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<blockquote data-quote="Pyrrhic victory" data-source="post: 949562" data-attributes="member: 9975">I've been self employed almost my entire life starting off in finance and then later transitioning entirely to real estate. There are a few rules that i have learned the hard way. 1.&nbsp; Trusting others to do your work entirely&nbsp; will always have a limited success rate. Delegating to others without full knowledge of their capabilities and skill sets is an exercise in futility.&nbsp; 2.&nbsp; When considering hiring contractors or new help look into their past verifiable history.&nbsp; I have found consistently that a person who is a thief or liar with even the smallest of things will more than likely&nbsp; revert to these tendencies when the scales involve more.&nbsp; Especially , those that are very charismatic at heart and cover up these faults by appealing to you on a strong personal level.&nbsp;&nbsp; These are the ones you must really look out for.&nbsp; As a perfectionist, I have seen flaws in others thought processes , laziness , not being able to determine senses of urgency , lack of intelligence , understanding Etc.&nbsp; &nbsp; Each and every one of these faults will always cause losses of efficiency and cumulatively may possibly even be devastating. In many cases, said individuals may be honest people but do not have the ability to internalize basic business concepts.&nbsp;&nbsp; These individuals need to be vetted and assigned to tasks they can excel at.&nbsp; I have been very good at giving slight cross training depending on the individuals natural talents.&nbsp; &nbsp; When hiring a contractor , I will have them work with my most skilled guys for a week to see what their pros and cons are.&nbsp; Based on this and multiple general conversations with them I can gauge whether they have the skill set and work mentality that will work in my business. 3.&nbsp;&nbsp; Scaling a business is very difficult.&nbsp; Especially if you are juggling two or more businesses.&nbsp;&nbsp; Any start up will always require a tremendous amount of your time and energy.&nbsp; By focusing on one , you will always neglect the other at least slightly.&nbsp; &nbsp; When starting a new business , this neglect is a recipe for failure or running at sub optimal efficiently levels.&nbsp; Focus on one thing at a time and devote the necessary resources to maximize its success.&nbsp; Once you have found a recipe that works then slowly add the necessary pieces to scale up.&nbsp; Trouble shoot and repeat again for next level of escalation. 4.&nbsp;&nbsp; Mark Cuban once said &quot; Don't drown in opportunity.&quot;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; Every time I hear that I Chuckle as I think of my somewhat limited success in finance that could have been scaled on a much more efficient and profitable route.&nbsp;&nbsp; In addition, I now apply this fully to my real estate development business as I constantly have to hit the brakes to ensure my renovations are being done efficiently and reducing the amount of service calls tenants will place down the road by doing the job right the first time. As cliche as it may sound , cutting corners in any business will more than likely come back at a greater cost down the road. 5.&nbsp; I am a firm believer in not getting too personally involved with my staff.&nbsp;&nbsp; Many employees will blur the lines of business and personal as this happens.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; I put a stop to this as soon as it comes up.&nbsp;&nbsp; It's almost like walking a tight rope, you need to show a sense of compassion but not too much or you will be taken as someone they can push around.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Pyrrhic victory, post: 949562, member: 9975"] I've been self employed almost my entire life starting off in finance and then later transitioning entirely to real estate. There are a few rules that i have learned the hard way. 1. Trusting others to do your work entirely will always have a limited success rate. Delegating to others without full knowledge of their capabilities and skill sets is an exercise in futility. 2. When considering hiring contractors or new help look into their past verifiable history. I have found consistently that a person who is a thief or liar with even the smallest of things will more than likely revert to these tendencies when the scales involve more. Especially , those that are very charismatic at heart and cover up these faults by appealing to you on a strong personal level. These are the ones you must really look out for. As a perfectionist, I have seen flaws in others thought processes , laziness , not being able to determine senses of urgency , lack of intelligence , understanding Etc. Each and every one of these faults will always cause losses of efficiency and cumulatively may possibly even be devastating. In many cases, said individuals may be honest people but do not have the ability to internalize basic business concepts. These individuals need to be vetted and assigned to tasks they can excel at. I have been very good at giving slight cross training depending on the individuals natural talents. When hiring a contractor , I will have them work with my most skilled guys for a week to see what their pros and cons are. Based on this and multiple general conversations with them I can gauge whether they have the skill set and work mentality that will work in my business. 3. Scaling a business is very difficult. Especially if you are juggling two or more businesses. Any start up will always require a tremendous amount of your time and energy. By focusing on one , you will always neglect the other at least slightly. When starting a new business , this neglect is a recipe for failure or running at sub optimal efficiently levels. Focus on one thing at a time and devote the necessary resources to maximize its success. Once you have found a recipe that works then slowly add the necessary pieces to scale up. Trouble shoot and repeat again for next level of escalation. 4. Mark Cuban once said " Don't drown in opportunity." Every time I hear that I Chuckle as I think of my somewhat limited success in finance that could have been scaled on a much more efficient and profitable route. In addition, I now apply this fully to my real estate development business as I constantly have to hit the brakes to ensure my renovations are being done efficiently and reducing the amount of service calls tenants will place down the road by doing the job right the first time. As cliche as it may sound , cutting corners in any business will more than likely come back at a greater cost down the road. 5. I am a firm believer in not getting too personally involved with my staff. Many employees will blur the lines of business and personal as this happens. I put a stop to this as soon as it comes up. It's almost like walking a tight rope, you need to show a sense of compassion but not too much or you will be taken as someone they can push around. [/QUOTE]

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