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December 23
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Quotable Thoughts for Business Motivation and Inspiration
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AccountingIt has been my experience that competency in mathematics, both
in numerical manipulations and in understanding its conceptual foundations,
enhances a person's ability to handle the more ambiguous and qualitative
relationships that dominate our day-to-day financial decision-making. Now, we are seeing many of these same companies face the truth
about their financial standing. Congress is faced with the challenge
of reforming our accounting industry and holding corporate executives
responsible for their actions. Unfortunately, WorldCom is not the only company caught up in this
kind of accounting scandal. The impact this will have on the general
public is yet to be seen. I have no use for bodyguards, but I have very specific use for
two highly trained certified public accountants. In the business world, allegations of accounting irregularities
is tantamount to yelling fire in a crowded theater, except, today,
in our Internet world, instead of people running for the exit signs,
they just push the button on their computer. Many firms seem to have the potential for success, yet because
of poor financial management, they fail. An accountant is the one
member of your professional team who can best help keep your finances
in order. In fact, many consider finding a good accountant the most
vital ingredient for success. Mention the word accounting, and otherwise competent business men
and women suddenly grit their teeth, furrow their foreheads, and
start uncontrollably pulling out chunks of their own hair. Why is
this? How can a craft, which is nothing more than a tool to keep
track of the inflow and outflow of cash, be thought of with such
contempt and fear? The mystery becomes even more puzzling once you
realize that ACCOUNTING is essentially the discipline of counting
money. And since most people start a business to make money, it
seems rather silly they shouldn't enjoy counting it. Your accountant is your best friend when it comes time to doing
your taxes. However, although they are essential to a good tax strategy,
keep in mind that they aren't as specifically motivated as you are
to save your money. I never get the accountants in before I start up a business. It's
done on gut feeling, especially if I can see that they are taking
the mickey out of the consumer. Balanced budget requirements seem more likely to produce accounting
ingenuity than genuinely balanced budgets. The reaction of weak management to weak operations is often weak
accounting. - Back to Top - AdvertisingAdvertising in the final analysis should be news. If it is not
news it is worthless. The best ad is a good product. Advertising is of the very essence of democracy. An election goes
on every minute of the business day across the counters of hundreds
of thousands of stores and shops where the customers state their
preferences and determine which manufacturer and which product shall
be the leader today, and which shall lead tomorrow. Advertising is the life of trade. What you say in advertising is more important than how you say
it. You can fool all the people all the time if the advertising budget
is big enough. Advertising is the principal reason why the business man has come
to inherit the earth. Advertising is the art and sole of capitalism. It captures a moment
of time through the lens of commerce, reflecting and affecting our
lives, making us laugh and cry, while simultaneously giving traction
to the engine that propels this free market economy forward into
the future. Advertising is the 'wonder' in Wonder Bread. Advertising is "the lubricant for the free-enterprise system."
I am one who believes that one of the greatest dangers of advertising
is not that of misleading people, but that of boring them to death. Ads are the cave art of the twentieth century. Advertising is the greatest art form of the twentieth century.
Advertising - a judicious mixture of flattery and threats. Don't bore your reader. You can't bore people into buying your
products or services. If your ad is boring than it probably means,
your company and your products are also boring. The word "you" is the most important word in the English language,
as far as writing advertising copy is concerned. People respond
to this word because they like talking about themselves and being
talked about in a positive manner. Promise, large promise, is the soul of an advertisement. Let advertisers spend the same amount of money improving their
products as they do advertising and they wouldn't have to advertise
it. Advertising doesn't create a product advantage. It can only convey
it. - Back to Top - AmbitionAchievement results from work realizing ambition. Ambition can creep as well as soar. Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine. Everyone is ambition. The question is whether he is ambitious to
be or to do. The man who starts out simply with the idea of getting rich won't
succeed, you must have a larger ambition. Act like you expect to get into the end zone. When you go in search of honey you must expect to be stung by bees.
Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the
bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway. Without purpose ... goals, ambitions, and dreams aren't worth the
paper they're written on. Without direction, a business plan, no
matter how carefully written, is simply a bunch of words ruining
a perfectly good blank sheet of paper. - Back to Top - BrandingA branding program should be designed to differentiate your cow
from all the other cattle on the range. Even if all the cattle on
the range look pretty much alike. Customers want brands that are narrow in scope and distinguishable
by a single word, the shorter the better. For a branding strategy to be successful, there must be a vision,
a My name is my brand. Money and power are not your true rewards. Your name, your principles,
It is important to distinguish between corporate identity, brand
identity, and brand image: 1) Corporate identity is concerned
with the visual aspects of a company's presence. 2) Brand identity
is the total proposition that a company makes to consumers - the
promise it makes. 3) Brand image, on the other hand, is the totality
of consumer perceptions about the brand, or how they see it, which
may not coincide with the brand identity. Suppliers and especially manufacturers have market power because
they have information about a product or a service that the customer
does not and cannot have, and does not need if he can trust the
brand. This explains the profitability of brands. 1. Brand is mission. Real branding is personal. - Back to Top - Buying/SellingBusiness is not financial science, it's about trading.. buying
and selling. It's about creating a product or service so good that
people will pay for it. The Internet will help achieve "friction free capitalism"
by putting buyer and seller in direct contact and providing more
information to both about each other. I am convinced that most companies don't maximize their barter
possibilities. Instead of aggressively reducing costs by trading
their services with those of their suppliers, they seem content
to pay top dollar for everything. In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative
original thinker unless you can also sell what you create. Management
cannot be expected to recognize a good idea unless it is presented
to them by a good salesman. I am the world's worst salesman, therefore, I must make it easy
for There are more fools among buyers than among sellers. A man trying to sell a blind horse always praises its feet. The buyer needs a hundred eyes; the seller but one. Always plan what you are going to sell to your customers next.
Never send a package to a customer without including an order form
for reorders and sales literature on other products you think they
might need. - Back to Top - CapitalismToday we have a temporary aberration called “industrial capitalism”
which is inadvertently liquidating its two most important sources
of capital.. the natural world and properly functioning societies.
No sensible capitalist would do that. For all of its faults (capitalism), it gives most hardworking people
a chance to improve themselves economically, even as the deck is
stacked in favor of the privileged few. Here are the choices most
of us face in such a system: Get bitter or get busy. The chief business of the American people is business. If we are not careful, capitalism will self-destruct. We will destroy
it as the companies have no conscience and do not really compete.
They are so big they can't go broke, so they simply acquire everything. Personally I think social entrepreneurism is fantastic, I feel
all this movement is great. However I think that ultimately capitalism
will have to evolve, and with it there will be changes in reporting
requirements which will pull different kinds of corporate decisions.
As more and more people wake up to the fact that further growth
does not necessarily bring improvements in quality of life (and
often exactly the opposite), sustainability is going to become one
of the key characteristics with which places want to be associated. Sustainable development is the thinking man's user-friendly capitalism. The inherent vice of capitalism is the uneven division of blessings,
while the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal division of
misery. - Back to Top - CommitmentGreat organizations demand a high level of commitment by the people
involved. I quickly learned that if I kept at it and plowed right through
the rejections I would eventually get somebody to buy my wares. The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire. My first six years in the business were hopeless. There are a lot
of times when you sit and you say "Why am I doing this? I'll
never make it. It's just not going to happen. I should go out and
get a real job, and try to survive. In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm... in the
real world all rests on perseverance. There are only two options regarding commitment. You're either
in or out. There's no such thing as a life in-between. We’ve had some tough times, but we’ve hung in there. I could have closed down bits of British Home Stores to make more
money but it’s not my style. I want to make my money as a
retailer, not by putting people out of work. Each Wal-Mart store should reflect the values of its customers
and support the vision they hold for their community You have to have your heart in the business and the business The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their
commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. - Back to Top - CompaniesThere is at least one point in the history of any company when
you have to change dramatically to rise to the next level of performance.
Miss that moment - and you start to decline. Most of today's market leaders are those companies who had the
foresight to recognize the changing landscape in today's modern
business world. The new business 'battle ground' has been very cruel
to those companies that have fallen behind the information curve. Every company has two organizational structures: The formal one
is written on the charts; the other is the everyday relationship
of the men and women in the organization. While the hype surrounding Web services may soon reach proportions
comparable to the bygone portal era, many companies are betting
that Web services will deliver. Being BIG is no good if your foundation is weak. A giant with skinny
legs is an invitation to be tripped. Companies succeed because they are . . . value driven. Excellent
companies believe that the basic philosophy of an organization has
far more to do with its achievements than do technological or economic
resources as well as organizational structures and innovation. In
other words, companies succeed if its members share a common vision
of their future, feel they are important part of the whole, and
look out for each other. In a start-up company, you basically throw out all assumptions
every three weeks. In a start-up company, you basically throw out all assumptions
every Organizations exist to enable ordinary people to do extraordinary
things. - Back to Top - CompetitionNobody talks more of free enterprise and competition and of the
best Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people. The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you
at all, but goes on making his own business better all the time. Competition is not only the basis of protection to the consumer,
but is the incentive to progress.” If you're not making mistakes, you're not taking risks, and that
means you're not going anywhere. The key is to make mistakes faster
than the competition, so you have more changes to learn and win.
