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What flairs do you need to be a successful business(wo)man?
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Ha, your former boss sounds like a businessman to me -:).How to prudently use what you have is an important skill and, if you look into going big, then knowing how to leverage what you have is not less important.
In respect of your frugal boss, I can ask all those who worked as employees, especially in small businesses run by their proprietors, whether your employers ever suggested on their own initiative to raise your salary? Not when you said you were leaving to a different job or raised the issue themselves, but as a nice surprise?
Such things happen I guess, but I would assume not that frequently
35 pounds short sounds so petty, that there is clearly no public interest in fining him. Don't understand why they even bothered, unless they wanted to make a point that their audit was justified...And certainly doing business may frequently be less rewarding than occupying some managerial or semi-managerial position.
Anyone can start a business, but only some will succeed and maybe 1 in a 100 or less will make it big time..
For all I know, there are pretty high figures of businesses being closed even during the first year of their operation
And even then, nothing is guaranteed...There are people I know that were big, then bankrupt, one person even twice, and yet they have this in their nature, so they've managed to resurrect, embark on new ventures and make millions. Hope this time their luck won't change again -:)
This thread was dormant for a while, but as the group grew in the meantime, I think many might want to share their vision.
Here is a forbes article on some surprising habits of the most productive people http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkrus...
Some interesting stuff, Chika, thanks for bringing it. Read it with interest.
From my limited observations...1. Understanding cash flow vs. profit (HUGE difference!)
2. Setting goals cuz you ain't getting there if you don't even know where "there" is
3. Making a plan cuz a goal without a plan is just a wish, eh? (Totally stole that quote from someone smart haha!)
4. The willingness to act and preferably act first
5. Grit
And hugs. Lots of hugs,
Ann
I would add two things:1. A belief that they are somewhat superior to others, rightly or wrongly.
2. Lack of fear. This leads them to opportunities others with more common sense would shy away from and this is often where they strike gold.
Michael wrote: "Not being deterred by failure."Yesss! Failure is just a sign you're doing what others are too afraid to try, eh? Which brings me back to Miss Tara's 2nd point.
#FullCircle #LikeABoss
As for feeling superior, I'm kinda sorta in disagreement with Miss Tara on that one (*GASP* this has never happened before!!) Again, I have very limited experience, but most successful business owners are extremely humble.
Methinks the key is to know that you're NOT the best and never will be the best. Because that's what drives you to improve, challenge and stretch yourself. Someone who thinks they've "arrived" won't go any further, which negates the entrepreneurial spirit.
Heh. I think I just talked in circles...
#WhoNeedsToMakeSense?
Annie - there is no best and there is no worst. Someone is always better, no matter how good you are and no matter how bad you think you are - someone is always much worse. Success is fleeting. Failure is temporary.
I don't know...I think successful people do have it in the back of their minds that they can do or build or create something bigger and better. If someone opens a bakery because they think their town needs one they may enjoy some success but someone who opens a bakery because he feels his ideas are superior and the other bakeries aren't getting it right will *truly* embody that certain amount of ego that separates the successful from the great. It is the difference between a nice home and a mansion. I think successful people compete with one another while truly great entrepreneurs only compete with themselves.
@Mr Michael: I don't believe success is fleeting. I think it simply evolves. But...#PutsOnRoseColoredGlasses ^_~
@Miss Tara: Oh, I totally agree with needing a healthy ego to succeed. However, I still don't see the superiority thing. Why would anyone compete with someone they believe is inferior? It's a waste of time and energy, imho. I mean...
1. There's no challenge
2. There's no benefit
3. There's no glory in winning (yep, THAT would be the ego talking LMAO!)
Isn't it better to find those who are superior to you? Pick their brains? Soak up their knowledge like a sponge? Personally, that's what pushes me to be better. Or...
I'm living in La La Land here hahahaha!!
