Not following own instincts with resolve

One of the mistakes I made quite a lot as a young, inexperienced entrepreneur is how to deal with advice from others, which falls into three distinct categories.  The first is the 'professional category' comprised of people provide us with a range of professional services  ranging from accountants, bookkeepers and lawyers to IT people, etc..  The second is what I refer to as the 'stakeholders group' who are of course colleagues, business partners, suppliers, customers and employees.  Finally there is the 'social group' of folks such as ex-colleagues, acquaintences, neighbours, friends and even family members who mean well, but... well, you know.... 

In any event I have learned over many hard years, that it is extremely important to listen to anyone who feels they have something valid to contribute to your decision-making, but it is critical to make decisions that are firmly attached to your instincts and driven by your resolve to stay focused on what it is they you eventually want to achieve.  Very, very few of the people who will offer you advice will know what that is and even if you tried to bring them up to speed on the relationship between the advice they're offering and your end-game objective you may very well lose most of them. Stay true to your vision. Don't be blown off course by even the most well intended advice - particularly from those who have no skin in the game.

So, in summary, listen intently to your 'professional group', but remember, at the end of the day they work for you and they must serve your objectives, not their interpretation of that. Your 'business group' is likely to be the most important to you, but again, you need to lead the way, not be prone to going off course to appease popular opinion. Finally, your 'social group' is just that and should not be invited or welcomed into giving you advice unless they are suitably experienced and or qualified.  Those exceptions will often provide you with the best advice available, but be prepared to defned the reason why you chose not to follow their advice and to eat humble pie if it all goes wrong. I highly recommend going your own way.