In this interview series, we interviewed up-and-coming and established entrepreneurs and asked them about the advice they wish somebody gave to them on their way to building a successful business. Here’s what they had to say:
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Jason Cordes
Title: Founder
Company: Cocoloan
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-cordes-088887237/
A 7-figure business can seem like a confusing achievement, especially if you’re doing absolutely everything in your power. A million dollars may seem like a long way depending on what you’re good at ensuring, but it could be closer than you think. 7-figure trading allows you to have an open door of value and put more into your prosperity, lifestyle and relationships… Below are some of the advice:
Stand firm for yourself: By accepting that you are frustrated with your ongoing situation, letting go that no one can fix them besides you. It’s not perfect for blaming the economy, your boss, your friends, or your friends and family. Change can happen when you seek a conscious decision to make it.
Manage your single spending plans and choose the right currency you need for your business: As an entrepreneur, your own and professional lives are interconnected. You will probably get your first financial aid. Therefore, having a thorough understanding of your spending plans and the ability to track them is an important preliminary step before seeking outside funding for your business.
Create a soft focus on your business. You must foster an association that includes partners, experts, assistants, colleagues, and resellers. If you confide in your business, others will too. Local, extensive and thorough occasional associations. Join associations, for example, your local exchange office or other relevant social issues.
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Michael May
Title: Medical Director
Company: Wimpole Clinic
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-may-17aa7454/
“If you want to have a successful business, you must embrace change. As the business world is continuously evolving, changes are inevitable. To be successful, you must adapt to new market demands, trends, and competition. So stay on top by being quick to cope with the changing situations.”
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David Reid
Title: Sales Director
Company: VEM Group
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vem-tooling
VEM has turned into a seven-figure business, but it has to pass through millions of downfalls before getting to the place it holds for now. Even though I was able to pass through the majority of these struggles with what I have learned along the way, there are some times when I wanted others’ help. Here is some advice I wish I would have gotten on the way:
There are times when business leaders need to stand up for themselves. When they are dissatisfied with the current projection of the business, then no one but themselves can find an apt solution for it. Rather than blaming the economy or the workers, the leaders need to focus on improving the quality of their business. I wish I had known this when I fired some of my then employees as they did some faulty records to my business, which resulted in some ambiguities.
The success of a business is directly proportional to the plans implemented in the business. I used to think that success rate depends only on the workforce’s efforts, but the truth is that the business plans matter a lot more than the other.
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Amber Lee
Title: Co-Founder & CEO
Company: Select Date Society
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amber-lee-matchmaker/
Sandra Myers & I Co-Founded Select Date Society together. The one piece of advice we wish we would have been given on our way to building a 7-figure luxury matchmaking firm is, “Raise your prices.” When we first launched our business, we undervalued our work and underestimated the time and effort we would be putting into our client’s success. We launched our business at a price point that was too low and not reflective of the quality of work that we do.
We always say that two heads are better than one and we’re happy to be on this entrepreneurial journey together! We are thankful that we have each other to talk through ideas with and come up with new strategies. After our first year in business, we raised our prices to reflect the luxury brand that we have built. We wish someone would have given us that advice from day one!
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Greg Wilson
Title: Owner
Company: ChaChingQueen
Linkedin: n/a
I am a 42 year old Chartered Financial Analyst who retired from my career in Financial Services last year because of the real estate business I started when I was 20. The advice I wish I received is “don’t over-complicate compensation.” It took me so many mistakes to learn this. I continually tried to create high pay and incentives for contractors I partnered with. Early on I was doing it with friends too that offered to help with my houses.
The results were consistent. The other side didn’t realize the structures were in their best interest. I was creating these bonus plans (on top of high pay) because I wanted to share success. I thought the structures were simple….but I didn’t understand what is simple to me in finance isn’t to others.
So instead it was met with skepticism. I tried different approaches. Finally I stopped doing it and just paid market rates. So they made less money but trusted me. Last year I sold some houses. I mailed a bonus check to my handyman who has helped me immensely with so many emergencies. He wasn’t expecting it. I finally realized the advice I wish I was given. Surprise people with a thank you. My wife and I now own ChaChingQueen.com, a lifestyle blog about living a happy and healthy life on a budget. We also started ClothDiaperBasics.com
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Steve Anderson
Title: CEO
Company: Junk-Yard-Near-Me
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-anderson-465a71236/
These are some tips that I wish I had received on my way to building a 7 figure business:
Make a business association diagram that represents key jobs: It’s significant for the organizer to understand what the jobs are and who will fill them. While you may ultimately separate jobs as you develop, having an arrangement from the beginning will explain the fundamental jobs inside your business.
