, there is nothing like closing a deal.

10. It is easy to have my entire life consumed by my work. I have to set boundaries so I don't get burned out.

Bonus lesson:

11. Everything takes longer than expected, I have to work harder than ever before and I love it!