Surround yourself with people you trust. Invest heavily in top talent in the legal, finance, and design areas. Use advisers, mentors, and confidants who are fabulously successful and empathic. If you subcontract or hire staff, don't rely on lengthy contracts and written agreements. If your gut feeling isn't right, then don't enter the relationship.
Chemistry is more important than contracts.
This business is about intellectual breadth. Consultants don't read enough, experience enough, or experiment enough. I'm still seeing consultants use social-style methodology from 30 years ago as if they invented it, while others rely on a variety of personality assessment systems that have never been validated and aren't even contemporary. We have to stay at the leading edge, not get dragged over it. Be happy that the marketplace is so competitive, because it means there is a great need for and belief in external consultants.