You'll Never Hear Successful People Say These 15 Phrases

If you want to become more successful as an entrepreneur or in your career, you can start by making a habit of talking and thinking more like the people you know or read about who are already successful.

Here are some phrases you’ll never hear a successful person say:

1. "We can't do that."
2. "I don't know how."
3. "I don’t know what that is."
4. "I did everything on my own."
5. "That's too early."
6. "That’s too late."
7. "It's too bad we couldn't work together."
8. "Let's catch up sometime."
9. "I'm sorry, I'm too busy."
10. "That was all my idea."
11. "I never read books."
12. "I'm not good enough."
13. "It's OK." (over and over)
14. "If our competitors don't have it, then we don't need it."
15. "Time off is for suckers."

One thing that makes people and companies successful is the ability to make solving their customers’ problems and demands their main priority. If a need arises repeatedly, the most successful people learn how to solve it as quickly as they can.

Instead of automatically shutting down solution-finding, successful people learn what they can in order to succeed in a project or in their career. For example, you would never see a truly successful international business consultant who travels to Italy multiple times per year refusing to learn Italian.

Pleading ignorance doesn’t make the problem go away. It just makes the asker find someone who is able to work with them to solve the problem. While’s it’s always good to be honest with those you interact with, finishing this phrase with “but I’ll find out” is a surefire way to become more successful.

The best people know to surround themselves with others who are smart, savvy and as dedicated as they are. What makes this work is always giving credit where it’s due, as due credit to you will always come back in hand. Recognize those that have helped you or made an impact and you’ll continue to earn success and recognition yourself.

You would never hear Benjamin Franklin or someone such as Steve Jobs say, “that is too early for me to be there.” If there is a networking meeting, project launch or interview opportunity at the very beginning of the day, the most successful people do what it takes to be there. Part of being successful is being at the right place at the right time, no matter if you’re a morning bird or night owl.

Along the same lines, if you’re asked to a 9 p.m. dinner by a potential business partner, and you can make it, definitely go. You may be tired the next day, but the connections you will make during a small dinner or after-hours meeting can make all the difference when it comes to your career or next project.

Truly hitting it off with someone can be a rare occurrence, but if you truly connect with someone and want to work with them, find a way to make it work. Finding people that you really enjoy communicating with don’t come along too often, so whether it’s a case study or a new business, successful people know that working with those who truly align with your personality and interests are the path to true success.

Many times, this phrase is said as filler, without any true follow up. Successful people know that if they really want to catch up with someone, they follow up to make it happen. This also builds on the idea that the most successful people have worked hard to build genuine connections and relationships within their network, without any hidden agenda. Nurturing your network means being thoughtful of others, while keeping your relationships with them on top of your mind.

If an opportunity comes their way, successful people do what it takes to make it happen. Sure, this might mean longer hours occasionally, but if you want something to work, that is what it takes. After all, according to Lao-Tzu: "Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.’”

Again, as mentioned in number four, the most successful people spread the wealth when it comes to doling out praise from a successful project. No idea is truly one’s own -- it’s a sum of their experiences from interacting and building off of collaborative ideas with a team. Doling out praise and encouragement is a crucial part of building a successful company and culture.

Tom Corley of Rich Habits found that rich people read (and listen to) books at a much higher rate than poor people: “63 percent of wealthy parents make their children read two or more non-fiction books a month vs. 3 percent of poor.” Also, “63 percent of wealthy listen to audio books during commute to work vs. 5 percent of poor people.” Reading non-fiction (as well as fiction) can help reduce stress, enhance creativity and boost your memory.

Part of being successful is having a high sense of self-worth. Being yourself is one trait that promises success in business and your personal life. Follow your true interests. What you would do in your life if you didn’t need money?

Successful people know when to walk away and stop taking excuses from others. If there is a bottleneck and something (or someone) is preventing you from completing a project on time, build up your business, or move you forward in your goals, then it’s time to set boundaries and decide to limit your involvement.

Copying competitors is one of the many possible deaths for most companies. True innovation comes from the flip side: figuring out what competitors aren’tdoing and fill that niche to answer a need in the industry.

True success should be seen as a well-rounded approach, one with vacations, weekends with friends and family and hours of downtime on the weekdays. While workload varies for everyone at times, taking vacation can make you better at your job.

Sometimes to get to where you want to be, the best and easiest thing to do is to simply follow the examples that others set for you.

What phrases are you going to eliminate from your day-to-day conversations and thinking?

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How Old Is Too Old to Start a Business?

Yes, Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook at 19. But Charles Flint launched IBM at 61.

While Hollywood may love the story of the college kid who starts a billion-dollar business out of his dorm room, that’s only one story. For many, life as an entrepreneur begins much later.

