It's been 24 months since I quit my job to start a business.

Here's what I've learned:

1. Believe in yourself (especially when hard times come).

I had no idea where I wanted to take my business at the start. Some things were working well, but I lacked vision. I kept telling myself I'll figure it out as I go, and that's what happened. You can't have everything figured out from the start. Pick one thing and scale it. Then, add another thing, and so on.

2. Improve everything without exceptions.

The key here is trial and error. You can't know with absolute certainty that something will work. But you can try it, get feedback, and iterate. Eventually, you'll succeed. At least, that's been true from my experience.

3. Buy knowledge to save time.

There are so many things I didn't know when I started. I was just a software engineer. But to run a business, you need to know how to lead. And how to do payroll. And how accounting works. And how to do marketing. Many micro-skills stack on each other. Investing in skills pays the highest dividend, and it saves you time. Find people who are ahead of you, and learn from them.

What's next?

I mapped out some high-level ideas for the whole year.

Now it's all about staying focused and doing the work.