Goodwill is the one and only asset that competition cannot undersell
Every business has competition. Even the American Football League
has to compete with basketball, hockey and other forms of entertainment.
Every business also wants to beat the competition, steal its market
share or perhaps even drive it into bankruptcy. But when starting
out, realize that competition isn't necessarily a bad thing. It
shows there's already some demand for the goods or services you
intend to offer. In fact, no competition is usually something that
should be treated with caution not jubilation. Take a good look at competitors who are superior due to better
service, quality, promotion, location, pricing strategies, displays,
packaging, and market timing. Also look at additional benefits competitors
offer con-sumers specific to your industry. Pay attention to that
nebulous, some-times indefinable ingredient called “brand
image.” In short, learn every-thing you can. In business,
what you don’t know can hurt you. The person who figures out how to harness the collective genius
of In business, the competition will bite you if you keep running;
if - Back to Top - CustomersYour most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. Never say no when a client asks for something -- even if it is
The question is, then, do we try to make things easy on ourselves
If you wish to prosper, let your customer prosper. In the United States, you say the customer is always right. In
Japan, we say the customer is God. There is a big difference. Always do what you say you are going to do. It is the glue and
fiber Never treat your audience as customers, always as partners. We've believed for 50 years that the Japanese are small Americans
who Above all, we wish to avoid having a dissatisfied customer. We should never be allowed to forget that it is the customer who,
Pretend that every single person you meet has a sign around his
or her neck that says, 'Make me feel important.' Not only will you
succeed in sales, you will succeed in life. What the customer demands is last year's model, cheaper. To find
When you are skinning your customers, you should leave some skin
on A courteous, creative initial contact with the customer can go
a long way to promote sales. If a customer has to wait for you say,
"I'll be with you in a moment." Such actions will reduce the number
of customers who leave without being served. When your are free
to help the waiting customer, your initial comment should be, "Thank
you for waiting." Customers can be a great and inexpensive source of information.
They can tell you facts, not only about your business, but about
your competitors as well. They can also tell you much about their
buying habits and help you detect trends. Make it a habit of asking
them what they like, need, and read. Jot down their requests and
suggestions for new products and services. Keep a notebook near
the cash register. If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love
what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success
will be yours. There is only one boss. The customer. And he can fire everybody
Letting your customers set your standards is a dangerous game,
because the race to the bottom is pretty easy to win. Setting your
own standards--and living up to them--is a better way to profit.
Not to mention a better way to make your day worth all the effort
you put into it. The absolute fundamental aim is to make money out of satisfying
A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was
the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief
was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers,
they would continue to open their wallets. Rule 1: The customer is always right. The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer. Give the public everything you can give them, keep the place as
clean as you can keep it, keep it friendly. Statistics suggest that when customers complain, business owners
and managers ought to get excited about it. The complaining customer
represents a huge opportunity for more business. - Back to Top - DecisionsA man who cannot make mistakes cannot do anything.
I found every single successful person I've ever spoken
to had a turning point. The turning point was when they made a clear,
specific unequivocal decision that they were going to achieve success.
Some people make that decision at 15 and some people make it at
50, and most people never make it at all. Each indecision brings its own delays and days are
lost lamenting over lost days... Decide what you want, decide what you are willing
to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work. Making good decisions is a crucial skill at every level. Wherever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous
decision. Give to us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what
to stand for - because unless we stand for something, we shall fall
for anything. You can't build a strong corporation with a lot of committees and
a Board that has to be consulted every turn. You have to be able
to make decisions on your own. Decisions are a way of defining ourselves. There comes a time in
life when there is nothing else to do but go your own way. Where
you are headed there are no trails, no paths, just your own instincts. The best way to predict the future is to create it. - Back to Top - DeterminationIt's the constant and determined effort that breaks down all resistance
and sweeps away all obstacles. I studied the lives of great men and famous women, and I found
that the men and women who got to the top were those who did the
jobs they had in hand, with everything they had of energy and enthusiasm
and hard work. The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often
comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won't. Rise early, work hard, strike oil. Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give
us the determination to make the right things happen. Perserverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after
another. - Back to Top - DreamsA rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates
it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral. Nothing happens unless first a dream. Remember, happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you
have, it depends solely upon what you think. Dreams come true if you survive the hard times! I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark
should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by
dry rot. Vision is the art of seeing things invisible. Dreams do not vanish, so long as people do not abandon them. Some people dream of success... while others wake up and work hard
at it. If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it,
you can become it. - Back to Top - EconomyThe message from Wal-Mart today to the rest of the business community
is there need not be any conflict between the environment and the
economy. We will find the way not only to reconcile (those), but
to find new profits and new opportunities as we do the right thing. In the new economy, information, education, and motivation are
everything. We have to shift our emphasis from economic efficiency and materialism
towards a sustainable quality of life and to healing of our society,
of our people and our ecological systems. The most important single central fact about a free market is that
no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit. Poverty has been created by the economic and social system that
we have designed for the world. It is the institutions that we have
built and feel so proud of, which created poverty them. If we are going to carry on growing, and we will, because no country
is going to forfeit its right to economic growth, we have to find
a way of doing it sustainably. - Back to Top - EntrepreneursNobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that's exactly
what it is and what nurtures creative thinking. The entrepreneur is our visionary, the creator in each of us. We're
born with that quality and it defines our lives as we respond to
what we see, hear, feel, and experience. It is developed, nurtured,
and given space to flourish or is squelched, thwarted, without air
or stimulation, and dies. Working for someone else is nothing like being an entrepreneur
and Entrepreneurs must learn to be like bloodhounds. Except instead
of sniffing out escaped convicts, lost children, or perhaps drugs
in the handbag of a little old lady from Pasadena, they must learn
how to sniff out the unmet needs of the people they wish to serve.