Consider: Legendary wedding-dress designer Vera Wang didn’t start designing clothes until she was 39. Home decorating goddess and business czar Martha Stewart didn’t get into home decorating until she was 35. And San Francisco-based angel investor and founder of business incubator 500 Startups Dave McClure didn’t invest in a single startup until he was 40. That’s all according to a pair of infographics, embedded below, created by the information designer, Anna Vital, at startup organization Funders and Founders.  

When it comes to launching a business, what a person may lack in youthful energy comes back multiplied in experience. Reid Hoffman started the ultra-popular career networking site LinkedIn when he was 36; Sam Walton started Wal-Mart when he was 44; and Joseph Campbell started Campbell Soup when he was 52.

Have a look at the two infographics below. Be inspired. And stop counting the grey hairs on your head.   

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Rules for Texting Anyone You Do Business With

Walk into any boardroom two minutes before a meeting and you’ll find the same scenario: a table full of executives checking their phones with their heads bowed in the “smartphone prayer.”

Text messaging is the fastest way to communicate in business. Quicker than email and more convenient than a phone call, it’s become commonplace. But it’s not always the best choice.

Choose to text message for simple notifications or reminders like “I’m running five minutes late,” or “Remember to bring the report.” As a general rule, consider texting only appropriate for a maximum of two messages -- one message and one reply.

Here are five rules to avoid a text message business blunder.

1. Keep it positive.

Like email, the tone of a text message can be misinterpreted by the recipient. Quick messages can make you come off as flippant or harsh. Instead of staccato phrases, write complete sentences. Add polite touches like “please” and “thank you.” Re-read every message before pressing send to double-check your tone (bonus: no embarrassing typos).

2. Avoid serious topics.

You wouldn’t break up with your girlfriend over a text message -- to be clear, you should not -- and the same goes for business. Never give negative feedback or fire someone via a text message. Any serious conversation should take place face-to-face. It allows for subtle interaction through facial expressions and will ensure clear communication.

3. Don’t abbreviate every other word.

Abbreviations are common in casual texts, but you should be careful how often you use them. Common abbreviations like “LOL” (laugh out loud) and “np” (no problem) are safe choices. However, if you’re communicating with a new customer or acquaintance, take 30 extra seconds and type out each word.

Avoid informal shortcuts like “u” (you) and less common abbreviations like “SMH” (shaking my head) or “MFW” (my face when). Don’t leave your clients and colleagues confused; your texts should convey messages quickly and clearly.

4. Don’t text a last-minute cancellation.

There are a thousand reasons someone may miss a text message. Don’t depend on a quick note to cancel a meeting or change a lunch venue. For an important or time-sensitive message, pick up the phone.

5. Double-check the autocorrect.

Smart phones can occasionally be a little too smart. Autocorrect and voice-to-text features have a sneaky way of changing your intended message into something entirely different and often embarrassing. When using voice-to-text, ensure you’re in a quiet location. It picks up on background noise and may type a nearby conversation instead of what you’re saying.

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What to Expect When You're CEO of a Successful Startup

Leading a startup is analogous to being a first-time parent. You can read books and articles, you can talk to others that have been through it, but no one can ever fully determine what it’s like until he or she experiences it first-hand. Since joining Sumo Logic as a first-time CEO in 2012, it has been quite a ride.

Boiling down the experience of my first two years as a CEO of Sumo Logic, I have found eight tenets that I want to share:

1. Few will understand your process or state of mind. Many will try, but few will succeed in understanding the investment of time, emotion and energy associated with leading a start-up company. Though it is difficult, accepting the isolated nature of being a leader is important. This acceptance will embolden you to move forward with your work rather than exert energy to seek the understanding or acceptance of others. It’s lonely. Get over it.

2. Listen to your gut. Entrepreneurs receive a landslide of advice from well-meaning colleagues, friends and family  – even total strangers offering advice in columns such as this one. But, even the best advice can prove worthless when it is heeded in the wrong situation. So while it is important to appreciate good advice, it is also critical to trust your gut. Often your first idea is the best and your first inkling is correct. Furthermore, if things go wrong – you will have no one to blame but yourself.

3. Ban the phrase “other people’s money (OPM).” Every entrepreneur should always behave as if the money they are spending is theirs. People often become lackadaisical when they internalize that they are using OPM. And a startup cannot afford to be frivolous with resources.  

4. Believe in karma. I’ve seen many people sabotage their careers with arrogance. You never know how people will enter, exit and re-enter your life. Especially in Silicon Valley, where the entry level engineer today is tomorrow the startup founder on the rise. It is important to plant your feet firmly on the ground, keep a level head and be courteous to everyone you meet. As the old saying goes, “Keep your words sweet, you may have to eat them one day.”

5. Listen more than you speak. You don’t learn too much while you’re speaking. However, I learn many things during brainstorms with my team. A good leader listens first and speaks last. This will allow you to see all sides of a situation before weighing in. Silicon Valley is home to some of the brightest people in the world. What is the point in hiring them if you do not make time to listen to their ideas?

