10 Principles in Starting a Business

By Bo Sanchez

from the book Choose to Be Wealthy

Chapter 21 (Available at National Bookstores Nationwide or at Sheperdsvoice Publications)

1. Find something you’re passionate about.
I cannot emphasize this enough.
Obviously, you need to know yourself well.
What is your core gift? What is play to you?

2. Get firsthand experience in the business.
For my friend Maila, she has 24 years experience as
an accountant.
If you don’t have this firsthand experience, then
look for one.
Work for free if you have to and expose yourself to
a similar business. 

3. Start small.
You’ll always make mistakes at the start, so make
your mistakes small by starting small. Maila’s
accounting firm can start with one or two small
clients first. Through this, she’ll perfect her system
and aim for bigger clients later.

4. Dream big.
How do you plan to expand your business?
When you start a business, have a rough plan
on how to duplicate yourself and serve more
people. Be cautious about starting a business you
can’t duplicate or scale up.

5. Have mentors.
There are people around you who are already
doing what you want to do. They’ve been doing
the business for 20 years. They’ve learned so
much. Find them and pick their brains. Copy first.
Doing so will save yourself from a lot of pain.

6. Learn a new skill: How to run a business.
My friend Maila knows accounting. In fact, she’s
an expert. But she doesn’t know how to run a
business. So this is a new skill she has to
learn. Another example: You may be a great cook
but running a restaurant is a totally different ball
game. That requires not just cooking, but managing
staff, balancing accounting books and marketing to
new customers.

7. Be a marketing expert.
Marketing is the lifeblood of any business. No
marketing, no customers. No customers, no sales.
No sales, no money. It’s as simple as that. The
owner of the small business must learn marketing
or his business fails. (Strong suggestion: The
Internet is a powerful marketing tool that you
can use. If you want to know more about Internet
marketing for your business, join the seminars of
my Internet marketing guru, Jomar Hilario.)

8. Focus on your strength.
At the start, expect to do everything. From sales
to messengerial to janitorial services. But as your
business grows, focus only on your core gift and
outsource other tasks to experts. Do what only you
can do. Delegate the rest.

9. Hire people better than yourself.
When you hire people, hire always the best. In fact,
hire people better than yourself.

10. Be a relationship expert.
At the end of the day, business is about
relationships. It’s building great relationships with
your staff, your suppliers, your partners, your
regulators and your customers. Without good
relationships, your business will be short-lived.