To win new customers, ask the golden question: "What's the unmet
want and how can we meet this unmet want before anybody else does?" I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn't really interested
in being an entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become an entrepreneur
in order to keep my magazine going. The entrepreneur is essentially a visualizer and actualizer...
He can visualize something, and when he visualizes it he sees exactly
how to make it happen. - Back to Top - EthicsSetting an example is not the main means of influencing others;
it is the only means. Conducting your business in a socially responsible way is good
The man who has won millions at the cost of his conscience is a
failure. Seven deadly sins: politics without principle; wealth without work;
pleasure without conscience; knowledge without character; business
without morality; science without humanity; and worship without
sacrifice. If something is wrong outside the realm of business, then it's
wrong inside the realm of business. Good actions ennoble us, we are the sons of our own deeds. A business is successful to the extent that it provides a product
or service that contributes to happiness in all of its forms. Real integrity is doing the right thing, knowing that nobody's
going to know whether you did it or not. Show class, have pride, and display character. We must intertwine business and ethics in a very fundamental way. There are no second chances for those who violate the ethical
code. It has become dramatically clear that the foundation of corporate integrity is personal integrity. , CEO of PriceswaterhouseCoopers Seek out that particular mental attribute which makes you feel
most deeply and vitally alive, along with which comes the inner
voice which says, "This is the real me," and when you
have found that attitude, follow it. - Back to Top - FailureMay you live in interesting times. The successful man will profit from his mistakes and try again
in a different way. Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two
of the surest stepping stones to success. A failure is a man who has blundered, but is not able to cash in
the experience. When I was a young man I observed than nine out of ten things I
did were failures. I didn’t want to be a failure, so I did
ten times more work Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently. There are two kinds of failures: those who thought and never did,
and those who did and never thought. Don't be afraid of failure; be afraid of petty success. More can be learned from what works than from what fails. Remember the two benefits of failure. First, if you do fail, you
learn what doesn't work; and second, the failure gives you the opportunity
to try a new approach. Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing
your enthusiasm. - Back to Top - FinanceBusiness is not financial science, it's about trading.. buying
and selling. It's about creating a product or service so good that
people will pay for it. Yet in buying goods it is best to pay ready money, because he that
sells upon credit expects to lose five per cent, by bad debts; therefore
he charges on all he sells upon credit an advance that shall make
up that deficiency. Before you can really start setting financial goals, you need to
determine where you stand financially. Usually with things, you go where you can find the financing to
do it.” Happiness is a positive cash flow. He that hath lost his credit is dead to the world. Literature was formerly an art and finance a trade; today it is
the reverse. A banker: the person who lends you his umbrella when the sun is
shining and wants it back the minute it rains. Revenue is vanity....margin is sanity....cash is king. - Back to Top - GoalsAlways bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more
important than any other one thing. Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is
reaching out and striving for his goals. Make your life a mission-not an intermission. If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else. The secret to productive goal setting is in establishing clearly
defined goals, writing them down and then focusing on them several
times a day with words, pictures and emotions as if we've already
achieved them. All you have to do is know where you're going. Many people fail in life, not for lack of ability or brains or
even courage but simply because they have never organized their
energies around a goal. Developing the plan is actually laying out the sequence of events
that have to occur for you to achieve your goal. There is no top. There are always further heights to reach. The true worth of a man is to be measured by the objects he pursues. A goal is a dream with a deadline. All successful people have a goal. No one can get anywhere unless
he knows where he wants to go and what he wants to be or do. All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have
fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed
impossible. Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength
lies solely in my tenacity. Business purpose and business mission are so rarely given adequate
thought is perhaps the most important cause of business frustration
and failure. Your long-term goals should be realistic, challenging, and attainable
statements of where you want your company to be in three to five
years following the direction outlined in your mission statement.
