Starting and Owning a Business—What I Would and Wouldn’t Do Again

I recently received the following request from a person I am mentoring who is starting her own personal training studio: “I’d like to hear about your experiences starting and owning a business—what you would/wouldn’t do again, and what you wish you knew then that you know now.”

That's a great question. I told her so and that I can probably turn it into an article. That's actually one of the things I wish I had known when I started my first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth businesses, leverage, or multiplying the power of your work. If you do something, how can you use it in different ways, multiplying its power and effectiveness?

Don’t let the number of businesses scare you off. It’s been a great ride and the businesses didn’t all fail. Three did, two outright and the other just didn’t make enough money to support my partner and me at a time when we both needed the support. Two of them made some money and were sold for a further profit. The sixth was rolled into the seventh when I joined with my current business partner to expand, and after four and a half years we made a conscious decision to learn more and change the seventh from a business that just supported us into one that made an actual profit. Add two more years and that one is now growing and paying us while funding its own further growth. It is also allowing us to start the eighth together and the ninth on my own. It does get a little confusing. And none of this even takes into account the lawn mowing, candy selling, and writing reports with my best friend back in high school.

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Sturdy McKee is CEO of san francisco sport and spine physical therapy and JDSM Medical Management. He can be found at www.JDSMManagement.com.