Help more individuals: Starting a business caused me to understand the significance of connections. The ideal way to fabricate a relationship is to assist somebody with accomplishing something significant, as a business venture can, in numerous ways, be moderately self-serving. Ensure your business is designed for filling a more noteworthy need, ensuring that you take care of business inside your nearby local area, or even just ensuring your business addresses a real trouble spot.
Track down a group of guides: Having tutors isn’t just about having somebody to encourage you on the stray pieces of beginning a business; the truth of the matter is I wish I would search out coaches to assist with upgrading my range of abilities in regions where I was major areas of strength for less.
Acquire assorted work insight: The more changed the positions you’ve held and organizations you’ve worked for, the more pre-arranged you’ll possibly be regarding going into business.
Contemplate income : All you want to pull together on your methodology and focus closer on income all along.
Getaway: Getting away is one thing business people wish they’d done before beginning their organizations. The strain of beginning a business implies it very well, maybe for a spell before you’ll get the opportunity to take one!
Make the top recruit as soon as possible : As a business person, you’ll wear many caps — however, it’s fitting to welcome somebody on when you’re ready to do so. Not exclusively will it assist with easing up your responsibility, yet as a business visionary, overseeing others can be a significant instructor.
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Jennifer Greenlees
Title: Owner/CEO
Company: Sydney So Sweet.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-carter-greenlees-856928179/
It sounds so simple with everything I know now, but I would tell my younger business self to focus on putting a face behind the brand. As a self proclaimed introvert, I was attracted to e-commerce for the anonymity I thought it provided. I was slow to get on social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. What I didn’t realize was even with the boom of customers buying online, people still want to know they are buying from other people. Personalize your brand, tell your story, and let people get to know you, even if it makes you uncomfortable
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Ryan O’Donnell
Title: Co-Founder
Company: Replyify
Linkedin: https://ph.linkedin.com/in/ryanworking?trk=org-employees
“Test everything. Data is everything when it comes to business because it will help you make informed decisions. No matter how good an idea may sound, always test it out first. By testing out, you prevent paying for costly mistakes, which could harm your financial resources. The data will also help you improve strategies/products that have not worked out.
It’s also imperative to find your best niche. Establishing your niche will help you profile your clients and focus on strategies that work well. By establishing your niche, you increase your chances of having high profitability.”
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Mila Garcia
Title: Co-founder
Company: iPaydayLoans
Linkedin: N/A
It is important that you employ a “fail fast and fail cheap” business strategy as early on as possible. And the idea behind this is that instead of being afraid to make mistakes in business, which hinders innovation and creativity, it is often more practical to be proactive but cautious in your approach by experimenting and finding mistakes, as well as possible improvements in your ideas as quickly as possible before you decide to invest more in the product. After all, chances are that some of your assumptions about the market, customer base, and their behaviors may be off the mark, so it’s more effective to consistently test your ideas as fast as possible, analyze the performance, and make a decision on whether or not to push forward with them over the long-term. This in turn allows you to avoid making expensive mistakes that could end up tanking your business.
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Zachary Colman
Title: CEO
Company: Creatitive
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/creatitive
As business owners, we receive so much advice. Some are solicited mostly, unsolicited. But the best advice that I should have received is that ‘Employees are not Family’ and we cannot let their problems take over our lives too. We can help them when we can, but we have to hold them accountable for their problems. Cuddling them and trying to solve their problems for them is spoiling them and carrying the burden on your shoulder, but it should not be that way. At the end of the day, business is still a business.
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Angela Olea
Title: Founder/CEO
Company: Assisted Living Locators
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelaolea/
Delegate and elevate. Too much of my time, effort and energy early on were focused on tasks that could have been managed by empowering another member of my team. The early desire for perfection, slowed down my trajectory to reaching my destination. The only way your company can grow is for you, as a leader, to build extensions of yourself and let go of some responsibilities. You can have a better work-life balance and your business will flourish.
