Chris is a the creator of "Step by Step" newsletter with 400k+ followers.
He is also the founder of Lottie, a marketplace that helps individuals looking for later life care by finding them the best care home or retirement home.
Guest Author: Chris Donnelly
25 Business Rules for Founders
After 15 years of Running Start-Ups.
Entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone.
But you can avoid a lot of failure.
By learning from those who have been through it.
Here are my top 25 lessons:
1. People do not owe you loyalty.
2. The worst time to offer someone a pay rise is when they’ve handed in their notice.
3. Running a business is brutal. You will lose sleep and you will lose friendships.
4. Hiring is THE most important thing in your business.
5. Just because your calendar is booked out, doesn’t mean you’re moving the needle forward.
6. Product reviews are a great way to see what problems need fixing.
7. Create a routine that will get you into deep work easily.
8. Working for free is one of the best ways to get started.
9. You will not win if you are not obsessed.
10. Building your Personal Brand alongside will make things 100x easier.
11. You will likely fail every single day. Embrace it. It’s not a bad thing.
12. You don’t need funding to get started. Start fast and iterate even faster.
13. Your best ideas usually come when you’re away from screens.
14. You will have to work in multiple positions when you start.
15. Most founders are busy doing the wrong things. Find the 20% that’s driving the results and double down on them.
16. Network as if your life depends on it.
17. The A players aren’t often the loudest, they are the people getting sh#t done.
18. Make your team your top priority and they will make your customers their top priority.
19. Always give more than you can take.
20. Know your target customer almost better than you know yourself.
21. Meetings will take your energy. Keep them brief and targeted.
22. If you’re not using AI to improve processes, you will be overtaken by people who are.
23. A strong community is worth its weight in gold.
24. Systems and processes are absolutely everything when you’re trying to scale.
25. You can’t expect people to hit the ground running if you don’t provide the proper training and resources.
♻️ Repost this to help founders in your network
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