Evaluating Advice
As an entrepreneur, I’ve heard a lot of advice from potential investors, investors, partners, clients, friends, family, acquaintances, random people at a party. You name it. I have received advice from everyone.
Only a few times I have actually acted based on their advice. Most times I will hear it, nod and later ignore the advice.
The hardest part is ignoring the advice from someone you really care about.
At some point in time, a good friend of yours is going to give you business advice. Someone who has been your friend for years, someone who you respect, someone who you love and who loves you.
They will mean well. They are giving you advice with good intentions. But…
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
You need to take a step back and think about what you are hearing and who is saying it. You need to forget about your relationship. You need to evaluate their experience and if their advice is based on theory instead of practice.
That friend might have no experience starting nor running a business. Yet he is giving you advice as if he had been running a successful business for the past 10 years.
Take advice from people you respect and have enough experience to be giving advice. Otherwise, ignore at will.