Editor

By Gillian Muessig (Co-Founder & President, SEOmoz) I began my company in 1982 and raised three children under my desk. The youngest will tell you the color of the blanket on which he napped under that desk, so I'm being literal here. I set up shop as a marketing and graphic design consultant (read: glorified unemployed). I was determined to raise the children myself, rather than farm them out to daycare and nannies, so I set ground rules for my business activities that naturally hampered the growth and prosperity of the company. I knew what I was trading off, but I set up the company entity and took in jobs as I was able. I just got on with it.

Regardless of what hampers your ability to get into business today, just do it. Form your corporation, set up the paperwork and begin. The longer you wait, the more easily your dream of building a company will slip from your fingers.

Fire Your Lowest Value Customers

Because I was consulting, often with an infant in one arm and a briefcase in the other, I took on only those clients who were comfortable with that scenario and I often made price concessions to accommodate the unusual arrangement. As the children grew, so did the company. And with the growth of a real company, the price I charged needed to grow as well. If you're starting out as a consultant or do any consulting as part of your business, fire your 4 lowest performing clients every year. If you're selling products or services on a more scalable basis, still look at your lowest performing customers and consider how to either make them more profitable or fire them and focus on the highly profitable groups. You cannot be all things to all people. Focus.