I attended a lot of “networking” type of functions while I was growing my agency. I knew that there was a direct correlation between the amount of people I knew in the business world and the amount of opportunities, growth, and success my agency had.
One of the networking groups I belonged to put on retreats a few times per year, spend two nights at a resort, enjoy meals, activities, and breakout sessions with other entrepreneurs. They were always fun and the business side of these events usually seems a bit like an EA meeting. (You know, “Entrepreneurs Anonymous” – not a real organization (unlike it’s twin “Alcoholics Anonymous” but it could be.)
The breakout sessions included about 8 people and they often went like this, “Hi, I’m Mike…I’m an entrepreneur-aholic. Here is what I’m struggling with…” In one of these sessions, we decided not to work on specific problems in each others businesses, but rather each person would share their “best” advice for entrepreneurs. These were all multi-million dollar entrepreneurs, so the advice carried weight. I took notes….I always take notes.
In preparing for my newsletter article today, I decided to dust of one of my business notebooks and I found my notes from one such breaktout session and there are some gems in here that I wanted to share with you this week.
Business advice from Alan ____________
- There are three main ingredients you need for your business.
- A good banker.
- A good lawyer.
- A good accountant.
- (To which someone added and a good think tank.)
Business advice from Annetta ____________
- Don’t ever burn bridges.
Business advice from Kelly ____________
- Treat people with respect.
- Put relationships first.
- Do 2x as much listening as talking – we have two ears and one mouth.
Business advice from Jordan ____________
- Make it your own.
- Work with a full tank of gas.
Business advice from Al ____________
- Embrace overlap of personal and business life.
- Do the things you need to do.
- Don’t keep track of hours.
- Walk away from bad deals.
Business advice from Lewis ____________
- Take care of friends.
- Connect with friends.
- Focus on most important priorities.
- Review key objectives once per week.
- If you can count the pennies the dollars will be there.
- Hate debt.
As I typed these up just now I had two thoughts.
Thought number one, is that some of these seem trite or cliche.
Thought number two, maybe they seem trite and cliche because BUSINESS IS NOT THAT COMPLICATED. There is no magic bullet out there that is the secret so success you’re missing. What most people are missing is just EXECUTION OF THE OBVIOUS.
- Be good to people.
- Be smart with your money.
- Focus on doing the things that will have the biggest impact.
Most of the best advice hinges on those key aspects of a successful business. It’s not that complicated.
(That being said, I really love the phrase “If you can count the pennies the dollars will be there.”)
