I received the following email:

Quick Question:: you had mentioned in one place, you build business.
What have you built? and how hard was it?

I am thinking of buying and building a business but a bit scared
(butterflies in the stomach and all that crap)..

Any guidance.??

Thriving business is the most fulfilling thing I have ever done. When things go wrong it is agonising.

I’ve run businesses in the fields of: book publishing; newsletters and subscriptions; half-way house management; IT and management consultancy; direct sales teams; marriage counselling and alternative dispute resolution services; coffee shop; dating agency and even network marketing.

Some were successful, some weren’t. Some were full-time, others were something on the side. All could have done better with a bit more time to mature or capital.

What you need to succeed – off the top of my head:
1) Guts – feel the fear and do it anyway.
2) Passion – love it or you can’t all that needs to be done.
3) Margins – it will cost you more, and you will sell less than you hope. Make sure your product/service has adequate margins.
4) Story – have a good angle or hook, otherwise you will be tempted to compete on price and that my friend is the toughest business.

Is that enough of a start? I’ll continue in the days to come and Thursday I’ll update the 3 small units story — it’s settlement day.