Here’s a round-up article with contributions from across the U.S. Participants answered the following question:

If you were starting your business over today, what would you do differently?

One thing I would do differently if I were starting my business today would be to make my first hire sooner. Operating on shoestring (and a broken one at that), I originally had to do everything myself. The thrift that made it possible for me to survive and then thrive in the beginning, quickly became a hindrance when I delayed hiring people who could do any number of specific tasks easier, cheaper and far better than I could.
- Barry Maher, www.barrymaher.com

I would endeavor to participate more fully into the ever increasing world of technology and social media. Today you can reach thousands of potential clients at a click of the button. I was slow at engaging in the new advancements. The moment I embraced it, business was affected for the better. I highly recommend all professionals incorporating facebook, twitter and linked in to your business.
- Chantay Bridges, Senior Real Estate Specialist, Clear Choice Realty & Associates, http://losangelesrealestatenow.com

Entrepreneurs are a prideful and confident tribe, so it’s crucial to balance your vision for the business with the needs of your customers. Starting over tomorrow, I’d talk to customers much earlier. They could have helped us refine our idea and better understand the market as a whole and how our product fit in. We finally got this right and now we talk to customers daily. But I’m sure we could have saved some time early on by knowing them a bit better.
- Nick Francis, CEO of Brightwurks, Inc., http://www.helpscout.net

If I were to start my business over again today, I would find a focused market and stick with that decision. I think that my business would have grown quicker if I would have picked a target market and spend the time to tailor my business for that market. Instead of trying to please several markets not knowing which market would be my niche.
- Sally Lee Vickers, Team Powered Success, http://teampoweredsuccess.com

I have a successful website, ccs-digital.com, where I offer website building, search engine optimization and printer cartridges. It has been in existence for almost ten years but did not become truly successful until two years ago when I revamped it and studied search engine optimization (SEO). If I were starting over, I would have taken the site seriously from its inception. I would have had it hosted with a professional host instead of an el cheapo service. I would have had it professionally designed instead of patching it together with my then limited knowledge. Ten years ago I could have been where I am today if I hadn’t taken short cuts. Saving money proved costly.
- Izzy Goodman, President, Complete Computer Services, www.ccs-digital.com

I would contract workers sooner so I could focus on what I do best: connecting with people to build the business. I wouldn’t build a website immediately, but I would connect with more people sooner, and on a larger scale. By having other people helping in the business sooner, it would have allowed me to focus on the business instead of learning one more thing. I believe in doing what I do best, and hiring the rest.
- Tracey Fieber, Retirement Transition & Marketing to Boomers Consultant, www.NewFaceofRetirement.com

Before I started my company I learned about two types of marketing from MBA school. Push versus Pull. Push is where you define the product & see if people will buy. Pull requires listening to what the market wants, and then build it.

The Instructor recommended both strategies, but if I started all over, I would employ only a Pull strategy. Our Push strategy caused us to spend 50% of our time educating clients as to why they needed our product. In contrast a Mom asked if I knew how to teach kids how to make computer games, I put some classes together and taught over 300 10 year olds how to make computer games our first year in business.
- Ted Jordan, STEM program mgr Funutation Tekademy LLC, www.funutation.com

As a Business Consultant and Executive Coach, it wasn’t until recently, when began studying marketing that I realized I wish I had started an online newsletter, e-zine as some call it, at the beginning of my career. Having a newsletter affords you so many opportunities, most importantly it:

* Captures the name and e-mail address of all the potential prospects you come across within your niche!
* Gives you a way to stay connected, so that you can provide the 7 -10 touches someone needs before they buy from you.
* Allows you the opportunity to build the KNOW, LIKE and TRUST elements so important to these potential clients. This way, when they do buy, there is retention and respect built into the relationship from the get-go

No matter what business my clients happen to be in, one of the very first things I have them do, is to sign-up, and learn to deliver a smashing newsletter. There’s a learning curve, but my oh my what phenomenal ROI you will derive from this en-devour! Andrew Carnegie, the wealthy steel mogul said once, something to the matter of, I may loose my steal mill, my land and everything I own, but if I have my customers base, I have everything I need to rebuild. I can’t say enough how important it is to take the time to learn to build, create and deliver a superb e-mail marketing newsletter. It could literally mean millions to you. It has to others, that’s why I’m so motivated to do it myself, and teach others along the way.
- Sue Porter, Owner/CEO, www.AccidentalLeader.com

