You have a small business? Eye, these actions must avoid at all costs to achieve growth.

I’ve been an entrepreneur since 2005. My first creative design company born of a partnership with my girlfriend. The truth is it was a five-year experiment on how to run a business. As a financial effort had moderate success as a learning experience, it was the equivalent of a master’s degree in the best business school in the world.

Thus, when the time to start my current firm arrived, I had pretty good ideas of what NOT to do to manage a small and medium enterprise (SME). I’ve been fortunate enough in my career to improve thanks to the mistakes I made the first time.

1. Do not rush to have a partner

It was not until my former partner and I split up I understood that we should never get involved in a professional manner. Just because someone is your best friend, a longtime colleague or your “other half” does not make them candidates to keep a business with you. I say keep because it’s easy to get excited at the prospect of starting a business than with the reality of everyday life.

The best partner is typically a person with different skills and perspectives to yours. The first ensures that you will be complemented in daily operation, and the second will force you to defend your position and seek fresh ideas.

2. Do not disappointments

Running a company should not be seen as a goal but as a path full of changes. Enjoy the process! Unless your main aim is to have quick money once in your life, you must be persistent and develop a long-term strategy. You will have good and bad moments, possibly within the same day. You win and lose big clients for some other reason. That’s all part of having a business.

I have not met a single business owner who has reached a permanent stability without going through periods of failure, disappointment and doubt. All experience. Instead of losing the mood, we focus on being more resilient and learn to manage stress productively.

3. Do not forget why you wanted to open your own business first

Shopped whether you follow your passion or have more control over your time to spend with your family, you should always remember what the reason was you gave to the world of entrepreneurship. It’s easy to get carried away and forget why you wanted to have your own business. I, for one, want to have quality of life and spend time with my passion, which is traveling the world. There times when sacrifices are necessary, but you must be careful not to keep forever your dream to be an administrator.

4. Do not try to do everything by yourself

I started my first company with US $500, just enough to start operations. For that reason I became addicted to do everything myself. My partner could do many things, but there was a limit to what I was soon doing things I never thought I would have to attend to. These tasks took away valuable time and energy I energy I could have focused on growing the business.

I did not make this mistake twice. In my next company (venture a much better thought) I hired my best specialists. Although my expenses grew, I could now concentrate on work better and focus on the development of my company. It made my business to grow much faster than when he tried to save.

So my advice is this: resist the desire to do everything by yourself. Saving is important, but do not let the daily tasks bury your long-term goals.

5. Be sure to evolve

Your strategy, your sales plans, target your market-nothing is written in stone. The world is changing faster and faster every day. You probably experience a major industry in the future transformation. As an SME, you have the disadvantage of having limited resources, but have the ability to maneuver and make necessary changes faster than a larger company.

The best way to stay relevant is to have your eyes open to possible changes in your industry and keep an open mind to new ideas.

And of course, the most important thing NOT to do when you have an SME is this: be afraid of making mistakes!