Advice to young entrepreneurs looking to start their own business.

1. The Johns Hopkins University Business Plan CompetitionApril 28th, 2011 Lessons Learned the Hard Way OR Why Didn’t Anybody Tell Me About This When I Was A Student? Brian Razzaque, WSE 2000

2. Lesson 1: Naming Your Company Acronyms are stupid. Long names are equally stupid. If you can’t get the domain name to match you have a problem. No, .NET, .BIZ, .US, .ETC, doesn’t count, unless you build it into your name. I know how to spell, and your company name should end in an ‘S’ not a ‘Z’. Be prepared to live with your name for a long, long time.

3. Lesson 2: Hype Is Not A Business Plan Cool technology does not translate into revenue generation. Because you can convince an investor otherwise does not mean you have a business model. Being in a hot space and making some money doesn’t mean you can turn that into something scalable.

4. Lesson 3: Avoid Employees at All Costs Employees suck cash. Employees cause headaches. They’re like children. They must be managed. This takes time and resources. They create a need for things like insurance and cause you to have to care about taxes.

5. Lesson 4: Since You Can’t Avoid Employees, Be Prepared To Fire Them See Lesson 3: Employee Suck Cash. Firing is emotionally draining Still needs to be done, doesn’t make you a bad person. Have your documentation ready. Fire when it is in the best interest of the company.

6. Lesson 4: Pay Your Taxes Taxes cannot be avoided and must be paid. Not paying them is expensive. It is also embarrassing. Audits are also expensive But they will happen even if you pay your taxes so be ready.

7. Lesson 5: Manage Your Cash Cash is King. Revenue is not cash. Have sales projections. Have cash flow projections. Have a backup plan for cash. Have a backup plan for your backup plan. Prepare for the worst.

8. Lesson 6: Take Advantage of a Hot Market Read the signs. Position your company. Ride the wave. See Lesson 1: Hype is Not a Business Plan.

9. Lesson 7: If Riding a Bubble, Exit Early Be honest about the fact that you’re riding a bubble. Be prepared to change course when need be. Know what your exit will be.

10. Lesson 8: Learn What it Means to Scale Management needs. Technology needs. Cost of scaling. Supporting Customers.

11. Lesson 9: Sometimes You Need Lawyers People will sue you. You will need to sue people. IP protection costs money. Lawyers are expensive.

12. Lesson 10: Raising Money is Not Easy Money from family and friends is fairly easy, but then you feel guilty if you lose it. Know what you’re asking for and why you need it. Meeting angels requires knowing people and getting out there. You’re probably not ready for VC just yet. You’re probably not asking for enough.

13. Summary Creating a business plan forces you to focus. It can help you raise money. It does not prepare you to run a business. Running a business takes training and or experience. The Center for Leadership could have saved me years of heartache. Being an entrepreneur is fun and rewarding, and harder work than anything else you could ever do in your life.