I would not be hesitant to ask friends and family to invest in the
business as well as for some help. I started my business on a true shoe string budget and did everything myself. Had I just asked many would have helped from day one and would definitely have moved the business along faster in the startup stage.
- Michael C. Podlesny, Owner, Mike the Gardener Enterprises, LLC
http://www.averagepersongardening.com

I would find a mentor right at the beginning… someone that’s been there done that! I was so naive and did absolutely everything by trial and error!
- Joy Gendusa, Founder and CEO, www.postcardmania.com

If I was beginning my business all over again, there are 2 things I would do from the very start. First, get a professional looking web presence up and running immediately. Make sure your logo design and collateral materials are professionally done. And ALWAYS double-check your communication to potential clients for typos! You will never command the fees you deserve without a professional presence. Of course, you must also deliver a quality product – but that’s another topic.

The second thing I should have done is hire someone to handle new business development. Although I’m passionate about my innovation business and feel that I’m the best one to explain what we do and how we do it, the bottom line is that when I’m involved in executing a project, I’m not on the phone or doing presentations to generate sales. This has led to several ups and downs in my business over the years. The big lesson here is to put a strong sales process in place to keep projects coming through the door. Without sales, you have no business, just a lot of worry.
- Sandie Glass, Sandstorm inc., Founder, Partner, Chick of the Planet,
http://www.sandstormideas.com

If I was starting my business from scratch I would spend more time working on keeping my current clients satisfied rather than driving sales through a system that was not yet ready to handle the influx of new business. I started Advantage Payroll Services, one of several companies I operate, in 1996. I printed checks on an old dot-matrix printer and used boxes as a desk in a storage room with my mother as my first employee. I was so focused on getting new clients that our core service suffered.

We have since learned many lessons and are the envy of the northeast based on our client retention and attention to detail. Those first two years would have been better if I focused on what I had, not what I wanted to attain.
- Rob Basso, President, Advantage Payroll Services, www.InstantPayroll.com

If I was starting my business over, one of the things I would definitely do differently is working on finding a qualified and savvy assistant right from the start. Often times companies, especially new and small businesses, are hesitant to hire anyone or outsource anything. This is understandable since money is often tight. I’ve learned, however, that if you truly hire the right person, the value they add is likely to pay off in expedited business growth and profitability. Just a note to remember though – while you shouldn’t hesitate to hire a qualified assistant as soon as you can, you should never rush into your hiring decision. Remember the value is in choosing the right employee for your business. They need to be thoroughly qualified.
- Melissa Cenker, Melissa Cenker Consulting Marketing and Media Relations, www.facebook.com/melissacenkerconsulting

Don’t be afraid of hard choices, and make them sooner rather than later! When I started FlexJobs, I realized that our conventional revenue model wasn’t working well a few months into the business. But it took us another 6 months before we made a very difficult and unconventional decision to flip-flop our revenue model to charge consumers rather than businesses. By taking this hard but creative leap, we experienced many upsides, including the ability to really demonstrate that job-seekers are our number one priority, and as a result weve continued to grow and thrive as a business. If I were to start my business over today, I would have forced myself to make the decision more quickly and gotten us on the right track that much sooner!
- Sara Sutton Fell, CEO of FlexJobs.com

Starting a business today is hard. If I had to do it all over I would start with a partner. Someone to give fresh ideas and also share the load of owning a small business. There are so many parts to a business that can get overwhelming that starting one by yourself is one of the hardest things to do. It can be really rewarding but also very frustrating and draining at times. A partner in any business will help in so many ways. This way you don’t have to be the cook and bottlewasher, so to speak. In my practice I have found that I am the only one covering overhead, running meetings, setting up relationships and treating patients. With a partner all of the work gets cut in half but the profits double.
- Dr. Greg Pursley, Owner of Pursley Chiropractic, www.drpursley.com