Long-term goals function as starting and organizational points,
to make it easier to process, prioritize, allocate resources, and
coordinate related short-term goals and objectives. A person who aims at nothing is sure to hit it. Four steps to achievement: Plan purposefully. Prepare prayerfully.
Proceed positively. Pursue persistently. - Back to Top - GreatnessAll great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning.
Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant's
revolving door. Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre
minds. The greatest power is often simple patience. Great work is done by people who are not afraid to be great. We may affirm that nothing great in the world has been accomplished
without passion. Heights by great men reached and kept were not obtained by sudden
flight but, while their companions slept, they were toiling upward
in the night. Deeds, not stones, are the true monuments of the great. Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance. Great lives are the culmination of great thoughts followed by great
actions. Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small
things brought together. - Back to Top - GreedThe essence of good advertising is not to inspire hope, but to
create greed. To do all the talking and not be willing to listen is a form of
greed. Too many people miss the silver lining because they’re expecting
gold. It is not the man who has little, but he who desires more, that
is poor. Do not hold grain waiting for higher prices when people are hungry. - Back to Top - IdeasI am aware that success is more than a good idea. It is timing
too. The simple joy of taking an idea into one's own hands and giving
it proper form, that's exciting. Information is the seed for an idea, and only grows when it's watered. You are surrounded by simple, obvious solutions that can dramatically
increase your income, power, influence and success. The problem
is, you just don't see them. A single idea, if it is right, saves us the labor of an infinity
of experiences. We live in an age in which superfluous ideas abound and essential
ideas are lacking. We are governed not by armies and police, but by ideas. Everyone who's ever taken a shower has an idea. It's the person
who gets out of the shower, dries off and does something about it
who makes a difference. To turn really interesting ideas and fledgling technologies into
a company that can continue to innovate for years, it requires a
lot of disciplines. The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn
better than a 'C', the idea must be feasible. - Back to Top - ImaginationImagination is more important than knowledge. Imagine. To know is nothing at all; to imagine is everything. A man to carry on a successful business must have imagination.
He must see things as in a vision, a dream of the whole thing. The soul never thinks without a mental picture. There is nothing that cannot be achieved by firm imagination. - Back to Top - InnovationWe are always saying to ourself.. we have to innovate. We got to
come up with that breakthrough. In fact, the way software works..
so long as you are using your existing software.. you don't pay
us anything at all. So we're only paid for breakthroughs. Everything can be improved. The winner is the chef who takes the same ingredients as everyone
else and produces the best results. If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking. When you innovate, you've got to be prepared for everyone telling
you you're nuts. The only purpose of a business is to bring in a customer; and there
are Necessity is the mother of invention. I invent nothing, I rediscover. If a man can .... make a better mousetrap, the world will make
a beaten path to his door. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit
them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations. Nothing is more terrible than activity without insight. Champions are pioneers, and pioneers get shot at. The companies
that They say a year in the Internet business is like a dog year.. equivalent
to seven years in a regular person's life. In other words, it's
evolving fast and faster. - Back to Top - InspirationA moments insight is sometimes worth a life's experience. What turns a mediocre mission statement into one that makes you
misty eyed every time you think of it is not a well-thought-out
company policy, goal, or target market, but rather a why
that makes it all worthwhile, a little piece of magic that comes
to you in the middle of the night—a seed for great inspiration. Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. Accordingly a genius
is often merely a talented person who has done all of his or her
homework. - Back to Top - InvestingWhen somebody buys a stock it's because they think it's going to
go up and the person who sold it to them thinks it's going to go
down. Somebody's wrong. When I'm bearish and I sell a stock, each sale must be at a lower
level than the previous sale. When I am buying, the reverse is true.
I must buy on a rising scale. I don’t buy long stocks on a
scale down, I buy on a scale up. When buying shares, ask yourself, would you buy the whole company? I have a problem with too much money. I can't reinvest it fast
enough, and because I reinvest it, more money comes in. Yes, the
rich do get richer. No one was ever ruined by taking a profit. Only buy something that you'd be perfectly happy to hold if the
market shut down for 10 years. - Back to Top - LeadershipIn every field of human endeavor, he that is first must perpetually
live in the white light of publicity. Whether the leadership be
vested in a man or in a manufactured product, emulation and envy
are ever at work. In art, in literature, in music, in industry,
the reward and the punishment are always the same. The reward is
widespread recognition; the punishment, fierce denial and detraction.
