“Squatters Suck”

There is an old saying; opinions are like assholes, everyone has them. The internet, and especially Facebook groups, make that old saying not only more true, but dangerous.

Why?

Unsuspecting business owners taking bad advice and ruining their business.

I’m a member of Espresso with Dan, a paid group run by the epic bearded one, Dan Merideth. I saw some bad advice and corrected it. Usually, it ends there. But not this day…

Before I get into the actual exchange, which was sheepishly deleted by the poster, I want to discuss something vital.

Personal Accountability

Stop blaming others. Stop blaming your parents for whatever they instilled in you that you believe is holding you back. Sure, it is their fault for instilling that in you. But it is YOUR fault for staying that way.

Stop blaming a business partner for not living up to your perception. Stop blaming an employee for lying on their resume. And stop blaming squatters for holding a domain you so desperately want.

The reality is, you are disappointed in your business partner based on a perception, and not based on reality. Try direct communication and see how that works for a change. Your employee lying on their resume? Guess what, you didn’t catch it. Focus on doing a better job in screening your employees. And for squatters, maybe if you weren’t such a cheap ass years ago and bought the domain when it was available, you wouldn’t be in this position.

Just stop blaming others and take full responsibility for what you do, and more importantly, what you don’t do. The failures in your life and in your business ultimately fall to one person: you.

Off my soapbox and let’s have some fun now.

The epic story begins with someone blaming others (of course) and saying that **Squatters Suck.** Enjoy the exchange…

Lesson Learned: If you are the one calling out bad advice, don’t let up under any circumstances. This is not done to belittle the offender; this is to protect all the business owners who are reading the thread. The majority of people in groups are “lurkers” and rarely say anything, remember that.

If you happen to be a person that gave the shit advice but didn’t realize it was shit when you posted it (and yes, I have done this in the past), recognize that and correct it. You’ll get a lot more respect by doing that instead of holding onto your bad ideas and defending them because you can’t admit you are wrong.