As a business owner, especially a first-time business owner, we make lots of decisions without a lot of knowledge. The concept of making decisions and making them often is something that I learned early on. I was told that “the best leaders are the ones who make quick decisions and make corrections as they go” vs not making decisions at all and never moving forward. The problem is that some of those decisions were poor choices!

May 21, 2012

2 Min Read
Entrepreneurial Scar Tissue: Minimize Small-Business Pains

By Frank Albi 1

first aid

As a business owner, especially a first-time business owner, we make lots of decisions without a lot of knowledge. The concept of making decisions and making them often is something that I learned early on. I was told that “the best leaders are the ones who make quick decisions and make corrections as they go” vs not making decisions at all and never moving forward. The problem is that some of those decisions were poor choices!

As these mistakes get ingrained into your company they leave side effects that we call “scars.” Every business that we meet is littered with “entrepreneurial scar tissue.” These scars come in all shapes and sizes. There are some scars that can cripple a business, such as the loss of a founder due to illness without any succession plan in place, and other scars that look more like nicks or scrapes.

When we meet companies and start to pull back the covers we identify issues that left scars and issues that are about to cause major wounds destined to become scars in the future. It isn’t easy to grow a business, so finding mentors or resources that can help you avoid as many scars as possible will put you way ahead of your competition. Making decisions and learning from them is a huge key to success, while making decisions without any guidance can be the challenge.

To avoid your fair share of scars we suggest that you surround yourself with individuals who have been where you are going. Be that through peer groups, local mentors, an executive coach or any other method, invest the time to make better decisions. There is so much to learn in order to run a successful business and you can’t know it all. We have been at it for close to two decades, and we learn amazing new lessons on a regular basis. Never stop learning and never stop asking for help from those around you.

Frank Albi, former solution provider CEO, and 4-Profit team member, has a proven track record of successfully building growth-oriented advanced technology services organizations. He heads up M&A planning, training and CEO/Executive team coaching on business strategy/realignment and profitability. For more information please visit www.4-profit.com.

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