Thinking about starting a small business? Assume everything will cost twice as much and take twice as long as you think it will.
Interpretation
Starting a small business often requires more time and money than initially anticipated.
This quote by Dave Ramsey highlights a common experience among entrepreneurs, emphasizing the importance of realistic planning and budgeting. By assuming that costs and timelines will be higher than expected, business owners can better prepare for the challenges of starting and running their enterprises.
In practice
A mentor sharing this quote with young entrepreneurs during a workshop.
Debt is so ingrained into our culture that most Americans can't even envision a car without a payment ... a house without a mortgage ... a student without a loan ... and credit without a card. We've been sold debt with such repetition and with such fervor that most folks can't conceive of what it would be like to have NO payments.
The thing I have discovered about working with personal finance is that the good news is that it is not rocket science. Personal finance is about 80 percent behavior. It is only about 20 percent head knowledge.
Debt collectors like to play on your emotions because they think you'll give in and do something you can't really afford to do. Most of them don't care about you or your situation as long as they get some money.
Hitting bottom and hitting it hard was the worst thing that ever happened to me and the best thing that ever happened to me.
Your priorities, passions, goals, and fears are shown clearly in the flow of your money.
You have to teach children about money intentionally - create teachable moments.
A well-run restaurant is like a winning baseball team. It makes the most of every crew member's talent and takes advantage of every split-second opportunity to speed up service.
Competition is the keen cutting edge of business, always shaving away at costs.
Of all the things that your company owns, brands are far and away the most important and the toughest. Founders die. Factories burn down. Machinery wears out. Inventories get depleted. Technology becomes obsolete. Brand loyalty is the only sound foundation on which business leaders can build enduring, profitable growth.
Business plans are the tool existing companies use for execution. They are the wrong tool to search for a business model.
The companies that survive longest are the one's that work out what they uniquely can give to the world-not just growth or money but their excellence, their respect for others, or their ability to make people happy. Some call those things a soul.
To me, I would much rather be part of a healthy industry than being the only player in a dead industry.
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