{"id":5184,"date":"2016-08-09T08:10:09","date_gmt":"2016-08-09T06:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.invoiceberry.com\/?p=5184"},"modified":"2016-10-03T21:02:12","modified_gmt":"2016-10-03T19:02:12","slug":"harry-potters-8-magic-lessons-small-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/harry-potters-8-magic-lessons-small-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Harry Potter’s 8 Magical Lessons for Your Small Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Harry Potter lives!<\/p>\n

With the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child<\/em> (breaking records again<\/a>) at the end of July, and the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them<\/em> <\/a>coming out in November, everyone\u2019s catching Harry fever again.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a magical\u00a0time for all those adults who grew up in the Harry Potter age, a chance to relive one of the most enchanting\u00a0times of our childhood.<\/p>\n

But we\u2019re adults now, and we have to be serious, right?<\/p>\n

Well, not so fast. The Harry Potter series actually has a lot of great, useful lessons that us millennials can take with us as we try to conquer the business world.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t believe me?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll prove it to you. Let\u2019s look at 8 of the greatest lessons from Harry Potter<\/em> you can use in your small business and freelance career.<\/p>\n

Lesson 1: Invest in\u00a0a good team<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Surround<\/p>\n

Harry had a good group around him.<\/p>\n

The Boy Who Lived had the bravery and the dream to prove himself. Hermione had the logic to overcome difficult tasks. Ron had the interpersonal skills and strategy (in Wizard\u2019s Chess).<\/p>\n

When you run a business, you\u2019ll encounter problems and difficulties on an almost daily basis, and you won\u2019t be able to do it all. You\u2019ll need a good team with you, with each person having a unique set of skills (and shared goals) that adds to the business\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

Lesson 2:\u00a0<\/strong>Use your money wisely<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"Be<\/p>\n

Having grown up pretty much poor as an unwanted guest sleeping under the Dursleys\u2019 stairs, Harry had every reason to splurge after he visited Gringotts with Hagrid.\u00a0But he didn’t.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an easy trap to fall into, once your business makes money, or after you\u2019ve received a loan or investment, to spend it\u00a0on unnecessary things, but you should use it wisely.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s imperative to keep track of your expenses as well, either with an accountant or invoicing software such as InvoiceBerry<\/a>\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Lesson 3: Do what you love<\/h2>\n

\"It's<\/p>\n

Jokers from birth, Fred and George never really fit in with the regular pace of the world.<\/p>\n

They started off by peddling their magic potions, tricks, and found items around Hogwarts. They truly followed their dreams to open up their wizarding shop,\u00a0\u201cWeasleys’ Wizard Wheezes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doing what you love is the goal of most freelancers, self-employed, and small business owners, and it’s a worthy goal to have. It may take a while to get there, but if you do it with passion and ingenuity, you’ll succeed eventually.<\/p>\n

Lesson 4: Don’t give up<\/h2>\n

\"There<\/p>\n

Harry’s life was quite difficult:\u00a0His parents killed by an evil wizard. Having to live with an uncle, aunt and cousin who all hate him. Losing his godfather Sirius Black right after finding him. Breaking his bones many times at Hogwarts.<\/p>\n

And what did he do? Cry? Complain? Pout? Yes, many times. But still, he never gave up.<\/p>\n

You should always keep this lesson with you. As we mentioned before<\/a>, small businesses fail a lot\u201450% in the first year and 95% over five years. They do so for various reasons, and you’ll face many similar problems. But through it all, remember: don’t give up.<\/p>\n

Lesson 5: Choose your tools well<\/h2>\n

\"It's<\/p>\n

Harry’s wand. The invisibility cloak. The Marauder’s Map.\u00a0Without these tools, it would have been nearly impossible for Harry Potter to defeat Voldemort and the Death Eaters.<\/p>\n

When you run your own business, you’ll also need to get the right tools to ensure your success. That means the right hardware, including laptops, phones, and whatever specific tools you’ll need for your work.<\/p>\n

But it also includes software, such as InvoiceBerry<\/a>, which helps take care of the invoicing part of running your business.<\/p>\n

Lesson 6: Follow your instincts<\/h2>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

When Dumbledore first met Tom Riddle (Voldemort), he knew there was something wrong with him. Even though all the other professors at Hogwarts loved Riddle, he kept an eye on him, which later paid off.<\/p>\n

In business, you’ll also need to follow your instincts. There are many things that can be analyzed, but sometimes you’ll just have to follow your instincts.<\/p>\n

If you feel it’s right (or wrong), go with your instincts.<\/p>\n

Lesson 7: Don’t be stubborn\u2014change with the times<\/h2>\n

\"If<\/p>\n

Harry Potter always disliked\u00a0Professor Severus Snape. However, before Snape died, when he confessed how he helped Dumbledore, Harry realized how wrong he had been.<\/p>\n

In business, it’s good to follow your instincts, as I said above. But it’s also important to know when to stop being stubborn and change your mind. Businesses survive by adapting to the times, but if you’re too stubborn, you’ll just be stuck in the past.<\/p>\n

Lesson 8: Don’t underestimate your competition<\/h2>\n

\"Always<\/p>\n

One of the many reasons for Voldemort’s downfall\u2014besides being well, evil, of course\u2014was that he underestimated almost every competition he had.<\/p>\n

He underestimated\u00a0house-elf power, he underestimated the power of the Potters’ love. But most of all, he underestimated what a young boy could do against his evil organization.<\/p>\n

Don’t be like Voldemort. Don’t be overconfident. Don’t underestimate your competition. Pay careful attention to who is your main competition, and keep an eye on the ones who aren’t your competition yet.<\/p>\n

To sum up:<\/h2>\n

Harry Potter is great, even if you aren’t a kid anymore. The lessons don’t just end with friendship, magic, and believing in yourself.<\/p>\n

You can take these powerful lessons from the world’s most popular series with you on your journey to conquering the business world.<\/p>\n

What are your favorite lessons and moments from the Harry Potter series? Let us know in the comments below!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Harry Potter lives! With the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (breaking records again) at the end of July, and the film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them coming out in November, everyone\u2019s catching Harry fever again. It\u2019s a magical\u00a0time for all those adults who grew up in the Harry Potter age, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":5268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[103,325,324,58,280],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/feature_HP_lessons2.png?fit=690%2C290&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5m6q6-1lC","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5184"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5184"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5184\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5280,"href":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5184\/revisions\/5280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.invoiceberry.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}