Thriving and Surviving as an Entrepreneur

Here are four crucial lessons I’ve learned over the past 20+ years in hopes that I’m able to help other entrepreneurs thrive and survive on this entrepreneurial roller coaster.

“Nos” are rarely personal
I’ve been selling for over half my life and initially, I took professional rejection personally, as if the client didn’t like Jay Kana.  Realizing that sales decisions are almost always based on fit, finance and time made it easier to move forward opposed to dwelling on the “no.”
Simply put - get used to failure; it'll happen a lot. What you learn and retain from it will helps shape the success of your business.
Know that almost always, if it’s not currently in the client’s best interest, they’ll say no to anyone asking them.

Know your market landscape
Since launching in 2015, the publishing world has changed tremendously. How, when and where people consume information is researched weekly to help keep me moving forward.
With a projected 80% of online content being consumed in via video by 2019, I’ve drastically increased my video content as of mid-2017.
Thoroughly understand your demographics and psychographics and research what changes are happening in that world as a spectrum of variables can alter that.
Understanding your competition is crucial. What separates you from them? Why do people want your product over theirs? How you can be innovative to increase your audience?

Be open to asking for help
I’m fortunate to have incredibly intelligent and honest people surrounding my entrepreneurial journey.
They’ve made rough patches smooth and put exclamation points on my successes. 
I’ve been advised to go east instead of west, even though I thought west was the best way. The problem with staying closed-off is you won’t see the entire landscape and opportunities ahead and having a fully researched decision helps you make the correct one.
Asking for help/advice/guidance is the furthest thing from a “weakness.” Having outside perspectives are critical to keep your ship afloat, in motion and in the right direction.

Understand financial management
I’ve run a lean operation since day one to keep costs and low and cash-flow moving.  I didn’t need an office, the latest CRM tools, expensive cards, a huge staff, etc.  I needed consistency, quality and an always-in-motion cash flow, which I achieved on a smart, realistic budget and constantly fine-tuned forecasting.
Without learning the basics, cash flow will certainly destroy you, regardless of how great your sales/revenue are.  
Got a million dollars coming in daily? Great!  But two million is going out daily.
Create your financial plan, then re-do it then re-do again with tweaks, then see the point above.
And of course, have an accountant you fully trust.