When a man’s work becomes a standard for the whole world, it also
becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes,
and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself. Nobody motivates today's workers. If it doesn't come from within,
it doesn't come. Fun helps remove the barriers that allow people
to motivate themselves. A true measure of a leader's greatness is how big they make others
feel. Leadership happens at every level of the organization and no one
can shirk from this responsibility. The cynic says, "One man can't do anything". In the past a leader was a boss. Today’s leaders must be
partners with their people.. they no longer can lead solely based
on positional power. The group will not prosper if the leader grabs the lion's share
of the credit for the good work that has been done. The best vision is insight. There is nothing more difficult...than to take the lead in the
introduction of a new order of things. Effective leaders use charisma, not managerial manipulation, to
get others to perform beyond expectations. They avoid acting like
cops, referees, ivory tower decision-makers or indifferent analysts.
They understand that leadership is often like show business - symbolic
and dramatic - and that they must occasionally play the role of
a cheerleader, coach, nurturer of heroes or coxswain in addition
to their main role as a builder and facilitator. The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn. A leader is someone who holds a vision and courageously implements
that vision in such a way that it resonates with the souls of people. The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision.
You can't blow an uncertain trumpet. Leaders aren't born, they are made. And they are made just like
anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have
to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal. The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people. - Back to Top - LuckI've found that luck is quite predictable. A great fortune depends on luck, a small one on diligence. Chance favors only the prepared mind. Luck is a dividend of sweat. The more you sweat, the luckier you
get. Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't
work for the rabbit. All of us have bad luck and good luck. The man who persists through
the bad luck - who keeps right on going - is the man who is there
when the good luck comes - and is ready to receive it. I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the
more I have of it. Fortune brings in some boats that are not steered. - Back to Top - ManagementThe "Nine-Minute Rule" is based on research that shows that effective
managers don't regularly block out large chunks of time for planning,
organizing and other management related tasks. Rather, their time
is fragmented, the average interval devoted to any one issue being
nine minutes. Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they
will surprise you with their ingenity. If you don't hire at least one or two people that are smarter than
you are, then you're a terrible manager and I don't need you. Management by objective works - if you know the objectives. Ninety
percent of the time you don't. Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult
for people to get their work done. The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good
men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep
from meddling with them while they do it. The person who figures out how to harness the collective genius
of his or her organization is going to blow the competition away. - Back to Top - MarketingMarkets are constantly in a state of uncertainty and flux and money
is make by discounting the obvious and betting on the unexpected.
It's just called "The Bible" now - we dropped the word
"Holy" to give it a more mass-market appeal. We're obviously going to spend a lot in marketing because we think
the product sells itself. The image-managers encourage the individual to fashion himself
into a smooth coin, negotiable in any market. No great marketing decisions have ever been made on quantitative
data. A market is the combined behavior of thousands of people responding
to information, misinformation and whim. People don’t believe what you tell them. Positioning is the marketing tool that helps prospects and customers Is the target market responsive? If you can't answer this question
'yes' without reasonable confidence, then the answer is 'no.' A
market can only be considered responsive if the majority of people
who make up that market, have in the recent past purchased a product
or service similar to the one you are considering. Mass marketing is a little like firing a shotgun into a flock of
geese and hoping to hit a few. Although having the potential to
be extremely profitable, it is often ineffective in today's highly
sophisticated and segmented markets, and what's even worse, can
easily set you back a small fortune. The social sciences have given marketing researchers the basics
for understanding why people buy certain products and services as
opposed to others. Psychologists and sociologists have probed motives,
wants, perceptions, attitudes, how people learn and forget, and
individual needs both learned and innate. However, most will agree
that the key to understanding why people buy, and for that matter
all human behavior, it to first understand what they believe in. Nothing astonishes men so much as common sense and plain dealing.
The point to remember about selling things is that, as well as
creating atmosphere and excitement around your products, you've
got to know what you're selling. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the
cheese. - Back to Top - Motivation Motivation is the art of getting people to do what you want them
to do because they want to do it. Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated. Motivation is like food for the brain. You cannot get enough in
one sitting. It needs continual and regular top up's. We know nothing about motivation. All we can do is write books
about it. A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it's better than no
inspiration at all. Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light
that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly. - Back to Top - NegotiationIn business, you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate. Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas
or My father said: "You must never try to make all the money
that's in a deal. Let the other fellow make some money too, because
if you have a reputation for always making all the money, you won't
have many deals. He who has learned to disagree without being disagreeable has discovered
the most valuable secret of a diplomat. The first principle of contract negotiation is don't remind them
of what you did in the past; tell them what you're going to do in
the future. - Back to Top - OpportunityYou've got to seize the opportunity if it is presented
to you. We are told that talent creates its own opportunities.