6. People matter. Though technology is a focal point of many businesses, people are still the foundation of the business. People are still the decision-makers. So it behooves the leader of a company to find the best people and create an environment they want to come to every day. Balancing the needs of people with the needs of the business will go a long way when scaling the business.

7. Your investors are a great resource. Working with high-quality venture capitalists (VCs) can change everything for a startup company in Silicon Valley. Their access to customers, top talent and strategic partners is invaluable.

For Sumo Logic, our VC partners, Greylock, Sutter Hill Accel and Sequoia, have been instrumental in bringing us amazing talent and marquee customers. Venture capitalists make a living on identifying the right markets with the right teams with the right momentum. Markets and momentum can swing though, so be sure to secure funding when you are on the way up.

8. Belief in your mission inspires. As unoriginal as it sounds, you must believe in yourself and your company more than anyone else. If you are not passionate, your employees, investors and customers will not get passionate about your company. In many ways, enthusiasm and belief in your vision is the most important asset of any entrepreneur.

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Questions to Determine If You're Ready to Be an Entrepreneur

The only difference between people who want to be entrepreneurs and the ones who actually are is the work and the risk of getting started. If you feel like you want to be an entrepreneur but aren’t certain if you’re ready yet, here are five questions to help you determine your capabilities.

1. How comfortable are you with being uncomfortable?Entrepreneurship will mean a lot of uncertainty. If you’re the kind of person who needs a lot of control and a strictly scheduled life, you may not be able to handle the ambiguity that surrounds entrepreneurism. That being said, don’t think just because uncertainty makes you nervous you can’t be an entrepreneur. If you find you have a need for a controlled schedule, that trait could actually work in your favor.

Entrepreneurship requires long hours, hard work and dedication when you start out. Being able to manage your schedule and control your environment could help you with the organization of your business. However, you might want to plan before you leap in. A few great ways to do this are to stockpile savings, already have a business plan you’re prepared to work and seek out a community of support to talk you through the tough times.

2. Are you disciplined? You are totally responsible for yourself. Right now, wherever you’re at, whatever you’re doing -- it’s your choices that got you here. How do those statements feel to you? If you feel yourself bristling and ready to argue, then you might not be in the right mindset for entrepreneurship yet. When you start, you must take full accountability for everything -- there’s no back-up plan on why you got passed over for a promotion or why you didn’t get your report done on time. Clients won’t want excuses and they’ll drop you.

Even when it’s their fault you have to be prepared to deal with the possibility that you’ll have to handle it. You need discipline to survive and stay ahead of your work, ahead of your bills and to grow your business. If you struggle with accountability and discipline, don’t rule out entrepreneurship forever. Take stock of ways your current situation could be improved by better decisions and try holding yourself accountable.

3. How’s your health? Taking care of your body is important for everyone, but can have particularly far-reaching implications for the entrepreneur. There are no sick days in entrepreneurship when you’re getting started. There’s a chance there won’t be for years. That’s going to mean you have to be productive, even when you don’t feel good, or risk missing business opportunities. You have to keep yourself in good health with diet and exercise that keeps your body strong and your mind keen.

If you aren’t a healthy person, you may want to figure out a plan for improving your lifestyle before you transition into entrepreneurship. Also important, think of how you’ll cover health insurance and medical needs when you start your journey. Get a plan for your health and work it.

4. Do you love what you do and are you good at it? There are going to be long hours in entrepreneurship. If you enjoy what you’re doing and are passionate about your project, that intense amount of work is enjoyable. Don’t fool yourself into thinking money alone will be enough to motivate you.

Make sure you’re passionate about what you’re intending to pursue as an entrepreneur and that you have the skill set to get to work. If you don’t, consider how you can improve your skills before making the leap and how you might get involved in something you’re passionate about doing.

5. Do you play well with others? You might think entrepreneurship is a solo activity, but the truth is that having great relationships is crucial to long-term success. It's not only for the value that comes from referrals and the camaraderie of close relationships, but also for the support you will need. If you’re starting out as an entrepreneur, you’re going to have periods where you need to rely on the strength, wisdom and friendship of others.

Look for opportunities to build your network: mentors, mastermind groups and other programs will help you find the right people. Just be sure that you invest in them, too. Relationships are based on give and take. Build strong relationships and open yourself up to the great support and learning that comes from others.

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Reasons to Start Your Own Business

If you’re an entrepreneur you have heard the million reasons not to go into business: It’s too risky, you might go into debt, you’ll probably lose sleep, your social life is kaput, and the list goes on. But even with all these uncertainties, people are still attracted to the startup world. There are just as many, if not more reasons to take the leap and go into business for yourself.  Here are just a few:

1. Spare time. This one can take some time.  Initially you’ll work longer hours for less pay.  But if you do it right, you could start to master your schedule and the freedom that being an entrepreneur provides is awesome. 

