50 Ways NOT to Start and Run a Business

Plan to fail if you;

1. Don't research the market you wish to enter
2. Don't develop a business plan
3. Don't create a business model
4. Don't adjust your goals and plans as you move forward
5. Don't create  3 year revenue and expense projections
6. Don't understand the meaning of Cash Flow
7. Don't create a budget and stick to it
8. Don't keep receipts for every purchase no matter how small
9. Don't keep good records
10. Don't set money aside for tax payments. GST, PST, Income Tax
11. Don't learn what is deductible and what is not. Accountants are not babysitters
12. Don't set up a good bookkeeping system with the help of a good accountant
13. Don't avail yourself of a good insurance agent
14. Don't have insurance covering yourself and your key employees.
15. Don't have business interruption insurance 
16. Don't treat people as you would like to be treated
17. Don't listen to good advice from peers
18. Don't listen to your customers and clients
19. Aren't prepared to go all out to satisfy an unhappy client or customer
20. Don't consistently check your revenues against your expenses
21. Don't pay your suppliers on time
22. Don't contact your suppliers if your cash flow has slowed down and you need an extension
23. Don't keep a journal and jot down ideas as they come to you
24. Provide a product or a service no one wants
25. Let your ego take over and ignore good advice
26. Get married to your idea and don't listen to people offering ways to improve upon your idea
27. Are arrogant and unbending
28. Stop learning because you know it all
29. Hire relatives and friends to save money instead of qualified personnel 
30. Aren't  prepared to work long hours
31. Aren't prepared to learn how to work smarter
32. Don't take courses to improve your knowledge
33. Don't join groups who can provide referrals
34. Aren't prepared to network
35. Chose cheaper materials for your products to save money
36. Cut back on advertising and marketing during busy times. 
37. Don't take your accountants advice
38. Don't do your research on what is the best bank for your business. Not all banks are alike
39. Don't keep money aside for a rainy day.
40. Are not prepared to negotiate deals. Therefore give up something to get something
41. Don't learn to bargain
42. Don't become web savvy. 
43. Don't take the time to learn more about marketing in the 21st century
44. Don't use your family in the business to create additional tax benefits.
45. Don't become tax smarter
46. Don't read, read and read more about your industry and your clients industries
47. Don't subscribe to influential trade magazines in your business
48. Don't manage your time efficiently
49. Are late for appointments, particularly with clients
50. Don'r recognize good employees for their handwork and diligence

These are listed in no particular order of importance but do cover many of the reasons businesses fail. The old saying; "if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail" is as true today as when it was first stated by Benjamin Franklin. 

IN THE IMMORTAL WORDS OF THOMAS EDISON:

THIRTY GREAT BUSINESS QUOTES

Some of these quotes are well known. Most are very good and worth reviewing. 

Whether you’re in the early stages of your start-up or looking for some inspiration to keep going, here is the first of 100 kickass quotes for entrepreneurs. Remember when starting your own company, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.

1. “Your reputation is more important than your paycheck, and your integrity is worth more than your career.” — Ryan Freitas, About.me co-founder Click to Tweet
2. “Every time we launch a feature, people yell at us.” —Angelo Sotira, deviantART co-founder Click to Tweet
3. “Be undeniably good. No marketing effort or social media buzzword can be a substitute for that.” —Anthony Volodkin, Hype Machine founder Click to Tweet
4. “Money is like gasoline during a road trip. You don’t want to run out of gas on your trip, but you’re not doing a tour of gas stations.” —Tim O’Reilly, O’Reilly Media founder and CEO Click to Tweet
5. “If you can’t feed a team with two pizzas, it’s too large.” —Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO Click to Tweet
6. “Don’t worry about people stealing your design work. Worry about the day they stop.” —Jeffrey Zeldman, A List Apart Publisher Click to Tweet
7. “Chase the vision, not the money, the money will end up following you.” —Tony Hsieh, Zappos CEO Click to Tweet
8. “The value of an idea lies in the using of it.” —Thomas Edison, General Electric Co-founder Click to Tweet
9. “Make every detail perfect and limit the number of details to perfect.” —Jack Dorsey, Twitter co-founder Click to Tweet
10. “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” —Steve Jobs, Apple Inc. co-founder, chairman and CEO Click to Tweet
11. “The most dangerous poison is the feeling of achievement. The antidote is to every evening think what can be done better tomorrow.” —Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA founder Click to Tweet
12. “Always look for the fool in the deal. If you don’t find one, it’s you.” —Mark Cuban, AXS TV chairman and entrepreneur Click to Tweet
13. “It’s not about ideas. It’s about making ideas happen.” —Scott Belsky, Behance co-founder Click to Tweet
14. “There’s nothing wrong with staying small. You can do big things with a small team.” —Jason Fried, 37signals founder Click to Tweet
15. “Don’t worry about failure; you only have to be right once.” —Drew Houston, Dropbox founder and CEO Click to Tweet
16. “Get five or six of your smartest friends in a room and ask them to rate your idea.” —Mark Pincus, Zynga CEO Click to Tweet
17. “If there’s something you want to build, but the tech isn’t there yet, just find the closest possible way to make it happen.” —Dennis Crowley, Foursquare co-founder Click to Tweet
18. “Fail often so you can succeed sooner.” —Tom Kelley, Ideo partner Click to Tweet
19. “Nothing works better than just improving your product.” —Joel Spolsky, Stack Overflow co-founder Click to Tweet
20. “It’s not that we need new ideas, but we need to stop having old ideas.” —Edwin Land, Polaroid co-founder Click to Tweet
21. “We are currently not planning on conquering the world.” —Sergey Brin, Google co-founder Click to Tweet
22. “Get big quietly, so you don’t tip off potential competitors.” —Chris Dixon, Andreesen Horowitz investor Click to Tweet
23. “Don’t try to be original, just try to be good.” —Paul Rand, Graphic Designer Click to Tweet
24. “It’s hard to do a really good job on anything you don’t think about in the shower.” —Paul Graham, YCombinator co-founder Click to Tweet
25. “If you’re interested in the living heart of what you do, focus on building things rather than talking about them.” —Ryan Freitas, About.me co-founder Click to Tweet
26. “Entrepreneur is someone who has a vision for something and a want to create.” —David Karp, Tumblr founder and CEO Click to Tweet
27. “Best startups generally come from somebody needing to scratch an itch.” —Michael Arrington, TechCrunch founder and co-editor Click to Tweet
28. “I don’t think an economic slump will hurt good ideas.” —Rob Kalin, Etsy founder Click to Tweet
29. “The last 10% it takes to launch something takes as much energy as the first 90%.” —Rob Kalin, Etsy founder Click to Tweet
30. “Don’t play games that you don’t understand, even if you see lots of other people making money from them.” —Tony Hsieh,  Zappos CEO Click to Tweet

Read more: http://onboardly.com/content-marketing/101-kickass-startup-quotes/#.UitGbrx56yU#ixzz3Lc92FIeL