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Ronald Williams
Title: Founder
Company: BestPeopleFinder
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronald-williams-627239233/
I wish someone could have told me that financial decisions are paramount to developing and growing a 7-figure business. A well-analyzed and thoroughly evaluated financial decision can help foresee the market risks and opportunities to grab the maximum market share based on the financial strategies that are well incorporated in marketing and other business processes and operations. To have a 7- figure business, and have it growing constantly, it is also important to have a solid financial plan that consolidates the unforeseen risk such as inflation and recession among many others. I have suffered a lot due to these two factors but now have recovered. Therefore, I also wish someone could have told me that to have and maintain a 7-figure business, I must have some selling strategy combined with marketing and PR growth strategies to suppress the inflation and recessions effects.
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Karwanna D.
Title: Founder & CEO
Company: She’s Got Goals, LLC.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karwannadspeaks/
“I wish someone introduced me to government contracting earlier and got myself a coach”
The reason I wish someone advised me this earlier is because, I used to be a struggling business owner myself, I struggled in a way that it made really no sense for me to have a business.
I had been chasing individual customers who barely had the money to pay me, and it wasn’t enough for me to have a sustainable income. I was barely making $20k a year and got to a point where I could not even afford to buy shoes and clothes for my kids.
But I know that there is something out there that I was missing out on. Then I had this one particular client named Cliff who was the first minority small business owner who told me about government contracting and how he was able to grow his first multi-billion-dollar business. I still remember clearly that one particular line when he said, “The same thing that your doing for me, you can actually do it for the government.”
He basically showed me the way. I then later landed my first-ever government contract for $70k working 2hours per day for only 28 days. But it wasn’t like an overnight thing, it actually took me years of trial and error before I actually got it right. Government contracting is actually a whole lot to navigate where it can be overwhelming. That’s why I would actually advise my younger self to get a coach.
Now, having to build two successful small businesses of my own, I actually became a coach so I could help others who might be in a slump right now or might be struggling with their business and just need someone who can show them the light. That’s why I founded She’s Got Goals LLC. and created a program that would fast track businesses to government contracting so they don’t have to go through years of trial and error. I created a specific blueprint to essentially teach and empower small business entrepreneurs to leverage their business with government contracts so they can have consistent income. You can be in business for 90 days and be highly profitable within 6 months to a year of selling your products and services to the government.
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Cheenu Lott
Title: Marketing Expert
Company: Sales Booster
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/cheenu-lott/
If you’re young and just starting out in your profession, you’ve probably heard a lot of career cliches and truisms.
Although following your passion, giving 110 percent, and being true to yourself may no longer resonate with you, perhaps recommendations like “don’t work too hard” and relaxing are more in your wheelhouse.
Don’t team up with folks who don’t mesh well with your personality. For a long time, you’ll be unable to get out of bed because of this. It’s best to avoid it at all costs. Learn as much as you can about the folks you’ll be spending time with. Say no from the start to things you don’t like. You can’t afford to lose it. It is possible to outsource the services of developers, designers, and accountants without having to form a partnership or hand over a portion of your profits. It’s more cost-effective to hire someone rather than collaborate with them. However, if you find someone who is talented and with whom you get along, it can be a good idea to form a business partnership with them.
Embrace your strangeness and use it in your work!
Mentor told me these things. This was a long time ago, yet these words have stayed with me. He understood that we’re all capable of odd behavior from time to time, but he stressed that the important thing is how we chose to express that odd behavior.
To balance off the monotony of my daily routine, I inject new vitality into every project I work on. All my best work and endeavor’s have come from following this path.
Your work is full of quirkiness and inventive thinking, so you have more time to enjoy the little things in life, a delicate yet meaningful balance. Enjoy the little things in life.
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Laura Jimenez
Title: Owner
Company: USA
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ishine365
Seek Out Mentorship
If I could hop into a time machine, I would advise myself to get a mentor. One of the biggest thrills in entrepreneurship is becoming your own boss. You no longer answer to anyone and your business will rise or fall on your decisions. While this is usually a positive, it’s nice to have someone to use as a sounding board for big decisions; Mentorship fills this gap. I have started my business on my own but I think a mentor with experience in the business world might have helped me a lot. A person who can point to the pitfalls so you can avoid them. My mentor would have assisted me in moving forward with confidence quickly if I had one at my younger age.
