thread Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting..... in Community Corner

If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

Minion — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 09:35:36 GMT

...your business, what would it be? I could definitely name off a few, but I think for me the biggest one would be to find the Accountant that is not only good at their job, but the one that that is not to busy to return emails/phone calls or setup appointments.

What's your one piece of advice that you would give yourself?

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

ryanwanner — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 14:51:34 GMT

@Minion Oh I'm right there with you on the accountants. A great accountant is worth its weight in gold, and that's the one part of the business you don't want to skimp on.

For me, it would be to get everything in writing. From lease agreements to contractor time projections to assurances of warranties. I've been burned more than once by trusting the handshake agreement.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

Minion — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 17:24:00 GMT

@ryanwanner wrote:
@Minion Oh I'm right there with you on the accountants. A great accountant is worth its weight in gold, and that's the one part of the business you don't want to skimp on.

For me, it would be to get everything in writing. From lease agreements to contractor time projections to assurances of warranties. I've been burned more than once by trusting the handshake agreement.

Oh Yea, my old accountant would always push me to October or maybe it was end of September before my business taxes were done, the first couple years I was like okay no big deal, then the last 2 years I was just over it. It's a bit tough to make any smart decisions when your taxes don't get finished up in a timely manner.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

Lovewell — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 19:37:01 GMT

Probably a reminder that it’s okay to be proud of the position you’re in as a leader. OWN IT. Own who you are and what your business vision/mission are. Don’t shy away from uncomfortable things because those things will shape you to become an even better business owner, boss, leader, and creative.

*thankfully we started off with a great book keeper and accountant!*

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

johnvick — Wed, 24 Sep 2025 21:02:31 GMT

For me, the biggest challenge in my business has definitely been finding reliable partners—especially an accountant who’s both skilled and accessible. It’s amazing how much smoother everything runs when you actually get timely responses and clear communication.

As for advice I’d give myself: I’d remind myself to prioritize building strong relationships early on. Whether it’s clients, partners, or vendors, having that trust and open line of communication makes all the difference when things get hectic.

How about you? What’s your biggest challenge and advice for yourself?

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

VanKalkerFarms — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 02:14:17 GMT

Think big.

The little business you are starting won't be little forever and things you do now may bottleneck your business down the road costing you tons of money to fix.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

VanKalkerFarms — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 02:15:31 GMT

Well another piece of advice is don't be afraid to charge what it is worth. The fight to the bottom is real in completion, but you do not need to be in that fight if you can have a better product with better service.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

VanKalkerFarms — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 03:04:52 GMT

It is one of those things that gets to me is when I am trying to pay someone to do something and it is like I am the one reminding them that hey I asked you this 4 days ago or I sent you an email 2 weeks ago.

So far we have been lucky with our accountant of last 15 years. It is generally the insurance agents and sales people tat seem to be the worst for me.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

Minion — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 09:37:41 GMT

@VanKalkerFarms wrote:
Well another piece of advice is don't be afraid to charge what it is worth. The fight to the bottom is real in completion, but you do not need to be in that fight if you can have a better product with better service.

Solid piece of advice. I know when I first started out, (and still had a regular job) I wasn't charging what I should at the time. I think it was a lack of confidence and or wanting to draw attention to gain some business. Now, I simply turn down things because it isn't worth my time. Not in an arrogant way, some people come to me for a rock guard (bed liner) down the side of their vehicle to help prevent rock chips etc. When the metal is already rotted, there is nothing that will save it other than replacing it at that point.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

Minion — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 09:40:09 GMT

I agree with the building strong relationships. I work with a handful of dealerships while I wouldn't say I necessarily cater to them, I will squeeze them in sooner than a regular customer.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

Minion — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 09:45:13 GMT

@Lovewell wrote:
Probably a reminder that it’s okay to be proud of the position you’re in as a leader. OWN IT. Own who you are and what your business vision/mission are. Don’t shy away from uncomfortable things because those things will shape you to become an even better business owner, boss, leader, and creative.

