Paul’s Tips for Business Pt. 3
If you’re just starting out opening your own business, chances are that you’re going to have questions and you’re going to need help. As an experienced businessman with more than 35 years in the automotive industry, I thought it was time that I passed on some of my expertise to help guide and encourage others follow the same passion for business that consumed me many years ago. While these tips may not apply to everyone, they’ve truly proven valuable to me throughout my career.
Read read read
The library of books with sound advice from unimaginably successful businesspeople is worth its weight in gold. Many industry leaders publish some of the problems that tripped them up as young professionals and the mistakes they made as they climbed the corporate ladder to their present positions. Why reinvent the wheel when you could read the instructions for free at your local library? Online communities of readers often curate some of their favorites on sites like goodreads, so your reading list is already created for you.
Fail forward
If you’re going to make a mistake, do so the right way. Do it well-intentioned with as much information as you had at the time, and don’t kick yourself for information you only learned after the decision was made. After you realize that something potentially bad has happened, look for ways this can be avoided in the future, and document the exact fail-safes you need to implement. You can think of a failure the way Thomas Edison phrased it: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10000 ways that won’t work.” Be glad that you’ve found something that doesn’t work and ensure that you don’t try it again.
You can’t be all things to all people
One of the classic weaknesses of startups and young businesses is that, in their fervor, they stretch themselves too thin and try to apply their specialty so broadly that they lose focus of their core strength and their core clientele. If you start to worry about breadth over depth, your business will become too flimsy and fail to find its stride. Work towards excellence in your niche and stay in your lane.
Don’t believe the hype
Often, young cool startups will find a lot of quick, flash-in-the-pan success with swarms of media and viral videos all over the internet. Whatever you do, don’t panic. The popularity of a few videos tells you nothing about the integrity, sustainability, or long-term projections of the business. Stick to your plan and shoot for long-term success. By the same token, if you find yourself feeling “too big for your britches” with a lot of sudden media attention, be very careful not to overstep your bounds or appear overconfident. Starting and growing a business is a marathon, not a sprint.