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Jordan Fabel
Title: Founder
Company: ApprovedCourse
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-fabel/
One piece of advice I wish I had received earlier on my path is that there isn’t really such a thing as work/life balance if you’re ambitious. Rather, it would be more accurate and realistic for entrepreneurs to seek out work/life separation, at both the macro and micro levels.
Working hard at your business for several years is necessary if you really are determined to meet your goals, and then once you’re established perhaps you can begin to filter more time into other things. On a micro level, it’s important to establish and maintain clear boundaries between your working and personal/family lives, giving yourself one day a week totally free from work and putting in the hours during the rest of your week.
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Will Yang
Title: Head of Growth
Company: Instrumentl
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willcyang/
As an entrepreneur, I’ve experienced my share of ups and downs. There have been times when I’ve been on top of the world, and other times when I’ve felt like giving up. Throughout it all, there is one piece of advice that I wish I had received sooner: to focus on my health. When you’re building a business, it’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind and forget about taking care of yourself. But the truth is, your health is the foundation upon which your business is built. If you’re not feeling your best, it’s going to be difficult to put your best foot forward. That’s why it’s so important to make time for exercise, healthy eating, and stress management.
Taking care of yourself may not seem like a priority when you’re trying to build a successful business, but trust me, it’s worth it. Your business will thank you for it in the long run.
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Gevorg Hambardzumyan
Title: CEO
Company: Front Signs
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gevorghambardzumyan
I founded my business back in 2016 and built it from the ground up. It was challenging to start from scratch but I’m happy to say that it’s been good so far. The one piece of advice I’d like to give from the experience of my journey would be to focus on the right team. They’re the most important investment you can make.
Especially during the startup phase, when you have fewer people who have to multitask, hiring the right caliber of employees will save you a lot of headache. True professionals produce better results from the onset, paving the way for successful company growth.
The right people will pay for themselves and won’t waste your time or resources. Even if you want to automate certain areas of your business, the process should be handled by specialists who know what they’re doing. Implementing such systems and technologies requires a considerable expense. I’m glad I trusted experts to achieve the best results on the first attempt.
The bottom line is that you need experienced people to work with you if you want to launch a successful business. It’ll be easier and faster with them around. You’ll waste an immense amount of resources without their expertise. Surrounding yourself with a skilled and dedicated team will not only save you money but also a lot of trouble in the long run.
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Dr. Cali Estes
Title: Founder/CEO
Company: The Addictions Coach
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caliestes/
The advice I wish someone would have given me as I was building my 7-figure business is, the more haters you have, the more successful you will be. People in general don’t want you to succeed because then they have a benchmark to live up to. In my industry of dealing with substance abuse and mental health colleagues, there are a lot of damaged people who will spend hours tearing you down to make themselves feel better. Perseverance is the key!
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Hannah Dworkin
Title: Leader and Recruiter
Company: USScrapyard
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-dworkin-93b63b237
Hannah Dworkin, 42 years old, living in Manassas, VA, is the owner and operator of USScrapyard, a firm that collects auto parts and scrap.
I’ve learned a lot from my errors in the business world. Investing my trust in everyone and treating everyone the same has been my greatest mistake. After my experience, I realised that there are a variety of people with different personalities working in my line of work, thus I need to approach each one differently. I was being incredibly immature and wanted to spill everything and reveal every little secret of my business to anybody and everyone that was not in my business favour.
In a nutshell, there are no friends in the marketplace of competition. It’s a field of work where you’re expected to treat others with respect and tact. I’ve learned to recognise people, which is important in our industry. Relying on other and treating them in a same way to everyone is not good for an entrepreneur. I would like to suggest you that Deal people carefully and recognise them before revealing important secrets and making significant decisions of your business.
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Dennis Snow
Title: President
Company: Snow & Associates, Inc.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennissnow/
As the founder of a consulting, training, and speaking company that grew to over 7 figures, I wish someone had told me at the beginning that regardless of my product, I’m actually in the marketing and sales business. Clients and customers have almost unlimited access to products and services. It takes tremendous effort to get through all of the noise so that your organization becomes the company of choice.