But it sometimes seems that intense desire creates not only its
own opportunities, but its own talents. A wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. Catch a man a fish, and you can sell it to him. Teach
a man to fish, and you ruin a wonderful business opportunity. Each of my days are miracles. I won't waste my day;
I won't throw away miracle. Always think outside the box and embrace opportunities
that appear, wherever they might be. If opportunity doesn't knock, build a door. Be ready when opportunity comes...Luck is the time
when preparation and opportunity meet. Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves
will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them,
they will make them. God gives every bird a worm, but he does not throw it into the
nest. Don't wait for opportunity to come knocking on your door ... go
out and give it directions. The sign on the door of opportunity reads PUSH. - Back to Top
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PartnershipA friendship founded on business is a good deal better than a business
founded on friendship. Creating a close connection to those you do business with has its
many risks, rewards and consequences. There are few things in business
I have encountered that are more difficult than firing someone,
particularly if that someone has always been, or has become a friend.
On the flipside, I have been rewarded with many friends The primary advantage of [a partnerhip] business formation is the
pooling of talent, experience, and capital. However, dual or multiple
ownership structures can lead to serious complications if the relationships
between individuals break down. Quite often, the pool becomes
a drain. If we are together nothing is impossible. If we are divided all
will fail. - Back to Top - PlanningWhen men speak of the future, the Gods laugh. It's not the plan that is important, it's the planning. If a man will begin with certainties he shall end in doubts; but
if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties. There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action. Before everything else, getting ready is the secret of success. It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers. We always plan too much and always think too little. Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country
road at night with no lights while looking out the back window. A business plan is primarily an organizing tool used to simplify
and clarify business goals and strategies, which might otherwise
appear complex and intimidating. However, a business plan is also
a sales tool. If it cannot convince at least one other person of
the value of your business idea, then either your idea is not worth
pursing, or your plan needs major rewriting. Having no plan is like sailing the seven seas without a compass,
digging a ditch without a shovel, or hunting for pirate's treasure
without an 'x' marks the spot. Without one, you're better off heading
down to the horse races and betting on the 'Win Three.' A plan helps
keep you on schedule, makes it easier to recognize success and failure,
helps pump you up when things aren't going so well, and most importantly,
provides an essential focus - a beacon of light in an ocean full
of treachery. In fact, a plan not only acts as your road map for
success (a metaphor that's been beaten to death), it is your vehicle
for prosperity, or if you prefer, your own personal prescription
for greatness. Planning is an unnatural process; it is much more fun to do something.
The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete
surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. The general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his
temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses makes
but few calculations beforehand. Planning without action is futile, action without planning is fatal.
- Back to Top - ProductsYour business relies upon passion - your passion for your products
and service. For it is your passion that will sustain you over the
long haul. A market is never saturated with a good product, but it is very
quickly saturated with a bad one. Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will
find your customers buying from them, not you. No matter what your product is, you are ultimately in the education
business. Your customers need to be constantly educated about the
many advantages of doing business with you, trained to use your
products more effectively, and taught how to make never-ending improvement
in their lives. The lifeblood of our business is that R&D spend. There's nothing
that flows through a pipe or down a wire or anything else. We have
to continuously create new innovation that lets people do something
they didn't think they could do the day before. - Back to Top - ProfitThe essence of a successful business is really quite simple. It
is your ability to offer a product or service that people will pay
for at a price sufficiently above your costs, ideally three or four
or five times your cost, thereby giving you a profit that enables
you to buy and to offer more products and services. Getting money is like digging with a needle; spending it is like
I do not believe maximizing profits for the investors is the only
acceptable justification for all corporate actions. The investors
are not the only people who matter. Corporations can exist for purposes
other than simply maximizing profits. I think one of the most misunderstood things about business in
America is that people are either doing things for altruistic reasons
or they are greedy and selfish, just after profit. That type of
dichotomy portrays a false image of business ... the whole idea
is to do both. Going after a target market larger than your ability to serve,
can lead to bankruptcy, not fortune—greed is no substitute
for good planning. On the other hand, going after a target market
too small to support your busi-ness is just plain silly. A target
market must be big enough to earn a profit. The worst crime against working people is a company which fails
to Profit is an illusion, cashflow is fact. Rule number 1: Never lose money. - Back to Top - QualityQuality begins on the inside... and then works its way out. Customers today want the very most and the very best for the very
least amount of money, and on the best terms. Only the individuals
and companies that provide absolutely excellent products and services
at absolutely excellent prices will survive. Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the
wind. I think it's very important that whatever you're trying to make
or sell, or teach has to be basically good. A bad product and you
know what? You won't be here in ten years. It is easier to do a job right than to explain why you didn't. A quality control system asks the following fundamental question:
"What needs to be done to see that the product is done right the
first time?" Poorly made products will cause you to lose customers
in a hurry. In addition, when a product fails to perform adequately,
orders are placed on hold, inventory starts piling up and returns
start pouring. All this results in serious cash flow problems. Quality is everyone's responsibility. Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high
intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution;
it represents the wise choice of many alternatives. - Back to Top - RiskEvery day, you'll have opportunities to take chances and to work
outside your safety net. Sure, it's a lot easier to stay in your
comfort zone.. in my case, business suits and real estate.. but
sometimes you have to take risks. When the risks pay off, that's
when you reap the biggest rewards. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature,
nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger
is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either
a daring adventure, or nothing. We don't grow unless we take risks. Any successful company is riddled
with failures. - Back to Top - StartupsTo accomplish great things, we must not only act but also dream,
not only plan but also believe. Behold the turtle, he makes progress only when he sticks his neck
out. I don't believe in pessimism. If something doesn't come up the
way you want, forge ahead. If you think it's going to rain, it will. Wisdom is knowing what to do next, skill is knowing how to do it,
and virtue is doing it. The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will,
and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts
on what they should have or would have done, or what they can't
do. To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. All glory comes from daring to begin. It is common sense to take a method and try it. If
it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something. Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending. Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we
must do. Fear not that thy life shall come to an end, but rather fear that
it shall never have a beginning. A hard beginning maketh a good ending. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Just Do It. Just Redo It. It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing because you can
only do a little. Do what you can. The great end of life is not knowledge but action. Make voyages! Attempt them... there's nothing else. Starting a business is like getting married. There is no good time
and no bad time. You miss 100% of the shots your never take. Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you
just sit there. - Back to Top - SuccessA man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited
enthusiasm. The toughest thing about success is that you've got to keep on
being a success. I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything
they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer. Businesses are successful because someone makes the sacrifices
What is it that you like doing? If you don't like it, get out of
it, because you'll be lousy at it. You don't have to stay with a
job for the rest of your life, because if you don't like it you'll
never be successful in it. If, at first, you do succeed, try to hide your astonishment. To be a success in business, be daring, be first, be different. Successful entrepreneurs are able to make great discoveries . .
. because they keep alive within themselves the curiosity and wonderment
of a small child exploring the universe . . . for the first time.
True wealth is the harmonious coexistence of all there is, was
and ever shall be. It is a combination of self-determination, self-expression,
self-realization and complete unreserved love for humanity, life
and the universe. It is also, unfortunately, a sucker's trap - its
reality infinitely intangible, its possession as feasible as playing
hopscotch on the shadows of Jupiter. Passion is the single most powerful competitive advantage an organization
can claim in building its success. Success has a simple formula: do your best, and people may like
it. - Back to Top - TaxesIn this world nothing is certain but death and taxes. The difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion is the thickness
of a prison wall. Be at the pains of putting down every single item of expenditure
whatsoever every day which could possibly be twisted into a professional
expense and remember to lump in all the doubtfulls. The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that still
carries any reward. There is no such thing as a good tax. - Back to Top - TeamworkTeamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision.
The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational
objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon
results. The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. Today’s organizations thrive when they maximize what they
know. Results depend on the collective talents and creativity of
people. Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your
own reputation. It is better be alone than in bad company. There is one rule for industrialists and that is: make the best
quality goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest
wages possible. Motivate them, train them, care about them, and make winners out
of them... they'll treat the customers right. And if customers are
treated right, they'll come back. People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn't
make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A
company is only as good as the people it keeps. Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and
they will show themselves great. The best executive has the sense enough to pick good men, and the
self-restraint enough to keep from meddling. Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a
team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
Teams do not go physically flat, they go mentally stale. - Back to Top - TechnologyA computer doesn't charge for overtime and doesn't get healthcare
benefits. I think it's fair to say that personal computers have become the
most empowering tool we've ever created. They're tools of communication,
they're tools of creativity, and they can be shaped by their user. The computer is no better than its programme. A computer lets you make more mistakes faster than any invention
in human history - with the possible exceptions of handguns and
tequila. Technology has spearheaded the home-based and home-office business
back into the entrepreneurial consciousness. In fact, with advances
in portable computers, cellular phones, modems, and Fax machines,
this type of business is fast becoming the ONLY solution to escalating
retail and office location costs. Software cannot replace greyware. - Back to Top - Benjamin FranklinBeware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship. Diligence is the mother of good luck. Drive your business! Let not that drive thee. Do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of. Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and
wise. God helps them that help themselves. Industry pays debts, while despair increases them. Keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee. Little strokes fell great oaks. The borrower is slave to the lender and the debtor to the creditor. The sleeping fox catches no poultry. There will be sleeping enough in the grave. - Back to Top - |
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