Here are a few things that I know for sure:

• We’re more afraid of success than failure. Why? We generally know failure. We must know it to be in business for ourselves. Success, on the other hand, is uncharted territory. It changes things, and although we have the internal butterflies of hope and excitement about what’s to come, we also can’t help but feel a little uncertain and afraid of the unknown.
• We know what we need to do to succeed. We simply avoid it. Sometimes we avoid it out of fear of success or failure. Sometimes we avoid it because it seems too simple (solutions, in our minds, should be more complex). Other times, even if we hate to admit it, we avoid it out of laziness or because we’d rather be doing other things, like hanging out on social networks or surfing the web. No, we know what we need to be doing, but success comes by having the discipline and courage to actually do it.
• It’s not about the office supplies. I used to visit Office Depot probably once a week in search of that end-all, be-all solution for getting my business off the ground. It had to be there (right?) in all those reams of colorful paper and all those organizational systems. If I could just bring more order to my office, I thought, I would surely succeed. I visit the office supply store about twice a year now, after finally realizing that the solution isn’t there, and if there needs to be order, it’s probably internal and is more mental than physical.
• It is possible to bootstrap it. Just as we want that complex solution (so we avoid the simple and obvious route in search of it), we also want it to cost a fortune (more avoidance). In the past six months, I’ve conducted probably 100 interviews with entrepreneurs and small business owners, and while there were a few (very few) occasions where they suggested having enough initial financing to get a business off the ground, most entrepreneurs shared stories of starting on a shoestring and using cost-effective promotion techniques (like the media, word-of-mouth and content marketing) to build their companies.
• We must take care of ourselves. As business owners, this is usually the one we struggle with most, but taking care of ourselves is vital to the success of our companies. Balancing the demands of a business and a life can be challenging, and some would say that it’s an impossible feat, but somewhere around those demands, we have to make room for our own needs. It’s not the easiest thing to do, especially when there are deadlines and clients to please and promotional efforts to be done. At the end of the day, there are not enough hours, but kind of like an athlete maintains his or her health in order to perform at the highest level, we must do the same.
• Entrepreneurs and small business owners are a helpful bunch. I can’t imagine that a more helpful group exists out there than entrepreneurs and small business owners. Nowhere else will you see one business owner help another before he helps himself. When you first go into business for yourself, competition is the word that sticks out in your mind, but eventually, you begin to love seeing other businesses succeed, and instead of feeling envious, you feel inspired.
• Our businesses can’t be a state secret. It’s funny now to think about how little promotion I wanted to do for my business in the beginning; it was so intimidating and nerve-racking. Now, I’ll tell anyone who’ll listen. In the beginning, marketing and promotion have that ick-factor associated with them, but over time, you come to appreciate the value of your own products and services, but even when you come to appreciate it, that doesn’t mean everyone knows about it. We have to be willing to put ourselves out there and tell the world about our businesses.

I think the biggest lessons I’ve learned are not the most obvious ones; they’re not the ones I thought I needed to know, nor are they the ones that can be learned from a book. Those lessons (the ones where someone says, “Here’s how you promote your business through the media,” or “Here’s how you do social or in-person networking.”), those are the easy ones. The hardest lessons for me have been the ones I’ve had to learn on my own the hard way, through trial-and-error and candid looks in the mirror.

What business lessons do you know for sure?

Photo by Flickr user txd, licensed under CC 2.0

If I had it to do it over again, here are the things I would have done differently.

1. I would have avoided the billable-hour trap. I have no doubt, if I had things to do over again, I would have created more automated and group-centric sources of income from the very start. I would not have made one-on-one services such a big part of my revenue. I think setting a business up that way limits how far you can go and eventually burns you out. On top of that, in many cases, you can provide the same services that you would provide one-on-one in other ways and reach the same result. For example, instead of provide one-on-one consulting or coaching, you could provide a group program or membership site.
2. I would have set up and maintained a steady content stream. No matter what the business, online or brick-and-mortar, creating online content is a great way to promote it and generate leads. Every single contact and client who has found me over the past few years has done so through content I’ve created online. Just a few days ago, in fact, someone contacted me and mentioned articles I had written several years ago, so that content is still serving me today.
3. I would have found a balance between creating content around “my voice” and “guest voices.” It hasn’t been until this most recent year that I’ve seen the real value in balancing my own voice with those of people who share similar views and goals. Each of us has something unique to offer in the way of creating content: Our voices (our unique way of putting things and relating to others), as well as our unique blend of experiences and expertise. By bringing other voices to the table, you have greater depth and more to offer. You also get the added benefit of a connection with the other expert, which has so much potential — joint ventures, partnerships, referral relationships, extra promotion, cheerleaders for your business, and much more.
4. I would have set some boundaries for myself and my business. I would have decided from the very beginning where I was going to draw the line with clients and other service providers so that I didn’t set myself up to be taken advantage of and to be a doormat. Knowing what I know now and knowing how this can actually equate to greater success and more opportunities, I would have been less prone to take any and every job or client that came my way.
5. I would have worried more about passion than profit (knowing now that the money will follow) Now I can see that when I’m connected to a bigger purpose for my life and business, things just begin falling into place and synchronizing, so if I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t chase down opportunities strictly for financial reasons. I would be much more interested in following an intention for my business and allowing the money to follow.

