A few tips

Tips for Entrepreneurs

This is a random collection of tips for entrepreneurs.  Join a peer group, get an advisory board, buy a Pocket PC and read more.

Tips for Entrepreneurs

Join a peer group  Find a group of people going through the same experience as you and commit to helping each other. The Young Entrepreneurs Organization (YEO) is a great group but there are many other organizations that support entrepreneurs. If there isn't a chapter in your area, start one. Being able to sit down once or twice a month and talk openly with people who are facing the same challenges you are is really helpful.  (Since I wrote this essay a few years ago I've "aged out" of YEO and now I'm a member of The Young Presidents Organization (YPO) - also a great organization)

Get an advisory board  (Bill, this is even above getting a PDA!)  Having a good outside advisory board can really help.  A good board will bring you experience that you can't afford to hire, they will sanity check your ideas, they will help you make contacts and might even help you raise money.  My board has helped me in so many ways and my company is farther along than we'd ever be without them.  A great board cares as much about you the CEO as they do about the company.  I'll expand on this topic later and cover areas such as board compensation, how to avoid legal liability for your board and other topics that will make creating your own board easier.  Email me if you can't wait.

Get a Palm Pilot or Pocket PC  I've used a Palm Pilot since they were first made by U.S. Robotics, but last year I switched to the Pocket PC. If you like Windows, you'll like the Pocket PC.   Now I keep a great to-do list, my calendar is always with me and I have access to a lot of information that I wouldn't otherwise usually have with me.  I use the memo pad to keep everything from our company financials and historical performance to the names of restaurants in the different cities I visit. 

Read an extra magazine a month  I read a lot where ever I can.  I've got articles and web sites on my Pocket PC for the times where I get stuck somewhere without anything to read.  Lately I've discovered a way to read an extra magazine a month.  I bought a cookbook holder at one of the chain cooking supply stores.  It is a piece of clear plastic designed to hold a cookbook up while protecting it from splashes.  I use it to keep a magazine next to the bathroom sink where I can read while I get ready to go to work in the morning.  It sounds silly but I've read some good articles that I would otherwise not have found time to read.