Most Helpful Five Tips For Business Growth

I've had my own business since I was 9 years old. I've started, purchased, sold and helped in many different sorts of firms over the thirty odd years since that point.

I've tried everything I've always wished to do, and I've had tons of fun. Some of the highlights : I worked on Wall Street, I helped take a company public and I threw one of the largest VC names in the country right out of my office. I have worked on designing a quality management system for a leading dairy company. I've worked with many of the biggest names in the offline and online space, and I've seen the insides of a lot of the largest corporations in the US.

I made my first million the traditional way. I worked my butt off. And I've got a lot to show for it, for which I'm both humble and grateful. Understand this, I am probably a successful entrpreneur and I'm happy about it.

Why am I sharing all this with you? I'm getting there.

People always ask me if I have any advice for being successful. They ask if I could name the things I believe have contributed the most to my success. Id like to share my findings from thirty years of business experience. They're applicable both offline and online.

Here are my top five recommendations for success :

1. Always confirm all your mails and telephone calls get returned. I am making a lot of contacts and requests thru e-mail, telephone or even in real life. I am absolutely startled at the amount of folk who dont trouble to return the request. It is classless and disrespectful to pay no heed to someones request, and it makes them irritated. Indignant folks tell other people how you have wronged them. The fewer folks out there talking sick about you the better.

When I was an iso 9001 consultant at Modem Media I got between 1000 - 3k e-mails a day. I was buried in e-mails. My aid went in and cleared out mails when she could, forwarding the ones she was aware that she or one of my underlings could handle. But she left the rest for me. I'd spend at least an hour a day returning them. Sometimes all I claimed was Call so-and-so or Thanks for the alert, but many of them got answered. The priority was clients, then managers then ordinary folks. If you are not going to answer correspondence from clients or peers, dont give anybody your e-mail. Funny thing about most of usif you've got an e-mail and invite us to use it, we think an answer . I've written 3 mails to Darren at ProBlogger.net. He's not answered a single one. While I suspect some of his things is pretty good, I find his unresponsiveness displeasing and I dont find him as authoritative as I used to.

I sent an e-mail to the President of Staples on a Saturday afternoon a couple of years ago. I got a private response from him the next day (Sun.), and we resolved my difficulty with aid from one of his EVPs. If he can make a response to one of my mails, so can Darren.

2. Help anyone who asks. It doesn't matter what it is if somebody asks you to help them and you can do it, do it. Whether it entails rolling up your sleeves, writing a check, giving some time or merely responding to a question from someone who doesn't know as much as you, suck it up and do it.

3. Always know more than most of the people about your industry or business. I've always been a technologist, so this has been engrained in me since I was sixteen. Read about things in your field every day. Go to a seminar or trade show now and then. Take part in dialogues or forums, on or off-line. It will keep you hooked up to the people in your industry and make you a guru. The internet is an extraordinary tool for getting this done.

4. Treat your workers like gold, because they are. In my personal companies my employees get away with a lot. They're well paid, get surprise perks all of the time and can come and go as they please. Some take advantage, but they do not last long. Being a jerk to your workers will always come back to bite you. It will also mean that you'll get hosed a number of times, but you most likely would have anyway.

Make the workplace fun, snug and as casual as you can. Show your staff by example how you want them to treat buyers and co-workers. They're going to follow your lead. If they abhor coming to work it will show in what you produce, this was a major feature that I noticed while designing the quality management system I mentioned earlier.

At Modem Media I organised an annual barbeque in the front car park. We had pork, BBQ sauce from Texas and lots of other stuff Im not going to get into here. It was a small gesture but it went a great distance.

5. Acknowledge everyone who helps you advance, particularly people who didn't gain from it. This is another thing that I am startled more folks haven't caught on to. I revealed in an earlier post that I continually brush my log files for folks who have social bookmarks pointing to this blog site and send them a fast e-mail thanking them. I stopped counting the amount of folk who e-mail me back surprised that I would bother to thank them. Why shouldn't I? They took time out to help in promoting my blog, and got nothing in return. A thank you recognizes their effort and time and solidifies them as a supporter. Trust me, you need all of the allies you can get.

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