If you are young entrepreneur or startup, I applaud you.
Building a company is truly one of the hardest things I’ve ever tried to do. A
year and a half ago, I decided to quit my job to pursue my dreams of
entrepreneurship and have learned a lot of lessons along the way. In this
article, I’m going to share some of the financial lessons I’ve learned in the
process of starting my business in the hopes that you won’t repeat some of the
common financial mistakes many young entrepreneurs make.
#1: Time is Money
When I first started building my business, I spent a lot of
time traveling to meetings, meeting with people, planning for meetings, etc.
Today, I wish I had all that time back. One of the most valuable assets
entrepreneurs have is their time, and every moment you spend doing stuff that
is unrelated to your business is time and money wasted. When I was first
starting out, I recall one of my advisors saying to me, “a lack of time is a
lack of priorities.” It’s true. If you are wasting your time going to
meaningless meetings that are unrelated to your business, you can find yourself
in a tough financial situation.
#2: Prepare for the Worst, Hope for the Best
Bad things happen to good people, and it pays to be
prepared. If you are not financially prepared to take the leap into
entrepreneurship, don’t quit your job until you are ready. There is no reason
in the world to give up your income when you can work on your project on the
side until you have traction. For most single people, I recommend having at
least 3 months of living expenses in an emergency savings account. If you are going to be an entrepreneur,
