Being an entrepreneur is hard, and being a first-time entrepreneur is harder still. It’s also rewarding, especially if you like to solve lots of tough problems and learn from lots of mistakes. During my first year in business, I’ve met some truly amazing people in Seattle’s startup and HR communities and have been blown away by their generosity. As a one-time vs. serial entrepreneur, I want to share what I’ve found helpful as well as surprising. If you’re starting your first company or doing your first stint as a member of a startup leadership team, I guarantee you’ll find at least one thing here that will save you some time and make you more effective.

Be On Your Business Not In Your Business

I credit my mentors at EO Seattle for repeating this mantra until it stuck. If you’re working as a member of the team, it’s really hard to lead that team, and if you’re doing business, it’s hard to run the business. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be hands-on, and it doesn’t mean you can’t be scrappy. It does mean you’ll want to recognize when and how to pull yourself out of the fray so you can be on the balcony and look at your company from thirty thousand feet. The first responsibilities you want to delegate are administration and operations; things like accounting, legal, finance, and HR. That will prepare you to let go of control later when it’s time to hire experts to lead Sales, Marketing, Product, etc. Use your leadership superpowers and delegate the rest.

Keep Saying No

Most of us don’t prioritize well, and even if you do, it’s hard to turn down opportunities that can lead to good work and revenue early on. When you come across something that’s peripheral to your core business, you might think “This doesn’t cost me anything…” but don’t forget to include your time and energy when measuring cost. One rule of thumb is to ask yourself “If I had $1MM in revenue, is this something I would say yes to?” If you’re considering a new product, service, or partnership, take a very careful look at the opportunity cost. Is it going to distract you and your team? Distraction is dangerous! It can make your team feel schizophrenic. Will it confuse your customers? Use your mission and vision to stay on course, and don’t be afraid to say no early and often.

Nothing Sells Itself

If you’re lucky, you had a strong launch with plenty of referrals and generated lots of business through word of mouth. That’s a great start, but don’t assume it’s going to continue. I’m an optimist by nature, but I realized over time that to sustain and grow the company we needed to figure out sales and business development in a big way. This means making time to sell, especially when you don’t think you need to. It’s about keeping the funnel full. If you just landed a big client, congratulations! Do you have a replacement when that project winds down or if the customer falls through? Think ahead, sell proactively, and never assume the next piece of business will fall in your lap.

Give Stuff Away

Many entrepreneurs start out knowing nothing about sales, myself included. I’ve spent plenty of time with members of my team looking across the room at each other saying “We’re HR professionals, how do we approach business development?” We’ve done a lot of brainstorming, and come up with a few ideas. There’s no way we could have done it on our own. I’ve spent time with lots of people who do business development for a living. I’m always looking for tips and techniques that fit with who we are: relationship-based, long-term, not overly salesy. The approach that’s resonated with me most is to give things away. Offer your time to non-profits, mentor people who are just starting out, give a talk, post free resources on your website. Call it karma or just good business, we’ve found this is the best way to build genuine connections with people whose values align with ours.

Don’t Plan for Year One

You know the stats on small business failure. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA) close to 66% of small businesses will survive their first two years. Only about one-third of total businesses will fail during the first two years. The SBA also states that about 50% of businesses fail during the first year. Yes, year one is important, but be careful not to wave the victory flag after crossing your one year anniversary. You’re not out of the woods yet. A relatively easy and highly successful year one can be misleading. If you had a good year, figure out how to do even better in year two. Consider what you should start, stop, and continuing doing. Do a SWOT analysis to identify strengths and threats. Set your goals higher, and ask the team how you can exceed them.