Hugs,
Ann
AnnieInteresting perspective. I agree that really successful people look to those who excel for inspiration and their next challenge, so to speak. It just seems to me that even then, they believe in the back of their minds that they secretly think they are better and smarter and with half a chance and some start up capitol they can prove it to the world. But I truly think they believe they are only competing with their own ambition because they are in a league of their own. When Ted Turner started CNN people thought he was insane. He had inherited a perfectly respectable company from his father and could have retired quite wealthy and 'successful' but he thought he was smarter than the establishment in contemporary broadcasting and he could revolutionize the way news is broadcast. Somehow he did it and the rest is history.
Tara wrote: "they believe in the back of their minds that they secretly think they are better and smarter and with half a chance and some start up capitol they can prove it to the world. "This. 100%. I don't think there's any other way to look at oneself and expect to succeed.
And we're talking "uncommon" amounts of success here, guys! If someone's definition of success is a solid 9-to-5 and relaxing on the couch every night, all the power to them.
Miss Tara, I think we're agreeing just with different eyes and some semantics thrown in LMAO!!
AnnieThis! Right, as usual :)
*goes back to excellent book about a smokin' hot Alpha in a wheelchair*
Tara wrote: "*goes back to excellent book about a smokin' hot Alpha in a wheelchair*"+1 Bazillion!!!
*ahem*
I mean, carry on.
Anything 4MissTara, right? *hugs*
One of the greatest aspects of my day job is I get to see and experience lots of other people's success and failures. With almost 20 years as a corporate counsel, Ive watched small businesses grow into rather large ones and experienced how people succeed and why they fail. On the flip side, Ive worked with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies and learned how they operated their companies. The ones that succeed do so because they work harder than everyone else. Not that they were better. There are a lot of great ideas that fail. Just as there are a lot of great novels that no one reads.
Its the person that gets up everyday and tries is the one who succeeds. As soon as failure becomes an option, it starts to unravel. Hardly any of them even considered their competition. The one thing that I did notice is that successful people surround themselves with solid teams. They know their limitations and hire people to work for them that will fill in those holes.
Annie wrote: "1. Understanding cash flow vs. profit (HUGE difference!)..."Yeah, cash flow is the king! Tremendous profits in the books won't help you pay salaries, if you have zero in bank account. It's all theoretic until the cash is in the bank-:)
Nik wrote: "Annie wrote: "1. Understanding cash flow vs. profit (HUGE difference!)..."Yeah, cash flow is the king! Tremendous profits in the books won't help you pay salaries, if you have zero in bank accoun..."
i'm learning from the experienced grunts down in the trenches. this group is better than an MBA program at the Haas School of Business
Michael wrote: "Its the person that gets up everyday and tries is the one who succeeds. As soon as failure becomes an option, it starts to unravel. Hardly any of them even considered their competition. The one thing that I did notice is that successful people surround themselves with solid teams. They know their limitations and hire people to work for them that will fill in those holes.This. *fist bump* Exactly this.
@Mr Nik: Totes, right??
People just love talking about gross margin. But what really matters is grosser (a.k.a. net haha!) profit, eh?
@Awesome Alex: My good friend who's already a vastly successful entrepreneur (the bugger's retired now at the elderly age of 43 *eye roll*) actually went back to get his MBA just to see what it was all about. He laughed because most of the professors teaching students how to be successful in business had ever actually been in business before. They're just teachers on salary. Yeah...
No comment.
G'night hugs,
Ann
Michael wrote: " almost 20 years as a corporate counsel ... The ones that succeed do so because they work harder than everyone else...."
Looks like we have similar legal career length and partially similar specialization -:)
I'd argue about 'working harder', that work of any businessman, CEO, or whoever isn't harder than that of a miner, nurse or dishwasher. I worked as a dishwasher for a week in my teens and I spent many days with businessmen of different caliber. I think it's more of a fallacy used to explain why some are rich, while others aren't. The distinction is not there, in my opinion. It's in balls, chutzpah, being less particular about acceptable. Proactivity, industriousness are usually a must too, but still they don't work harder than anyone else-:)
I argue that you can't get rich (except for a very small % of positions) only from your own work and in order to get rich you must benefit from employing or exploiting others. Inheriting or marrying money is an alternative -:)
In my opinion - from any paid work you should be able to finance reasonable living for you and your family. And it was and is in some countries this way, but it looks like this parity started to erode and sometimes even two working parents in some OECD countries experience problems with financing decent living and that in my opinion is a very dangerous tendency....
