Don't fall victim to your own Bullcrap

I am sure you have met those people who are all talk and no action. People with big plans but that always amount to building castles in the air. Dreaming grandiose dreams with no further actions.

Impress with actions not conversations. Endorse your business enthusiastically, yet tastefully. Avoid exaggerating truths and touting far reaching goals as certainties. In short, put up or shut up.

Felix Dennis once said “Once you believe that you are infallible, that success will automatically lead to more success, and that you have "got it made," reality will be sure to give you a rude wake-up call. Believing your own bullshit is always a perilous activity, but never more fatal than for the owner of a start-up venture.”

Quality, the guiding principle.

I respect Steve Jobs (RIP) for one major reason. He was so focused on product excellence as opposed to making money. He obviously made huge bucks in the end. It is extremely important in business to jealously protect the quality of your product or service and to always strive to improve it. What will you ever be known for if not for your quality product or service? Sunny Bindra once said and I totally concur with him that refined buyers spend a fortune looking for specialty coffees, rare wines, and advisers who offer a very personalized service. I know like men will stick to a specific Kinyozi for ages due to quality. I used to have one when I was staying in shags and you can imagine I only used to shave on those weekends that I found myself in shags till I identified one in town.

Know when to call it quits.

Contrary to popular belief, a smart captain does not go down with the ship. Don't go on a fool's errand for the sake of ego. Know when it's time to walk away. If your idea doesn't pan out, reflect on what went wrong and the mistakes that were made. Assess what you would have done differently. Determine how you will utilize these hard-learned lessons to better yourself and your future entrepreneurial endeavors. Failure is inevitable, but a true entrepreneur will prevail over adversity

This brings us to end of the lessons for start-ups. I hope somebody somewhere learnt something. More financial education on the way.