*thankfully we started off with a great book keeper and accountant!*

I never thought that I was actually good at talking with customers mainly if it was a confrontation thing. I find that most people read or hear things and then just run with it. When I explain my process sometimes it goes in one ear and out the other. I really try to spend a lot of time now talking with the customer before and after on what the process is and what to expect afterwards.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

rtfulk — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 14:15:52 GMT

Our accountant is the best and now that he is getting older we worry about him retiring. We can ask him “anything” and he helped guide us through our business over the past 38 years. We will never find another like him.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

rtfulk — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 14:34:54 GMT

The one thing I would change would be watching our finances. When we quit our public jobs in the late 80’s and went 100% in, we were in our 20’s and didn’t really have a grasp of running a business. Our business has been mobile ever since we started it, with no Brick & Mortar store things were harder then, we wasn’t really considered a business. We couldn’t find a bank that would approve us to accept credit cards, it took us 5 years and a good friend that was the president of the local bank to help us.

Credit card debt is the worse possible thing a business starting out can use, but like I said banks didn’t consider us a business because we were mobile and we relied on credit cards, so much we accumulated a massive debt at a high interest rates. In our 30’s we wised up, made some tough financial decisions, buckled down and paid off the credit card debt. We started saving more money and now we run our business debt free.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

TheRealChipA — Thu, 25 Sep 2025 14:45:10 GMT

All of this is really good! I'll add one I haven't seen, yet -- be realistic and brutally honest with yourself about the finances.

Expect that you'll have a number of "building" years when you'll be lucky to break even, much less make any sort of profit. Don't start the business without either a stash of disposable cash OR access to a line of credit (personal or otherwise).

Also, "back of napkin" pro formas are not solid financial planning. Take the time to create a realistic forecast so that you are not caught off guard by things you could have planned for. When you do that forecast, be conservative and lose the rose-colored glasses. It's better to beat your forecasts consistently that to face the let-down of falling short. Don't set yourself up for failure at the starting line.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

CareyJo — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 22:07:02 GMT

I think for me, after doing it the wrong way the first time, we learned to do it right the second time, from the beginning. I'm actually our accountant but I'm not our CPA. She gets paid very well to do her job and she does it fabulously. She's young, she's good at it and she protects us. She also doesn't sugar coat anything.

My thinking on doing it right is all the things - the branding, the marketing, the sales, the how's and what's of your business. Make decisions before you start on how you're going to do this. All the way down to the smallest details. That's what we're doing now with our new venture. We didn't do this back in 06 when we opened our first HVAC company but we did before we opened this one. I'd been self-employed since the age of 19 but always alone, never with a partner. There's so much more to consider and so many things that I didn't know I didn't know. In just 3 short weeks, we have pretty much nailed down almost all of the details of opening our new business and how things are going to get done. We still have miles to go, but we're so far ahead of the curve, that the guy in the SBA office we spoke to the other day was shocked when we said we've only been on this for about 3 weeks. He told us we didn't need help because we're unlike everyone else that comes in his office. He straight up asked what we needed.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

Lovewell — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 23:37:58 GMT

100% agree!

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

Minion — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 23:45:20 GMT

I learned that one the hard way Chip. The first couple years were major high and low swings, but just sorta rolled with it did what I could when I could and made it through the storm!

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

Minion — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 23:48:46 GMT

I do things wrong on a daily. Sometimes I just live and forget the learn part the first time or two around but then I catch on. I've had more losses than I 've had wins, but the losses help me to grow. Some are tougher than others but at the end of the day it is what it is, and tomorrow is a new day.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

Minion — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 23:51:55 GMT

I know all about the credit card debt from some 10 years ago. It was a brutal awakening when you have great credit and starting a business. I've learned the proper way (by doing it wrong the first time) on how to utilize the card to its fullest, taking advantage of the 0% interest, , extra cash back etc. It's part of my morning routine to check balances and move on. I will say though I do like a Net30 Account for certain things over a CC.

Re: If you could give your past self one piece of advice before starting.....

Lovewell — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 23:52:17 GMT

YES! We’re all just figuring it out and always learning. Anyone who doesn’t think so likely has a huge lesson coming their way 😂