2. A story to tell. Whenever I tell someone I run my own business, they always want to know what I do, how I do it and how it’s going. I always am able to provide a tale or two, and the best part is that I get to determine the story's chapters. (When working for a corporation, people most likely have less input.)

3. Tax benefits. For entrepreneurs (freelancers included), they have the opportunity to take advantage of some nice tax perks. Many can write off expenses like travel, food, phone bills, portions of car payments, and the list goes on. Also, certain startups qualify for government incentives. Make sure to ask your accountant about what tax benefits you may be eligible for.

4. Pride. When you build something successful, it’s a great feeling. You had a vision, were able to execute it and not can reap the benefits of saying "I did this." On the other hand, it’s tough to be proud of the zillionth request for proposal you fill out for your employer.

5. Your posterity. If you’re a doctor, plumber or bus driver it’s hard to imagine you passing your career on to your loved ones. But if you own your own business, that’s something you can pass on to the next generation. And be proud of it, because you created it.

6. Job security. Have you ever been laid off, downsized, or fired?  If you have, you get this. With entrepreneurship the security lies in the fact you are your own boss. You run the show and don't have to worry about getting let go.

7. Networking. Entrepreneurs are communal creatures.  We love to meet each other, swap stories, and learn from each other’s experiences. Your circle of friends and acquaintances always grows when you become an entrepreneur, as many founders need others to lean on to survive and talk about the challenges only known to them.

8. Doing good. While this isn’t exclusive to entrepreneurs, it’s definitely a perk. You control where your company profits go and if you choose, you can give allocate your financial gains to others. You can sponsor a charity, a non-profit or just personally give back to the community.  This is quite honestly one of the best parts of being an entrepreneur.

9. Novelty. We, as humans, love new experiences but rarely can you experience a host of new things from inside your cubicle. This all changes when you are running the show. Starting your own business will ensure you’ll always be facing new challenge and experiencing something new.

10. Mentorship. Having had mentors and getting to be a mentor have been some of the best experiences of my life.  Learning from the masters and getting to help those less experienced than you gives you such a sense of satisfaction. From my experience (and other's stories) the entrepreneurial community is very willing to give back and lend a helping hand.

11. Becoming an expert. This point goes along with mentorship.  Regardless of what you do as an entrepreneur, if you stick with it, you’ll probably become very good at it. And this gives you a sort of soapbox, so use it. You'll have the chance to be interviewed for your expertise, write about it and get to spread your message.

12. Skills. People ask me how I learned about SEO, social media, pay-per-click, PR and all the other marketing techniques I utilize. I tell them that I was forced to learn them, otherwise I wouldn't survive.  The same way I was forced to learn how to build a spreadsheet, how to balance a budget, how to negotiate leases and countless other skills I picked up because I was the only resource I had. While developing new skills can be tough and takes times, it can pay off in spades.  These skills will be invaluable throughout your life.

13. Determination. Everything I’ve done as an entrepreneur has affected me in my personal life.  I used to be poor at committing to changes. But having been an entrepreneur for over a decade has forced me to become dedicated and determined to causes. (Now I can stick to an exercise plan much easier.)  I’m also better at being a father and husband because of that determination I learned.

14. Recognition. There are literally thousands of local, regional and national awards that recognize entrepreneurs in every field and industry. This shouldn’t be your only reason to start your business, but it certainly is a great feeling when you receive this recognition.

15. Financial independence. Let’s be honest, this is probably the biggest reason people get into business for themselves.  And that’s a good thing!  You should want financial independence.  However you define financial independence – retirement stockpile, unlimited cash potential or having the money to buy what you want --  entrepreneurship can allow you to achieve it. Trust me, money doesn’t buy happiness, but it does make finding happiness much easier.

16. Reinvention. I’ve started and sold several companies over my career.  And every time I sell a company, I’m presented with an opportunity to reinvent myself all over again. On the flip
side, if I had received my law degree, I’d be a lawyer (not a lot of room to recreate myself). But as an entrepreneur, I get to be whatever I want to be.

17. Change the world. Everyone jokes that every entrepreneur says they’re going to change the world. It’s difficult to imagine how a cell phone accessory kiosk in the mall is going to change the world.  But there are those that do succeed.  Take a look at Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Sergey Brin, and the countless other entrepreneurs who really have changed the world in some small (or major) way.

18. Create jobs. There’s nothing like the satisfaction of knowing you’re responsible for the success of your employees.  Your ideas provided them the opportunity to earn a living, provide for their family and fulfill their own dreams.

19. Your brand. Being known for something is awfully enjoyable.  People may start referring to you as the marketing guy, or the retail maven or the software guru.  Whatever it is you’re recognized as, it’s fun to build that brand and earn that recognition.

