What are some things that every entrepreneur should know, but that nobody teaches, when starting their first business?

This is the dark side of things you have to know. Starting a business for the first time is not for the weak-hearted. The fact of the matter is, lot of darkness is behind every startup story, people hate to share or talk about it. Here is a list of some must-know dark topics:

• Expect no one to support you and everyone to ridicule and demotivate you. If you get any support, be thankful for it. People are stuck in the job mentality.
• There is no prestige in it. Heck, even when your daily income is more than the whole cabinet of minister’s salaries combined, they will still think of a minister as someone better than you. Heck, a low-level section manager has more prestige than you. Never get sucked into showing off your wealth for respect, it’s futile.
• Everything that will go wrong will go wrong. Have a plan B as good as plan A.
• Never share your failures with anyone. There, I told you, the crowd is dying to hear it. Share only your success because it will also reflect on your future investor’s opinion about you.
• You have a 50/50 chance of failure, no matter how good your plans are. So be prepared to fail, for success, no other preparation is required.
• Never take a debt it will slow you down, try again if you failed.
• Never ask friends and family for investment or loan. You will probably lose it, and they will distract you from doing your thing. Don’t burn bridges.
• Try to do your first business in secret until you succeed. Because people don’t trust a person who fails a lot. Neither the investors whom you may need in the future.
• Do something you enjoy because everyone is motivating you and this is the only way to stay motivated.
• Be kind to your employees but don’t try to be their friend, they will use you. Besides, when they screw up, you will need to fire them swiftly.
• Make time for your family, friends, social life and hobbies, otherwise you will exhaust yourself. Remember that you are the cornerstone of your business and it will fall when you do.
• Be really careful to your customers because bad reviews cannot be deleted from the internet.
• Everyone wants a piece of your new income, from your mom to your friends, even after they ridiculed you. Do not help anyone. Remember airplane’s emergency instructions, help yourself, then help others. Don’t help anyone on account of your business. Learn to say NO.
• Again everyone wants a piece of you, from your staff to your suppliers, to your customers, even the government. Protect yourself from disclaimers to contracts.
• Never cheat your way into anything, sooner or later it will bite you in the ass. Your enemies and competitors will use it against you. Be as ethical and legal as a proper person should be.

You better learn now, than learn it the hard way.

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