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Daniella M. Green
Title: Founder/CEO
Company: Slaypedia
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellagreeninternational
I am Daniella, founder of the 1st and only advisory firm to executive leadership in tech & green energy.
I work closely with executive leaders seeking roadmap strategy, stakeholders communication and most important sustainability rollouts and implementation. I also coach and develop black professionals seeking to pivot into leadership in tech
I wish that someone would’ve told me, “Just get out there”. I spent so much money on tools, ads, and all these things that other “founders” used to get traction, that it wasn’t until those failed I just had to depend on my voice and my why.
I started a youtube channel and began to host lives on Linkedin, Facebook and Youtube. My platform grew so quickly that I landed my own TED talk. I would say always communicate your “why” to pull people in and then show them what you’re made of. Offer free lives, post content that helps, get a calendar for clients to book and connect with people organically before you spend any money. Organic success, perfecting your niche and understanding your target audience only comes from one thing. That’s engagement. Real engagement. I wish I’d known that earlier but I am glad it didn’t take me too long to figure that out. I went from clients here and there, to a more consistent flow of revenue from individual clients and corporations after putting myself out there.
I am always looking at what could be better and ask that of my audience. That took me to 7-figures and I don’t have 1 Million followers. But the followers I have are engaged and they trust my services. That’s what matters most.
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Kyle McCorkel
Title: Owner
Company: Safe Home Offer
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-mccorkel-44855b13/
The thing I wish I knew sooner in starting my business is the benefits of delegating/outsourcing tasks sooner. If you make your entire business rely on only you, you’re likely to get burnt out sooner and not be nearly as efficient as you would be if you had help. When you recognize the tasks that can be outsourced and would free up more of your time to do the stuff that truly only you can do, you lift such a huge burden off of yourself and make your business and yourself so much more effective.
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Logan Mallory
Title: VP
Company: Motivosity
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loganmallory
Learn to Accept or Ignore Criticism – Early in my career, it was difficult for me to receive criticism. With the help of a great mentor, I learned how a leader addresses feedback. He said, “You always need to consider criticism when you hear it. If it’s accurate, be mature enough to make a change. If it’s inaccurate, then you move on.” I wish I had learned that insight even sooner – it has improved my relationships with difficult co-workers, improved my leadership skills and helped me avoid some hurt feelings throughout my career.
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Laura Fuentes
Title: Operator of Infinity Dish
Company: Infinity Dish
Linkedin: –
When you’re just starting out in business, it’s funny, every single person has a piece of advice they want to give you. It can feel overwhelming almost immediately but once you’ve made it past that introductory phase, you immediately get it! Of course everyone wants to give advice, they’re just trying to help you avoid all the mistakes they made when they were starting out. Now, of course, I’m one of those people who wants to give advice! So here goes, the advice I wish I had received on my way to starting my business (and let’s be honest, someone probably gave me this advice but I was too flustered to register it), is to always remember that the difference between being cocky and being confident all comes down to tone. When you’re starting a business, you spend so much of your time meeting with and pitching to people who are already more powerful or successful or wealthy than you. In these meetings, everyone wants to project confidence because no one will help out or invest in someone who doesn’t seem like they believe in their product or service. However, coming off as overly confident can be just as tricky, because nobody wants to work with someone who seems like they think they’re more successful, more brilliant, or more accomplished than they are. The tricky thing is, oftentimes, the difference between confidence and cockyness is tone and word choice. It takes practice to really nail that distinction but if you can make yourself come off as confident without seeming cocky, you’ll be well on your way to building a successful business.
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Tadas Burgaila
Title: CEO
Company: Kilo Health
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tadas-burgaila/
Starting a business is intimidating, as you are not sure about your idea yet. You worry if you can build your client base and bring in enough revenue to keep going. You are looking around for advice and trying different approaches to figure out your next steps.
Maybe you should follow the advice from consultants working in big corporations? But other people who do not know your business as well as you do.
So don’t ever let a suit scare you.
Not everyone is as bright as they look. An expensive suit doesn’t always mean that the person on the other side of the table has more experience or a better product than yours.
Many large corporations are slow, while a startup can be faster and more focused.
Many young entrepreneurs are afraid of industry giants, but the global market is huge and agile. You can outrun the larger corporations. There is a place for your startup under the sun.
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