Having been in business for over 30 years, I have some insight into this.Here's what I found. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.I am an electrical contractor. I did mostly remodeling,some new homes and additions, some commercial and some industrial. I also did sound system installations.By being diversified,it kept me fairly busy even during down turns. Do a good job. If you screw up or install a product that fails,fix it no matter what the cost.Don't sacrifice your existing customers for new ones. There was a period of time before 2008,when I was so busy,I just could not handle all the new work and keep my existing customers happy.So I choose to stay with the customers who had stuck with me.Be conservative and don't grow too fast. Save some money for a rainy day. Any business that follows these rules will be around for a long time.