Alex G wrote: "this group is better than an MBA program at the Haas School of Business..."Although it's a huge compliment, I think MBA is the road to high-paid jobs and not for doing business. If anything extra-knowledge deters in many cases -:)
It's pretty notorious how many of mega-rich had minimal or no-education or how many college drop-outs reached the stars.
Of course, there are millions of others that hadn't reached anything: neither riches nor high-paid jobs, but poets kinda don't glorify them -:)
And on a general note, isn't it surprising how far is high education from actual work? Don't know about MBAs, but in legal field and in what I hear in other professions - the two things are often light years apart. Education is just theoretical background and minimal criteria to qualify for learning the job
Annie wrote: "But what really matters is grosser.."Yep, grosser -:)
Nik wrote: "Alex G wrote: "this group is better than an MBA program at the Haas School of Business..."Although it's a huge compliment, I think MBA is the road to high-paid jobs and not for doing business. If..."
i'm here to learn. so you all just keep talking. i hadn't been clear on what cashflow meant so i went and did a search. now i am. thx!
Yeah, I google lots of stuff seeing it here for the first time. Learning new things and approaches is one of the most enjoyable things for me in being part of this group
Nik wrote: "Michael wrote: " almost 20 years as a corporate counsel ... The ones that succeed do so because they work harder than everyone else...."
Looks like we have similar legal career length and partial..."
that's the growing trend now it seems with the economy the way it is. salaries are not increasing, inflation is going up as well as the cost of living . . . people in 'high paid' jobs now only manage to pay basic bills before their salaries are finished for the month . . . let's not even talk about those on low paid jobs . . .
I think the key to success is not about just working hard, it's about working smart. why was clothes with your hand when you can use a washing machine? why boil water on a stove when you can use an electric kettle?
Perhaps instead of "working harder" I should have said "out performing everyone else" however you want to read that...Usually, those that outperform everyone else are the most successful. It is part and parcel of the results, no matter if you're a CEO or a dishwasher.
Michael wrote: "Perhaps instead of "working harder" I should have said "out performing everyone else" however you want to read that..."100% agree. I see a ton of people work hard but it's no use if you're just spinning your wheels, eh? Just a case of being busy vs productive, imho. Well, most of the time. Meh.
With that being said, I don't personally care about outperforming everyone else. I just need a team that does. True success (to me) is being able to build something, walk away, and still have it run smoothly. Not only run, but keep on growing as well, eh?
*smiles at the thought*
Hugs,
Ann
Michael wrote: "Perhaps instead of "working harder" I should have said "out performing everyone else" however you want to read that...Usually, those that outperform everyone else are the most successful. It is p..."
"Out performing" sounds about right! -:)
Thomai wrote: "Having a corporate strategy background myself, here are some thoughts.."Cool and comprehensive insight, Thomai. Right on the money, I think -:)
Anachronism? We should wait for Ian's input then, he remembers well those times -:)
Be a good salesman. If you can't sell, you can't make money. The second is the ability to control the money you do make and not make stupid investments. While you have to work, working harder does not get you anywhere; working smarter does a bit.
Why do people forget - honesty, selflessness, decency & generosity - an absolute must for moneymaking?
They don't Nik, but looking at some of the very rich dudes, like the original Rockefeller, I dispute the "absolute must".
I don't get it, Nik. When have those qualities ever been an absolute must for making money?
Scout wrote: "I don't get it, Nik. When have those qualities ever been an absolute must for making money?"Just ironizing here. These qualities can be more detrimental than advantageous
- industriousness
- proactivity and assertiveness
- love of each dollar/stinginess
- competitiveness
- optimism clearly dominating over the pragmatism
- willingness to take risks
- Street smartness rather than profound intelligence
- Cynicism
- Salesmanship
Do you agree? Which flairs did I miss?