Where Ideas, Experiences, and Lessons Learned Intersect

Lessons Learned from Small Business Ownership

Posted on October 26, 2013 Updated on August 14, 2026

I learned many valuable lessons over the course of the 8+ years that I owned my consulting business. Many were positive, a few were negative, but all were educational. These lessons shaped my perceptions about and approaches to business, and have served me well. This post will just be the first of many on the topic.

My lessons learned covered many topics: How to structure the business; Business Goals; Risk; Growth Initiatives and Investment; Employees and Benefits; Developing a High-Performance Culture; Marketing and Selling; Hiring and Firing; Bringing in Experts; Partners and Contractors; The need to let go; Exit Strategies and more.

In my case, these lessons learned were compounded by efforts to start a franchise for the consulting system we developed, and then our expansion to the UK with all of the challenges associated with international business. Each new effort built on the success and lessons learned from those previous efforts.

It’s amazing how more significant those lessons are (or at least feel) when the money is coming out of or going into “your own pocket.” Similar decisions at larger companies are generally easier, and (unfortunately) often made without the same degree of due diligence. Having more “skin in the game” does make a difference when it comes to decision-making and risk. I believe that this experience has made me a better leader, custodian of business, and employee – all because of this newfound understanding.

Businesses are usually started because someone is presented with a wonderful opportunity, or because they feel they have a great idea that will sell, or because they feel that they can make more money doing the same work on their own. Let me start by telling you that I believe the last reason is usually the worst reason to start a business. There is a lot of work to running a business, a lot of risk, and many expenses that most people never consider. You start a business because you are running toward something big, and not because you are running away from something.

I started my business because of a great opportunity. There were differences of opinion about growth at the small business I was working for at the time, and this gave me the opportunity to move in a direction that I was more interested in (shifting away from technical consulting and moving toward business/management consulting). Luckily, I had a customer (and now good friend) who believed in my potential and the value that I could bring to his business. He provided both the launch pad and safety net (via a three-month initial contract) that I needed to embark on this endeavor. For me, the most important lesson learned is to start a business for the right reasons.

More to come. And, if you have questions in the meantime, just leave a comment, and I will reply.  Below are some of the statistics on Entrepreneurship that can be pretty enlightening:

Bureau of Labor Statistics stats on Entrepreneurship in the US

Forbes article on Entrepreneurial Activity