6 Rules Every Successful Entrepreneur Follows

The life of an entrepreneur isn’t easy. The early stages of every start-up is fraught with obstacles, potholes, dead ends and wrong turns. Successful entrepreneurs do certain things which help them navigate around those obstacles, potholes, dead ends and wrong turns:

1. Self-Education – Successful entrepreneurs read and learn like their life depended on it. They read books – mostly biographies of successful people, read articles, read blogs, listen to podcasts, listen to audio books and watch video interviews of other successful entrepreneurs.
2. Tap Experts – Successful entrepreneurs find mentors who succeeded at doing exactly what they are attempting to do. They ask them questions, tapping their knowledge and experience. They also hire Experts who possess knowledge/skills they lack, which compensates for their weaknesses.
3. Take Action – Successful entrepreneurs who lack success mentors to guide them, gain knowledge and experience through the school of hard knocks by taking action. Taking action teaches them what to do and what not to do. It teaches them what works and what doesn’t work.
4. Develop Processes That Work – Successful entrepreneurs use the knowledge and experience they gain from either success mentors or the school of hard knocks to develop proven processes that they and their team can follow.
5. Find Apostles – Successful entrepreneurs build a team of talent. The successful entrepreneurs search for and eventually find talented individuals who share their dreams and goals.
6. They Don’t Follow the Herd – Successful entrepreneurs are not followers. They are trailblazers. They separate themselves from the herd and are not influenced by Herd Group Think. Success eventually brings more and more people into their herd. Successful entrepreneurs understand that the more people they bring into their herd, the more successful they will be. Millionaires have hundreds of people in their herd. Deca-millionaires have thousands of people in their herd. And billionaires have millions of people in their herd.

Tom Corley is an accountant, financial planner and author of “Rich Kids: How to Raise Our Children to Be Happy and Successful in Life”, “Effort-Less Wealth”, “Change Your Habits Change Your Life”, “Rich Habits Poor Habits” and “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals.”