The mistakes I’ve made over time have led me to where I am today. I wouldn’t change those things, but if I wanted to start a new business, I would apply the lessons I’ve learned so that I could save myself those missteps from earlier days.

If you had it to do over, what would you do differently in your business?  What lessons learned the hard way would you apply to a new business today?

Photo by Flickr user Corey Leopold, licensed under CC 2.0

1. Lance Armstrong: Be disciplined. No business will succeed without a lot of hard work and discipline. Commit to it. Stick with it. Eventually, you’ll reach your destination.
2. Paula Deen: Be yourself (and be bold about it). You will naturally succeed if you build a base of followers who are naturally attracted to your personality. Don’t worry about being liked by everybody. Just let your own unique personality shine through.
3. Mr. Rogers: Be positive. I can’t imagine making it in business without a whole lot of optimism.
4. Ellen Degeneres: Have fun. The daily grind, even when you work for yourself, can be dull at times. Doing something you love, surrounding yourself with clients and connections that energize you, and taking time to appreciate the good things in life make it all worthwhile, and who doesn’t enjoy a good laugh every once in a while?
5. Bill Cosby: Keep learning. I used to be so intimidated by what I didn’t know. But I’ve come to realize that such a list is endless, so I just continue to work at it, and I learn more and more each day about how to build a successful business.
6. Carol Burnett: Be creative. Sometimes you have to improvise. You figure it out, and you come to enjoy the journey.
7. Oprah: Build a platform. To succeed in business, you have to have a group of people who believe in you, who want to hear what you have to say, and who want to support you in everything you do.
8. Jim Carrey & Steve Carell: Don’t take it all so seriously. You’re going to mess up, and you will look silly on occasion. Learn to be OK with that.
9. Maya Angelou: Be resilient. Things will not always be easy, but if you refuse to give up and keep bouncing back, they manage to work themselves out.

Just like certain words bring to mind certain products or companies, certain celebrities make me think of lessons or traits I hope to apply within my business.

Do any lessons or traits come to mind when you think of certain celebrities?

Image from Flickr by j a r r o d

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Definitely an attractive proposition, and one which I can think of many uses for in terms of web working applications. But in practice, what are WiZiQ’s limitations? Could I, for instance, monetize the service, and offer lessons created with WiZiQ as part of a subscription or pay-per-lesson model?

First of all, it’s clear that WiZiQ is designed with live interaction in mind. It features an extensive scheduling system, and allows you to comb your network of contacts to invite participants to join your sessions. Of course, to participate, potential students/instructors must first sign up for a WiZiQ account. Once set up, users can upload all kinds of documents, including PowerPoint presentations, to supplement their teaching.

Sessions feature a whiteboard which can be used by all participants. The whiteboard is for live writing and drawing, and live audio and/or video feeds can be used for communication between teachers and participants. Classroom control can be shifted to anyone participating, at the discretion of the instructor/moderator.

When I signed up, I was asked about my purposes in using the service, and about what subjects I was interested in teaching (since I indicated that I wanted to use it for teaching). The categories available led me to believe that at least one of the purposes of WiZiQ was to supplement actual, accredited education, meaning that profs or high school teachers could opt to use a free WiZiQ classroom to enhance or replace a physical one.

Since that seems to be the case, it seems that you can use the service as a platform for subscription or paid lessons, but there’s no way to automate this process using WiZiQ, meaning that you’ll have to set up those details on your own elsewhere between you and your clients.

WiZiQ is useful even if you’re not looking to sell your services. There’s a wide variety of free, public lessons available, and if you’re goal is to become a subject matter expert in your particular field, there are worse ways to go about it. My only concern is that you don’t reach a huge audience through WiZiQ, since the main benefit is live interaction, which obviously how many people you can reach. Still, you can archive and make available for review all of your recorded lessons.

The site is also a handy networking and scouting tool. Through it, you can meet other professionals working in the same field as yourself. That’s good for professional development, or, if you happen to be a headhunter or employer, you can use WiZiQ to find potential employees or contractors.

Some people might be overwhelmed by WiZiQ, since, despite the relatively simple tools it uses, it asks for a lot of information and actually more closely resembles a full-fledged social network than a collaborative web app. Still, it could be a nice, free addition to your web working arsenal.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• Content Farms: The Players, The Benefits, The Risks