20. Your reason. I’ve given you a list of why I think you should get into business.  But all that really matters is your reason to start your own business.  So, what is it?  Tweet out this story and add your reason.  Comment below and share with us why you did it.  I know it will be a good one. 

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5 Quotes to Inspire the Entrepreneur in You

Keeping a good attitude will help you weather the storms of entrepreneurship. The daily life and grind of entrepreneurship can be filled with big highs and lows, but staying focused on the end goal and seeing the opportunity in your challenges will take you far.

Here are five quotes that will inspire you to keep your chin up from five successful optimistic entrepreneurs who have been where you are now. They just might inspire you to see the possibilities in risk, failure and every opportunity that lurks around the corner when you're open to it. 

1. "The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change by merely changing his attitude." -- Oprah Winfrey

When it comes to mega success, there are a select few at the top who you don’t need to reference their business to know who they are and what industry they’re in. Oprah Winfrey is one of those people. She turned a news career into a talk show and her talk show into an empire. However, the real tipping point for Winfrey was when she started focusing her show on making people’s lives better. Whether that was in body, spirit or mind, her empire has expanded to make her the go-to guru and established her as a truly optimitistic entrepreneur.

2. “Optimism helps us persevere. Life isn’t easy. But life is always good.” -- John Jacobs, co-founder, “Life Is Good” clothing brand

You know those cute little T-shirts that you see around the mall or in airport gift shops with the stick figure that says, “life is good,” or the stick-figure dog that says, “bark less, wag more?” Those are from John Jacobs and his brother Bert’s T-shirt startup, Life Is Good, that’s transformed into a happy brand embraced around the world. It all started with a lot of elbow grease, selling shirts on the street and college campuses. A good attitude can take you a long way, and who knows, might even make you a success story in business, too.

3. “Don't let what you don't know scare you, because it can become your greatest asset. And if you do things without knowing how they have always been done, you're guaranteed to do them differently.” -- Sara Blakely, founder of SPANX

SPANX is a globally recognized brand of hosiery that has set Sara Blakelyas the youngest female billionaire (and that’s self-made). She talks a lot about the success and optimism that’s behind failure and how it fueled her to keep going. When you’re feeling stuck in a rut or overwhelmed by what you don’t know, remember that the optimistic entrepreneur always looks for the growth and the opportunity in challenges. Don’t worry about what you don’t know -- it could help you change the game.

4. “Business opportunities are like buses, there’s always another one coming.” -- Richard Branson

Like Oprah, Richard Branson is another one of those rock-star entrepreneurs who is known without even needing to mention his vast line of Virgin-branded products (which includes a cell phone service, an airline and space tourism, to name a few). Branson is all about risks and big ideas. Sometimes as an entrepreneur you might think the only opportunity is the one right in front of you, or you may even lament one you passed up. However, as Branson says, there are always opportunities wherever you go. The key for the optimistic entrepreneur is to keep your eyes open and see how regularly they show up.

5. "Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember you can achieve." -- Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

Mary Kay started her cosmetics empire to provide women with career opportunities from the ground up after struggling with workplace injustices in the early '60s. Her desire to create options for herself and her family in the business world has led to the well-known cosmetics company. But what might’ve happened for Ash and her family if she had limited her belief in what’s possible in the workplace? The optimistic opportunity works like an alchemist to spin setbacks into golden opportunities that create change.

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Different Ways to Plan for the Future - Start up Business

Perhaps you've wondered if it's better to start your own company or work for someone else. There are many ways to consider that question but one of my favorite ones is to explore how entrepreneurs think. Once you know that, you can compare yourself to them and decide whether you share their approaches to the world.

Entrepreneurs may use two types of business logic for thinking about the uncertainty that confronts them: prediction, analyzing the past to forecast the future and plan accordingly, andcreation, trying out a solution and moving forward based on how well it works.

One of the exam questions I used for the midterm for my Babson College course Foundations of Entrepreneurial Management involved having students to define each of these types of logic and to say which approach is best.

It's a trick question that most students get right. The answer is that each approach works. But the challenge is knowing which circumstance requires which style of thinking.

Using the past to predict the future. For example, if you are an entrepreneur in an industry that's fairly regular, such as selling Christmas trees, prediction logic will work well. It is probably fairly easy to analyze previous years' data of tree sales by species and size for each day of the year.

Odds are very high that you will start to see sales rise on Thanksgiving and perhaps peak 10 days before Christmas. And if you are trying to decide how many different trees to order, you can use historical experience as a first approximation of what to order this year, adjusting the numbers in case new competitors pop up or the weather is going to be very different than in the past.

In other cases prediction logic is a terrible approach and creation logic yields a better outcome.

Related: Keep Innovation Flowing as Your Startup Grows

When creation logic bears fruit. Consider the story of Max Levchin. He immigrated to the United States from Ukraine and attended the University of Illinois. He liked building operating systems for computers and after he graduated decided to co-found Confinity, a company that would build operating systems for the handheld Palm Pilots that proliferated in the 1990s.

