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Please don't tell me that it is "hard-working". I certainly want to play it intelligent.

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I hope that doesn't mean that you don't want to work hard - that would pretty much guarantee failure. Unfortunately you are going to have to find out for yourself the answer. Each person's experience is different. Each person's strengths and weaknesses are different. – TimJ♦ Jul 20 '10 at 18:49

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Hard work is usually necessary, but not the key. More important to be able to leverage yourself with smart use of paid resources (employees, contractors, eLance, etc). Most critical is honing in on the right market need. Providing something of value to a reasonably sized an active market, with proper positioning vs. competitors is important. Next is usually managing cash flow/allocation of resources. Finally being aware and agile, persistent and caring to really solve your customer needs is a pretty reliable formula for success. Yes, it takes hard work too.

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  1. Empower your employees
  2. Do not micro manage
  3. Communicate every day
  4. Complaints are your best friend, use them to improve
  5. Know when someone is not right for their position. You cannot make a square block fit in a round whole. Either reposition them or lay them off. (Hire the right people would fall here too)

Most important... Have a vision and keep it fresh in your employees minds.

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Managing is about orchestrating resource on a focus in a way that drives results. So a quick check list

  • Hiring the right people
  • Having the right tools
  • Planning so it is achievable
  • Having the right goal
  • Then the orchestration which includes communication with your people

    I’m sure there is a lot more but I figure I’d just put down some basics.

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