10 important lessons for running a business

In the article Street Smarts: Secrets of a $110 Million Man, entrepreneur Norm Brodsky shares "what I believe are the 10 most important lessons I have learned over the past 29-plus years, the rules that I still rely on today:"

1. Numbers run a business. If you don't know how to read them, you are flying blind.
2. A sale isn't a sale until you collect.
3. When your short-term liabilities exceed your short-term assets, you are bankrupt.
4. Forget about shortcuts. Run a business as if it's forever.
5. Cash is hard to get and easy to spend. Make it before you spend it.
6. You have no friends in business, only associates.
7. Don't focus on the top line. Gross margin is the most important number on the income statement.
8. Identify your true competitors, and treat them with respect.
9. Culture drives a company. In the long run, the boss's most important job is to define and enforce it.
10. The life plan has to come before the business plan.