He did that but had few buyers. So he decided instead to focus on building operating systems for another handheld device -- the digital wallet. Levchin got a mostly tepid response from the market for that as well.

One feature of his software generated a huge amount of email traffic from people who were trying the product -- its ability to use his software to pay for items that were being auctioned on the then fast-growing eBay.

Please, Max -- the emails implored -- make this online auction currency easier to use and have it run faster. For six months, Levchin ignored the emails because he just wanted to build operating systems.

Eventually he gave in to customer demand and built up the auction currency function. Confinity is merged with Elon Musk's X.com, and called PayPal just like the digital wallet product. In 2002, eBay acquired PayPal for $1.5 billion.

Best use scenarios. Creation logic seems inefficient but it can yield excellent results in situations with great uncertainty as long as an entrepreneur is happy with the idea of doing frugal experiments, analyzing the results and then trying again based on the feedback.

If you are in that rare entrepreneurial situation where the past gives a fairly clear picture of the future, then prediction logic is a far more efficient way to figure out what to do.

If you can think both ways and know when each way is appropriate, you may well have what it takes to be an effective entrepreneur.

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Questions to Ask Before starting Your Own Company

The dream of being one's own boss is what leads many people to start businesses, but leaving your bread-and-butter job to fulfill that vision is a move that shouldn't be made hastily.

In his book, Quitter: Closing the Gap Between Your Day Job & Your Dream Job (Lampo Press, 2011), Nashville-based author Jon Acuff says that between 70 and 80 percent of people think about quitting their job to do something more fulfilling. “A lot of people wake up Monday morning and say, 'How did I get here?'” he says. “You take a six-month stop-gap job sometimes and find yourself still there years later, but it doesn't have to be that way.”

That said, Acuff and other experts say there are some important things to consider before quitting your day job to start a business.

Here are the ten questions you should ask yourself.

1. Is this going to make me happier?

Before leaving your job for uncharted territory, make sure this is really what you want – not just what you think you want or a way to escape your current job. “I personally believe you should get enjoyment out of your career,” says Chris Hurn, Orlando, Fla.-based, author of The Entrepreneur's Secret to Creating Wealth: How The Smartest Business Owners Build Their Fortunes (Advantage, 2012). “Too many people suffer silently in their job, but before you go out to be your own boss, you have to believe you're going to be happier. If you can't say that you believe it will make you happier, don't do it.”

2. Is the timing right?

If your wife is pregnant or you've just taken over the care of an elderly parent, it may not be the right time to leave the security of an established job to pursue the dream. “We throw out these Pinterest-sized platitudes like, 'Just go for it' or, 'Step out in faith.' And then we pretend that we don't have a mortgage or bills or responsibilities,” Acuff says. Instead, be honest about your current situation; be realistic about your bills and your commitments; and then make an informed decision.

3. How will I cover my expenses?

The biggest detriment to starting a business? Being undercapitalized, says Deborah Shane of Fort Myers, Fla., author of Career Transition – Make the Shift: Your Five Steps to Successful Career Reinvention (Deborah Shane, 2010). You should have a rainy day fund or savings built up to cover you and the business for a certain period of time, the length of which will be determined by the nature of the business and how quickly you'll be able to pay yourself a salary (although Shane suggests 12 months as a good place to start). “Make sure you have the money to pay both your personal and business expenses for that period before venturing out on your own,” she says.

4. Do I have the support of family and close friends?

The talents and shortcomings we have the hardest time recognizing are often our own. So before venturing away from a secure situation, Acuff suggests asking the people you trust the most how well-suited they think you are to the opportunity. “Talking to family and close friends will help you realize if you’re going after something that you really want to do, or just escaping your current situation,” he says. “Don’t just talk to the dreamers in the group that will tell you to go for it. Talk to the people that will be honest with you and encourage you if you’re on the right path.”

5. How much am I willing to change my lifestyle?

Some people are very good at structure. Getting up, going to work for a set number of hours, performing set tasks, and interacting with co-workers works really well for them. Yet starting your own business can be anything but structured and can mean long, hard hours – very often spent alone. “There's also a lot of self-motivation involved. You have to be structured, innovative, creative and proactive,” Shane says. “The solo nature of it is not for everyone.”

6. Do I truly have the discipline to be my own boss?

Many people think if they can be their own boss, it's going to make life easier. Sometimes that's true, but not always, according to Hurn. Not everyone is meant to be a business owner. Although entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes, they do often share traits like good leadership skills and a desire to be in control. “Many people think entrepreneurship is for risk-takers, and that's not necessarily the case,” he says. “I think successful entrepreneurs do the due diligence before starting their business and minimize the risk involved in a new project.”

