I've had the privilege of peeking behind the curtain at 10,000+ businesses. Some observations: 1) All businesses are loosely functioning disasters. 2) Operating a small business feels like a daily knife fight where you get out of bed, try not to get stabbed, get back in bed, and do it all over again. 3) Small businesses don't stay small on purpose. 4) Most companies don't make much money. 5) What money they make is almost always reinvested back into the business. 6) Most owners unknowingly tolerate a tremendous amount of risk. 7) Most owners work long, stressful, odd hours. 8) Neither number of employees, nor revenue is a good proxy for the success of a business. 9) Fast growth is counterintuitively more perilous than declining revenue and can quickly destroy a company. 10) Culture is nothing more than what you reward and punish, not what you put in your mission, vision, values statement. 11) Most employees couldn't tell you why they do what they do, or how it contributes to the success of the business. 12) The most dangerous time for a business is when the owner first experiences some financial success or significant notoriety. Few survive it. 12) Occasionally, we see a business that breaks most of the above and it blows my mind how profitable it is, how happy their employees and customers are, and how well they serve their community. They're out there, but exceedingly rare.