创业前你必须知道的五件事情

译者 hanlin880809

5 Things to Know Before Starting a Business – Part I

创业前你必须知道的5件事情——第一部分

I’ve made some major mistakes in business; this article contains things I wish someone had told me ten years ago.  To thrive in business, you must follow these lessons..

我经商时犯了很多错误；这篇文章包含了我希望在十年前就有人能够提醒我的事情。为了使生意红火，以下提到的教训情你必须好好学习。

真心希望你能从我的教训中有所收获，可能的话还能将这些传递给其他人。

5 Things to Know Before Starting a Business (Lessons I and II):

创业前你必须知道的5件事情（第一课和第二课）：

I. Spend As Little As Possible

I. 尽可能少花费（节流）

Spend as little as possible, but not too little.

尽可能少花费，但不要太吝啬。

Please don’t use credit cards or unsecured debt to start a business!  The same debt that opened the doors to your business may eventually close the doors to your business.  The profit margins on most businesses are so small that you can not afford for those funds to go towards paying off debt.

请不要用信用卡和无担保债务来开始你的创业之旅！同样的债务，在打开你业务的一扇门的同时，最终也将你业务的另外一扇门给关掉了。大部分行业利润率都太小了以至于你甚至不能偿清债务。

With that said, there may be a time when you need to borrow, but your borrowing should be to meet the needs of your expanding customer base, and not from a mind set that says “if I build it, they will come.”

这么说来，可能有那么一次你急需借债，但是你的借款需以你顾客群的增加点为基础，同时请不要抱有“如果我借了，他们就会自然来”的想法。

You can not borrow your way to the top.  You have to create your way to the top.

你不能靠借款来达到高峰，你必须自己开辟通向顶端的道路。

If you have a good business idea, your customers will let you know.  Soon you will expand, and when you borrow, you will be able to easily pay it off.

如果你有一个很好的商业想法，你的顾客会让你知道的。很快你就会扩大你的事业版图，然后当你再去借款的时候，你就能够轻易的解决掉你的债务了。

With this said, you may have to save a good bit of your own money, before you can start your business, but this process will qualify you for success, and ensure that you trust what you’re putting your money into.

也就是说，在你创业之前，你可能必须攒存足够的钱，这个过程将使你有获得成功的资格，同时能保证你充分信任你现在投资的项目。

Additionally, not only should you avoid borrowing until you have the appropriate amount of demand, but you should always look to spend as little as possible.  Spend money from your profits, work to become profitable, and then you can increase your spending.  Buy only what you “must have” to operate the business, and create a plan to create profit as quickly as possible.

此外，你不仅应该在直到你有合适的需要的时候再借贷，同时你也应该节流（向尽量少花费看齐）。从你的利润中划拨开销，让你的工作有利可图，然后你就能增加开销了。在创业期间只买你必须要买的，同时创造一个能尽快创造利润的计划。

Once you’re profitable, you can make more purchases, but even those should be limited to what you need.  Your business should be a “lean, mean, debt reducing machine”.

一旦你有利可图，你就能采购更多的东西，但是即使是这些你也应该将采购范围限制于你所需要的。你的业务应该是一个“苦逼的，债务减少的机器”

II. Don’t Do It for the Money

II. 不要为钱而做

In other words be willing to do it for free.  Work towards your passion!  I started a business in the fitness industry several years ago, and at one point I was planning to purchase two fitness centers.

用另外的话说要心甘情愿去做。将你的激情融入工作！我几年前在健身行业中创业，我还曾一度计划购买两个健身中心。

And although I love working out, a fitness business is not the business for me.  I would not do it for free!  I would not even consider doing it for free.  This is why I know you must follow your passion; don’t do it for the dollars.  What good is making money, if you’re making it while doing something that bores you?  Balance is the key to life.

尽管我喜欢实践，健身行业却并非我的事业。我不是心甘情愿去做的，我甚至从未想过我是在心甘情愿的工作。这就是为什么我知道你必须跟着你的激情走，不要为钱而工作。如果你在从事某些让你烦闷的工作，那你赚钱的益处何在？平衡是生命的关键。

Do work that you would do for free if you are to be truly successful.  I’m sure Michael Jordan would play basketball for free; no one would have to twist his arm to get him on the court.  What would you do for free?  I would write self-development articles for free.  …The e-mails that I receive from people who tell me how their lives are changing, is sufficient enough reason for me to write.

如果你想真正成功，那你就要心甘情愿的去做。我肯定迈克尔.乔丹是甘愿打篮球的；没有人能够强迫他上场。你甘愿做什么呢？我甘愿写自我发展专题……我从别人那里接收到到告诉我他们的生活正在发生怎样的改变的电子邮件，这些已经足够我继续我的写作生涯了。

Although money is important, and a vital necessity in business, if your sole reason for being in business is to make money and not to serve people joyfully, it will be very difficult to have real success.

尽管钱是很重，是从事商业的一个必要条件，但是如果你从事商业的唯一原因是钱而非服务大家开心，那么你很难获得真正的成功。

Lessons III-V will be presented in the next article…

III-V将在下面的文章中详述。