7. Can I test the waters without giving up my current job?

Acuff urges people to 'beta test' their dream job before leaving a stable situation to pursue it full-time. You might find you don't like the new career as much as you thought you would. “Before you quit your accounting job to open a coffee shop, it might be good to work at a Starbucks part-time for six months to see if you hate coffee and humans,” he says. “Practice the dream.”

8. Are there skills I still need to brush up on?

Before stepping out, make sure you have the relevant skills, qualities and intangibles to make a new business work. It's important to be up to date on the latest technology in your field and be able to use social media to your advantage. “Make sure your skill gaps are closed and that you're up on trends and best practices in the area you are getting into, following the top blogs and web sites,” Shane says. “So much is changing so fast -- staying relevant is crucial to success.”

9. Am I sure my business idea is sound?

It's important to make sure what you're planning to do is marketable, that it fills a niche. Is there a need for this thing you want to do? “I work with a lot of creative people who have started businesses based on peoples' lifestyles, the world we live in today,” Shane says. “They've found niches to help working moms, families, individuals who are time-starved.” Make sure your idea is relevant before making that leap.

10. Do I have a business plan?

It doesn't have to be the length of a novel, but anyone starting a new business should put together a plan that includes a sound sales and marketing plan. Winging it is not an option in today’s competitive marketplace. “It doesn't have to be complicated, but can be as simple as a one-page summary,” Shane says. “Look at it as a road map.”

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Rich People Think Differently

If you ask Thomas Corley, being rich has very little to do with luck and everything to do with habits.

Corley, who spent five years monitoring and analyzing the daily activities and habits of people both wealthy and living in poverty (233 wealthy and 128 poor, specifically), isolated what he calls "rich habits" - and many of them are simply patterns of thought.

"I found in my research that wealthy people are by and large optimists," he says. "They practice gratitude and look at happiness like a habit."

Corley, who presents and explains many of his findings in his book "Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits Of Wealthy Individuals" and on his website, defines "rich people" as those with an annual income of $160,000 or more and a liquid net worth of $3.2 million or more, and "poor people" as those with an annual income or $35,000 or less and a liquid net worth of $5,000 or less.

Here are 10 ways Corley found that rich people think differently, based on statements with which they identify.

1. Rich people believe their habits have a major impact on their lives.

"Daily habits are critical to financial success in life."
Rich people who agree: 52%
Poor people who agree: 3%

Wealthy people think that bad habits create detrimental luck and that good habits create "opportunity luck," meaning they create the opportunities for people to make their own luck. "When I looked at luck," Corley remembers, "a lot of rich people said they were lucky and a lot of poor people said they were unlucky."

2. Rich people believe in the American dream.

"The American dream is no longer possible."
Rich people who agree: 2%
Poor people who agree: 87%

"The American Dream is the idea of unlimited potential, that you can make it on your own," says Corley. In his study, the vast majority of rich people believed that wealth is a big part of the American dream (94%), and that the dream is still possible.

3. Rich people value relationships for professional and personal growth.

"Relationships are critical to financial success."
Rich people who agree: 88%
Poor people who agree: 17%

Not only do rich people feel that their relationships are critical to their success, but they put a lot of effort into maintaining them, making a habit of calling up contacts to congratulate them on life events, wish them a happy birthday, or reaching out just to say hello. "When I applied the hello calls and the life event calls to my own life," recalls Corley, "I ended up making another $60,000 as a result."

4. Rich people love meeting new people.

"I love meeting new people."
Rich people who agree: 68%
Poor people who agree: 11%

Hand in hand with valuing relationships comes making new ones. Rich people both love meeting new people and believe that being liked is important to financial success (in fact, it's a whopping 95% that believe in the power of likability, compared to 9% of poor people).

5. Rich people think that saving is hugely important.

"Saving money is critical to financial success."
Rich people who agree: 88%
Poor people who agree: 52%

"Being wealthy is not just making a lot of money," explains Corley. "It's saving a lot, and accumulating wealth. Many of the people I studied aren't wealthy because they made a lot, but because they saved a lot." He's trying to instill what he calls the 80/20 rule in his own children: Save 20% of your income while living on 80%.

6. Rich people feel that they determine their path in life.

"I believe in fate."
Rich people who agree: 10%
Poor people who agree: 90%

Poor people are significantly more likely to believe that genetics are important to becoming wealthy, and significantly less likely to believe that they're the cause of their own financial status in life. "Most of the wealthy people I talked to were businesspeople who weren't always wealthy," Corley explains, "but they had this attitude that they could do anything."

7. Rich people value creativity over intelligence.

"Creativity is critical to financial success."
Rich people who agree: 75%
Poor people who agree: 11%

While rich people are more likely to believe that creativity influences success, poor people are more likely to think that being "intellectually gifted" is critical. They're also more likely to believe that wealth is usually accidental. "If you look at my stats, you'll find that a lot of wealthy people were C students," says Corley. "There's more to wealth than just being smart."

