100 trivial things I’ve learned over the last 10 years - Part 1

1. Most people think business owners are rolling in money.
2. Most business owners are rolling in debt.
3. I am unemployable.  I always think I’m smarter than my bosses and that some of them may be full of BS.
4. Don’t answer your business phone line during the first 2 weeks after getting your business license. They’re mostly telemarketers.
5. No, I don’t need another credit card processor….
6. How many types of yellow pages are there?
7. I should have hired a bookkeeper right from the start.
8. Things always take twice as long when you need it the most.
9. Having a business is sometimes a 24-hr/day job
10. There are only 24 hrs in a day.
11. Water coolers can turn into waterfalls when accessible to toddlers.
12. Toddlers think thermal label printers are wonderful giant sticker dispensers.
13. It is possible to cover your entire desk with label stickers.
14. It is almost impossible to remove label stickers from a glass desk.
15. Never compete based on price alone.
16. Extreme bargain-hunters tend to be one of the most demanding (and sometimes unpleasant) customers.
17. No matter how much money they spend with you, some customers are just not worth having.
18. I hate it when people write on the back of my business cards.
19. Don’t put your cell phone number on your business cards.
20. Just because you can print your own business cards on your home printer, doesn’t mean you should.
21. It’s not worth doing payroll yourself. Spend the extra $50 per pay period and let somebody else do it.
22. When you lose money, you’ve only lost money.  When you lose time, you’ve lost part of your life.
23. People don’t usually read the information that you try to put RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM.
24. Having a REAL business is not for the weak of heart.
25. Pay your employees well.
26. Take a nap.
27. When you have a hundred orders to fill, irate customers to pacify, and materials to reorder…your kids still have to eat….at least 3 times a day.
28. Marriott Residence Inn is the best place to stay at when you want to keep everyone together and you’re traveling with 3-4 adults & 2 toddlers.
29. Sheraton has some niiiiiice pillows.
30.” Free Continental Breakfast” at most motels usually means cheap cold pastries.
31. Most hotels in Las Vegas will make you walk at least 5 miles before you get to your room.
32. There are people gambling 24 hrs a day in Las Vegas.
33. It costs about $5,000 to exhibit in a trade show (that’s tradeshow fees for 1 booth, lodging, transportation, food, etc).
34. Most trade shows are a waste of money.
35. When you’re exhibiting at trade shows, most people that work for magazine publications will tell you they would like to do a story on your company, or your stuff is really cool,you’re drop dead gorgeous….and that you really need to advertise in their magazine before they can publish any of what they just said.
36. Most magazine publications will tell you that you need to advertise at least 5 million times before the customer starts to recognize your company.
37. At trade shows, people will stop by your booth and pretend to be interested in your stuff if you’re giving away chocolate.
38. At trade shows, only people actually interested in your stuff will stop by your booth if you’re giving away Tic Tacs.
39. Almost half of the people that work in restaurants smoke pot.
40. I don’t know how pot smells like.
41. Some parents will actually demand for you to give their lazy teenagers a job.
42.Some parents will actually call in sick for their lazy teenagers’ shifts.
43. A finger that needs to be amputated will be okay with a few Band Aids when there is a drug test involved.
44. Don’t ever buy into a franchise that has less than 10 company owned stores.
45. The average restaurant profit margin is 5% when times are good.
46. Being a chef is overrated.
47. Most people that call themselves chefs have huge egos (watch Top Chef).
48. There are companies out there that will call you saying they would like to do a segment on your company to air on major TV networks (i.e. Discovery Channel, Oxygen Network, etc.), but you have to pay $9,000-12,000 for the licensing fee. That’s a scam.
49. Getting TV coverage from real companies is free.
50. People like free stuff.