When you're a small business swimming in a sea of big fish, one of your best advantages can be your customer service. While large corporations are sending their customers through a maze of automated messages when they have service issues, small business owners have a better chance of providing that one-on-one attention to make a customer feel like more than just a number.

How you treat people, and show them that they are important and their business is valued, may be the one reason a customer decides to give you their business over one of your small competitors as well. 

​Gary Vaynerchuk is one of the most well-known entrepreneurial personalities on the internet. His all-out hustle, coupled with an in-your-face (NSFW), no B.S. style has led him to where he is today. Whether he's rockin' a white t-shirt and jeans with a fresh pair of Vans into a Fortune 500 company boardroom, or talkin' shop with celebrities in his high-rise Manhattan office, Gary "Vee" is top dog when it comes to leveraging social media and digital marketing to build his brand. And building a brand he has done! 

What is success? Success is a very relative term. The text book definition is “the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one’s goals.” We all have different things that we would like to accomplish in our lives, and therefore, success is something that you need to define for yourself.

Many times we equate it to money. Ted Turner once said “Life is a game. Money is how we keep score.” Does that mean that those with the most money are the only successful people? Absolutely not.

For me, success is doing what I want, when I want, where I want, with whom I want, as much as I want. Ok, so Tony Robbins said that, but I feel the exact same way. In other words, success is the ability to spend my life in my own way.

“Focus on being productive instead of busy” is a great quote from Tim Ferriss’ book, 'The 4-Hour Workweek'. Being (and staying) productive can be an extremely challenging part of work. Whether you’re a member of the corporate world or self-employed, too often we think that as long as we’re keeping busy, we’re being ‘productive’. However, these two words have different meanings.

By no means do I excuse myself from falling into this trap, as I do it quite often. Sometimes I have to remind myself of Ferriss’ advice in order for my brain to flip that switch, and not just do things throughout the day to keep myself busy. Actually waking up with a prioritized plan for the day, even if it only includes one or two tasks, will keep you moving forward and give you some sense of fulfillment at the end of the day.

Who doesn’t want to be their own boss? Maybe it’s the idea of having a steady paycheck and feeling of job security (although, I’m not sure there’s any such thing), but many people are either content working for someone else and getting their paid vacations, sick time and health insurance…or they’re just afraid of taking that leap of faith and trying to earn a living by cashing in on their passion.

I don’t mean that in a negative way, because it’s a perfectly justified fear. It takes preparation and careful planning, especially if you have a family that depends on you. You certainly don’t want to quit your job, and THEN begin the first steps of a new business venture.