The Lesson List – What I’ve learned

I’ve spent more than 20 years working in rapid growth small businesses and recently had a MBA student ask me one of the most interesting questions I’ve had in some time. What have been the 3 most important lessons I’ve learned? It is a great question and harder to answer than I thought. After sleeping on it, here is what I came up with:

Like a shark, you have to swim forward or die
Innovation is the key to any young business. If you are not looking to improve your service or product at all times a competitor will do it and you will lose your advantage and go out of business.

You should be willing to do anything for money as long as it is legal, ethical and moral
Too many people in start up businesses get fixated on their ideas and don’t make money when they can. If you run a painting company and someone asks if they can buy brushes from you, why not make some extra money even if that is not your main business?

Stupid people cost you money
While this seems harsh, it is true. Failure to hire and train the very best people you can is the death of many businesses. If you hire someone who just does not get the job done, cut them lose as soon as possible. You are doing both parties a favor.

It is not often that you get a request to share your hard earned wisdom in a short and concise manner. I’d suggest that everyone try the exercise even if you don’t share your answers with anyone. You might be surprised with how useful your lesson list can be as you deal with your day to day problems.