I was always interested in business as a kid, and I knew I would become an entrepreneur one day. What I didn't realize was that becoming an entrepreneur entails much more than just starting a business.
When I moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, back in 1997, I wanted to start a T-shirt business. I borrowed $30,000 from friends and family and found a location to lease in the center of downtown. I spent days completing paperwork and nights doing the tenant finishes, and I screen-printed T-shirts in between. I hired two employees, and it took me about two months to get the store up and running. It was a fun business, but I quickly realized I didn't have the knowledge that I needed to be successful as a business owner.
That experience eventually catapulted me into the hotel industry and then into real estate and inspections. Here are the mistakes I made along the way and the valuable lessons I learned during my entrepreneurial journey.
1. Leverage a proven operating system.
During my time running the T-shirt business, there were many aspects-such as accounting, human resources, and contract negotiations with vendors and suppliers-that I truly didn't understand. I didn't hire the appropriate people to help me, because I thought I could do it myself. Also, I dreamed about opening several more locations before I even got the first one going. A year and a half after opening, I realized I was going nowhere. I sold the store for what I had originally put into it.
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