Survive and Thrive Quotes

“There’s a deeper significance of profit than simply the accounting equation, which Rabbi Daniel Lapin gets at in his book Thou Shalt Prosper, where he says, “When you serve the marketplace, they will give you certificates of appreciation with Presidents’ faces on them.”
― John Meese, Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy

“So, yes, serve the market—which really means serve the people, and as public servants pay close attention to your incoming certificates of appreciation to make sure that you are offering real solutions to real problems for real people, consistently over time.”
― John Meese, Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy

“Money is a means to an end, the fuel for our lifestyle—and profit is the only money in business that you get to keep. Is that all profit is, then? The leftover money that you get to keep? Not really. For your business, profit is a success score based on how well you’ve managed to create real solutions to real problems for real people (remember, as a business owner, that is your actual job). Profit is a result of both efficacy and efficiency. Your efficacy (or effectiveness) is measured by the revenue you generate, but that’s a deceivingly simple answer. How much revenue you generate is determined by how clear your purpose is, who your business is designed to serve, how well your customers perceive you are at fulfilling that purpose, and how many people know you and your business exist. Efficiency is the simpler (if not easier) metric. Measured by your business expenses, efficiency is the amount of time, energy, and money it takes to fulfill your purpose—at least, as well as you are fulfilling it right now.”
― John Meese, Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy

“Solving problems is about more than your own problem with your checking account; it’s about serving other people by getting to know their needs and creatively serving those needs. Are you willing to set aside your own needs to serve your fellow human?”
― John Meese, Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy

“It takes a complete process of creating a real solution to a real problem for real people to generate profit. Not only that, but to generate profit you have to get people’s attention (marketing) and persuade them to purchase your solution (sales) while simultaneously managing the incoming dollars and outgoing dollars to end the day with more than you started with (finance).”
― John Meese, Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy

“Entrepreneurship is simultaneously all about money and not really about money at all. That’s not a contradiction, it’s a paradox. The entrepreneur’s paradox. As an entrepreneur, the path to profits is through serving people.”
― John Meese, Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy

“I like to think of profit as a report card for how well I’ve served humanity.”
― John Meese, Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy

“Entrepreneurs are people who solve problems for a profit.”
― John Meese, Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy

“Entrepreneur comes from the French word “entreprendre” for “undertake” (which I suppose makes me an undertaker).”
― John Meese, Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy

“Merriam-Webster defines an entrepreneur18 as “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.”
― John Meese, Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy

“Real Entrepreneurs Get Paid—But They Don’t Work for Money”
― John Meese, Survive and Thrive: How to Build a Profitable Business in Any Economy