| 7s | The best advice to a small business owner |
| 8s | or for that matter a large business owner |
| 10s | is never stop thinking about how to |
| 13s | |
| 15s | Not to satisfy your customer, |
| 16s | but to delight your customer. |
| 18s | When you wake up in the morning, |
| 19s | start thinking about it. During the day, |
| 21s | think about it. At night, think about it. |
| 23s | And dream about it. And - no company's ever |
| 26s | failed that had millions of delighted customers. |
| 29s | And you start with them and you get them |
| 30s | |
| 31s | There's no substitute for hard work. |
| 33s | The best time you're ever gonna have is |
| 35s | when it starts out just you and it'd be |
| 38s | great if it grows into a wonderful big |
| 40s | profitable company. But you're never gonna be |
| 42s | happier and more satisfied than you are in |
| 45s | the first year or so of getting your business going |
| 49s | because you do every single thing. You sweep up |
| 51s | when everybody goes home, |
| 53s | you're the first one in, you plug in |
| 54s | the coffee pot so when you're people come in, |
| 56s | they have hot coffee and can get straight to work. |
| 59s | Work through lunch, set an example for them, |
| 62s | but there's no substitute for hard work. |
| 65s | People say luck, yes, but the harder you work, |
| 67s | |
| 68s | My advice to a small business owner or any |
| 72s | entrepreneur would be not to be discouraged |
| 74s | if the business you end up with is not the one |
| 76s | you started out to pursue because |
| 80s | so often, you encounter difficulties |
| 83s | you encounter failures and |
| 85s | the important piece is to learn from each of those |
| 87s | very quickly and to pivot and to move on |
| 91s | |
| 93s | Of course you have to be close to your |
| 94s | products, close to your customers, and |
| 96s | think about them. That's the most important. |
| 100s | But don't forget to think about your |
| 101s | business. What your plans are. What you |
| 104s | wanna do next. How to take your business |
| 106s | to the next level. Again, think about being |
| 109s | in your business, but think about your |
| 111s | |
| 113s | My best advice is to really work |
| 115s | hard to clarify what your purpose is |
| 117s | and to be able to articulate that |
| 121s | be able to communicate it |
| 122s | |
| 125s | And the reason that's important is |
| 126s | as you bring people into your company, |
| 128s | I think the most important question |
| 131s | you ask them is, Why are you here? |
| 133s | Why do you wanna join this company? |
| 135s | And if you hear that purpose back, if |
| 138s | you hear that passion around that purpose, |
| 141s | it makes everything a whole lot easier. |
| 143s | Any skill can be learned and taught, |
| 145s | |
| 148s | |
| 149s | can be a rollercoaster ride at times. |
| 152s | You will have great days, you will have |
| 156s | not-so-great days, you may even from time |
| 160s | to time have an awful day. |
| 161s | You've got to stay focused and stay |
| 164s | level headed and keep your feet on the ground. |
| 166s | Companies that do well at some level |
| 169s | even though it may not be written down |
| 171s | on a piece of paper need to have |
| 172s | kind of a clear strategy of why |
| 174s | they're different, why they're adding |
| 177s | value, why they're producing something special |
| 180s | that customers need that they're not getting now. |
| 183s | So, I think if there's a clear sense of |
| 185s | strategy and you can get all the people |
| 186s | aligned around that, then |
| 188s | you get a lot more power than if you're just |
| 190s | scrambling and working harder and harder |
| 192s | and without that clear direction. So that's |
| 195s | |
