New Side Hustle or Startup Heres Some Straight Talk You Shouldnt Miss

New Side Hustle or Startup Heres Some Straight Talk You Shouldnt Miss A while back (okay, it might have been two whiles ago . . .), I had this great idea for a new business. When I shared it with a friend, she promptly shot it full of holes. Mind you, she had never tried to do anything but a nine-to-five.   Which is fine, but not the path that many of us aspire to.   Point is, as a budding entrepreneur, pondering a new side hustle or startup,   the last thing you need is a naysayer. On the other hand, any sensible person does want valid and helpful criticism. If youre thinking the answer is somewhere in the middle, be forewarned.   Theres also more than a few who either like your idea and want in on it, or have a great idea of their own.   And theyre going to rah, rah, rah you more than you can imagine.   Because its YOUR money they want to spend. Ive been a serial entrepreneur most of my adult life.   Even when Ive been engaged in such varied occupations as Stock Broker and Sales Rep for an automotive equipment company, Ive always been either working on or on the hunt for my own ventures.    Ive learned a few things along the way about what works and what doesnt.   So if youre considering a new side hustle or startup, perhaps these seven tips will help you plot a better path to success. Good Advice:   Its Called Due Diligence Much of the advice youll find out there boils down to one must-do:   do your due diligence.   To that general admonition Id add forget about the gurus.   The vast majority of them peddle commonly available information that varies in quality from age-old sage wisdom to plain snake oil.   Once youre beyond the due diligence stage, heres what my adventures in business, and my mother, have   taught me. The Golden Rule is Still The Golden Rule. Yes, treat others the way you want to be treated.   Whether its your customer, your employee, your partner, or your suppliers, deal with them in the same ways that youd want to be dealt with if the roles were reversed. Patience Pays Dividends. Once you have your goals clearly established, constant progress towards them is far more important than the speed at which youre traveling.   Keep it in perspective my reminding yourself to look back at how far youve come, not just how far there is yet to go. Success Isnt Just About You. Recognize and reward those around   you who contribute to your success.    IMHO, loathsome is the CEO who gloats they wouldnt be here without me.   I can assure you, the leader who embraces I couldnt have done this without them has a very different kind of smile on their face when they go to bed each night. Decide to Make A Positive Difference. From Steve Jobs to the smallest business owner, the message thats common to virtually everyone at the end of the journey is the same.   What really matters isnt the size of your bank account or the number of vacation homes you own.   Its the number of lives you touched and changed. Let Go Of I will be happy when . . . Dont buy into the elusive fantasy of future happiness.   It doesnt exist.   Happiness only exists in the here and now.   Believe otherwise and youll find yourself as the runner in a never-ending marathon.   Let yourself be happy now, and dont forget to spread it around. Stay Flexible and Willing to Compromise In our world of connections, its easy to focus only on the shortest distance between two points.   But there are multiple paths that lead to the same destination.   Life is such that its highly unlikely youll be on the route you imagine at the outset.   Be open to adjustments, to compromises that might look   different than you planned, but might be just what you need. Ask Better Questions The questions you ask yourself will determine the course of your life. Why not ask better questions? What if you asked What would I do and love every day even if I were failing?   Youll be far happier, now, if youre doing what you love rather than living a life of drudgery in pursuit of some imagined future happiness. Want A Compendium of Good Advice?   Here it is. If you want to get more specific business advice, there are literally thousands of websites and books out there offering their advice on how you should start and run a business.   And then there are those gurus I mentioned.    Most of them want to sell you more stuff or coaching or some wonder program that guarantees your success. Truth is, those who have been successful at creating a business, large or small, have learned its all about the same core issues, values, and habits. I recently had the opportunity to review a new book out, and its quite unlike anything Ive come across before.   Straight Talk for Startups brings together the best of the best bits of advice and insights to help you succeed.   Structured as 100 Insider Rules for beating the odds, there no way you can read this book and not benefit.   Surely no one will adopt all 100, but its a fishbowl of winning tickets and any handful you pick will enrich you and your business. Launching A New Side Hustle or Startup?   The Future IS Yours To Create. Whether you heed my shared thoughts or grab the book and embrace its jewels of wisdom, one thing is clear.   Five or ten or twenty years is going to get here.   More quickly than you think.   And heres my final tip:   That future time doesnt care what your world looks like when you get there. Its up to you.   Why not take that budding new side hustle or startup idea and make something wonderful?