Mark Choon

I’m sure there are more but here’s what you can start off with:
 

1) Do something that you like or passionate about.
Working in a career that you don’t like is already a big chore and pain the behind. Save yourself the pain from starting a business in something that you don’t like doing. It pays huge rewards in doing something you are passionate about. Your passion in doing what you like translates into better customer service and quality.

2) Treat customers not as customers but your (good) friends.
This can’t be more true as when you relate to a customer as a friend, you will give better service and be more attentive to your “friend’s” needs. This translates to more customers as your “friend” will recommend your products and services to his friends. Businesses that grow through word of mouth are on the fast track to success! Excellent customer service leads to a healthy reputation and free advertising as well.

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3) Make sure the “bad or difficult” customer goes home happy.
Many times, “demanding” or “bad” customers definitely will turn up in the course of doing business. If you want even more recurring customers, make sure that customer is happy at the end of the day. The positive impact that you leave on the “bad” customer is much much more convincing that you are providing the best effort and service that you can and that you are responsible. This also translates to a better reputation and more future business.
 

4) Be humble.
No matter who your customers seem like to you at first, big, small, tiny or fat, always be humble. You never know what you’d learn from them. Who knows, they might have been a big boss of a big corporate company or they have connections to a potential market that you want to expand into.
 

5) Be firm in your decisions
Do not be wishy washy as this projects an image of uncertainty and low confidence to your partners, workers and customers. Of course, prior to any decision making, gather your necessary facts and figures! Just don’t sway when one side says this and then one side says that.
 

6) Seek business mentors
If you’ve not started or been involved in any form of business, ask for referrals from friends or relatives to people whom they know are bosses (and are doing well of course!). Ask these bosses politely if you can seek advice from them. Often than not, these people will be helpful unless you catch them at their busiest time. Even if you get rejected by some, keep on asking others. The lessons learnt from experienced business owners will greatly shorten your learning curve. And who knows, through asking, you can build business relationships at the same time.
 

7) Persevere
You need to persevere and strive on, no matter the difficulty that you encounter. You and your business will grow from the experience. Do not give up on the business too easily as most of the time, the best deal lies a few steps from the point that you feel like giving up.
 

Take ownership
As a boss, you must take ownership of everything related to your business. If that means working extra longer hours with your employees, do it! This sets a very good example to your workers and that you are willing to sweat it out when it is required.
 

9) Build your team
If you started alone (a 1 man business), it is best to find capable people to help you do work that is repetitive for you. This saves a lot of money in the long run as your time can be spent on more higher value activities. If you have a team in place, do not overlook their growth. Do your best to make sure that their experience, value and worth increases.
 

10) Keep on learning and researching
You need to stand out from your competitors and what better way to do that than to further improve your product or service. More value added products or services translates into more customers and higher profits. Many processes can also be improved and be more efficient. Improvements in technology from related industries also will affect how your product and/or services fare in the market place.