Are you considering going into business? Or are you in one already? Here are a few tips that have helped me. They are ashes from the crucibles of my experience, they will assist your journey. Some of them may sound a bit rigid and some a bit loose, they are nonetheless what I have learnt in the priceless school of hard-knocks.

1. Register a company, this gives your company a history and allows you to have clear documentation for your transactions.

2. Choose partners carefully! A business partner decision is almost as delicate as getting a life partner. Check fundamentally for alignment of values. Skill or technical ability alone won’t cut it, your basis of future disagreement won’t be technical or skill driven, it will be value based.

3. Don’t be in a hurry to get an office. Work from home until your visiting clients start to complain. Getting an office

3. Relationships are critical. When you start business, you are really building a network of relationships and gaining experience. Everything you want in business will get to you through other human channels, consciously build relationships. Don’t worry about the levels, status or class of people that life throws at you, it’s not how high, it’s how well.

4. Keep your eyes on the numbers. Your business won’t live longer than you ability to balance 4 key elements. Your Income, Expenses, Assets and Liabilities. The size of the mouse defines the size of it’s nest. Don’t do more than your strength.

5. They say hire slowly and fire quickly, well I say hire very slowly and you are not likely to fire at all. Don’t create redundancy, hire only when the role is critical.

6. Go after knowledge! Empty bags don’t stand upright. Once you have decided to be an entrepreneur, you have really decided to prioritize you library over your wardrobe. Your wardrobe is also very important, but how you look will open the door, what you know will keep you inside. Invest in reading, in business readers are leaders.