This is a guest post from James Cain, a local entrepreneur here in Hawaii. James has over 20 years of experience in Hawaii's unique business environment. He was nice enough to share some of his insight on how to successfully run a business here on our blog.
In all my years of starting businesses I have learned a lot. I started my first business when I was 18 which I sold two years later. The profits from that were used to start my second business which went on to grow to over 100 employees and 5 different locations. I've always enjoyed starting business because it fit in with my lifestyle. Plus I like new challenges.
There are a few things I've learned that I feel are important to the success of any business. The first is good management. You always want to surround yourselves with people who have a gift at managing. This can go a long way towards motivating your employees.
The second is proper business insurance. Most people underestimate how important business insurance is. One thing I learned early on is to always prepare for the unexpected. I didn't realize this in the beginning and I learned the hard way not to make that mistake again. With my second business I didn't skimp on insurance I'm very thankful I made that decision.
The final piece of advice I have is to track everything when it comes to marketing. Most people spend marketing dollars but have no idea whether they're getting a return or not. Always track whether those dollars are turning into sales. Most people get so excited to market their business that they overlook this one important fact. Spend the time to set up a tracking system and the results will pay dividends.
To your success,
James
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