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Embrace constraints "I DON'T HAVE enough time/money/people/experience." Stop whining. Less is a good thing. Constraints are advantages in disguise. Limited resources force you to make do with what you've got. There's no room for waste. And that forces you to be creative.

So let your latest grand ideas cool off for a while first. By all means, have as many great ideas as you can. Get excited about them. Just don't act in the heat of the moment. Write them down and park them for a few days. Then, evaluate their actual priority with a calm mind.

Every time you answer the phone, it's marketing. Every time you send an e-mail, it's marketing. Every time someone uses your product, it's marketing. Every word you write on your Web site is marketing. If you build software, every error message is marketing. If you're in the restaurant business, the after-dinner mint is marketing. If you're in the retail business, the checkout counter is marketing. If you're in a service business, your invoice is marketing.

And keep in mind that once you do get bigger and more popular, you're inevitably going to take fewer risks. When you're a success, the pressure to maintain predictability and consistency builds. You get more conservative. It's harder to take risks. That's when things start to fossilize and change becomes difficult.

Also, remember that negative reactions are almost always louder and more passionate than positive ones. In fact, you may hear only negative voices even when the majority of your customers are happy about a change. Make sure you don't foolishly backpedal on a necessary but controversial decision.

That applies to the language you use everywhere--in e-mail, packaging, interviews, blog posts, presentations, etc. Talk to customers the way you would to friends. Explain things as if you were sitting next to them. Avoid jargon or any sort of corporate-speak.

Whenever you can, swap "Let's think about it" for "Let's decide on it." Commit to making decisions. Don't wait for the perfect solution. Decide and move forward.