8. Rich people enjoy their jobs.

"I like (or liked) what I do for a living."
Rich people who agree: 85%
Poor people who agree: 2%

"Many of the wealthy in my study loved their job - it's not an accident," says Corley. In fact, 86% of the wealthy worked an average of 50 hours or more per week (compared to 43% of the poor), and 81% say they do more than their job requires (versus 17%). Corley says it's related to the idea of creativity being important to financial success: "These people found a creative pursuit that could turn into monetary value. When you engage in a creative pursuit that can make money, the rewards are often obscene."

9. Rich people believe that their health influences their success.

"Good health is critical to financial success."
Rich people who agree: 85%
Poor people who agree: 13%

"One of the individuals in my study told me 'I can't make money in a hospital bed,'" Corley remembers. "Wealthy people think that being healthy means fewer sick days, which translates into more productivity and more money."

10. Rich people are willing to take risks.

"I've taken a risk in search of wealth."
Rich people who agree: 63%
Poor people who agree: 6%

"A lot of the wealthy people in the study were business owners who started their own businesses," Corley explains. "They became successes because they were master self-educators who learned from the school of hard knocks." In fact, 27% of the wealthy people in Corley's study admit they've failed at least once in life or in business, compared with 2% of the poor. "Failure is like scar tissue on the brain," Corley says. "The lessons last forever."

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Successful Entrepreneurs

There is a saying that there are only three types of people in the world: those who watch what happened, those who wonder what happened and those who make things happen. 

Entrepreneurs fall into the last category, of course. They are change agents, people who don’t see the world as it is but as it could be. Entrepreneurs don’t sit on the sidelines and wish for a better world. Rather they go out and create it. They don’t wait for things to be different. They are the difference.

Being forward thinkers, entrepreneurs continually push themselves to become better and do better. They are game changers. They ooze confidence and inspire greatness.

Today is a great day to become an entrepreneur because the price of admission into this elite club is free and yours for the taking.

Do you really want to succeed as an entrepreneur? Follow these five steps and you’ll be well on your way to developing the leadership qualities it takes:

1. Willingly fail and reflect. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better,” goes Samuel Beckett's line. It's not always easy, the trying again part.

Another important thing is taking time to reflect on what went wrong. In the book The Call of Solitude, Ester Schaler Buchholz says, “Others inspire us, information feeds us, practice improves our performance, but we need quiet time to figure things out.”

In his book, Fail Up, radio broadcaster Tavis Smiley recalls lessons he has learned through reflection. He sheds light on these so-called failures that were, in hindsight, his best teachers.

You’ll only learn by failing over and over again. When you do this, you’re able to grow. And in spite of life’s inevitable setbacks, you’ll come out the victor.

2. Embrace and confront your fears. According to author Brendon Burchard, fear can be categorized in three ways, which all relate to pain. The first is loss pain, which happens when you’re afraid to move ahead because you fear you’ll lose something valuable.

The second is process pain, which inevitably occurs every time you try something new. You have to go through the process of learning to deal with it.

The last is outcome pain. This involves not getting the outcome you desired.

Burchard insists that people need to overwhelm their fears. Just as an army invades its enemy from every side, a person should do the same with fear, attacking it from every side, as if going to war. 

For Shark Tank host Barbara Corcoran, public speaking was her Achilles' heel. But she overcame it by going to war. She volunteered to teach a real estate night course in front of a small group of students to overcome her fear.

3. Practice self-discipline. This is the ability to delay instant gratification and the ability to work hard now to reap benefits later. When Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx was a boy, hisgrandmother routinely made him take piano lessons even though all he wanted to do was go outside to play. He had no idea that those lessons would lead to his eventual success. To this day, he continues to hone his craft and disciplines himself to practice playing the piano for two hours many a day.

No one sees the years of hard work you might put into an endeavor. They only see the outcome. If you want to reap the rewards of tomorrow, you must put in the work today.

4. Get some sleep. Shortly after the debut of her eponymous news site, Arianna Huffington collapsed from exhaustion and lack of sleep. She’d been working 18-hour days because she was so committed to growing her company. When she collapsed, she hit her head against a desk and found herself lying in a pool of blood.

In her book Thrive, Huffington details the ordeal and says it was a painful wake-up call. She knew she had neglected sleep and took steps to correct it.

When you get the sleep you need, you’ll feel more energized, charged and ready to tackle any problem entrepreneurship throws your way.

5. Give to others. In his book, Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success,Wharton Business School professor Adam Grant teaches the idea of generosity in a professional setting. 

For centuries, people have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work and sheer will. But things have changed. Success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others and how much we give them.

According to Grant’s research, the most successful people are those who consistently give. Grant takes this to heart so much that he not only puts in long hours as a professor, but also as many and sometimes even longer hours giving and helping others. 

That ancient book, the Bible, was right all along: Happiness comes from giving.  

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