Many successful entrepreneurs across the world had to start from somewhere. The primary question on the mind of any young entrepreneur is how did they get there? How did they conquer major setbacks in business? These intelligent minds have had their ups and downs. They also had to go through the toughest of challenges to make their businesses sustainable. It is no news that many SMEs in Nigeria have a short shelf life. Are you a business owner or entrepreneur? Do you want to be as successful as entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs or Mark Zukerberg? The wealth of wisdom will guide you in decision making and the overall execution pattern of your business.
1. Bill Gates
“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”
Some entrepreneurs will hate the dreadful idea of having to deal with difficult clients. However, according to Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corporation, difficult clients are an asset. They can become a stepping stone to your next level in business. They help you know the flaws of your product or service truthfully and can enlighten you better on how to rectify it.
2. Steve Jobs
“Quality is much better than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.”
Co-founder Steve Jobs emphasized the importance of quality over quantity. He paid a great deal of attention to detail. For him, it was not about the amount of work done but about the quality being produced. It is no wonder that Apple remains an undefeated authority in the market today. Steve Jobs is undeniably one of the greatest innovators in history.
3. Mark Zukerberg
“Move fast and make mistakes”.
Well, let this not surprise you. For Mark Zukerberg, moving quickly in your business allows you to make more mistakes and correct them promptly. For him, it was an opportunity to learn faster. “Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster. We have a saying: “Move fast and break things.” The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough.”
4. Arianna Huffington
“You have to really believe in your product to deal with the naysayers and persevere.”
Arianna Huffington is a co-founder of The Huffington Post and author of the New York Times best-seller “The Sleep Revolution”. “If you’re going to start a business, you need to love it, because not everybody is going to love it. When The Huffington Post was first launched in 2005, there were so many detractors. I remember a critic who wrote that The Huffington Post was an unsurvivable failure.”
5. Jeff Bezos
“The most important single thing is to focus obsessively on the customers. Our goal is to be the world’s most customer-centric company.”
Jeff Bezos is the CEO of Amazon. Jeff Bezos outpaced Bill Gates as the richest man in the world. For Jeff Bezos, his success is tied to being customer-focused. He was able to put his customers above everything else. This could be the one singular business advice that would change the entire landscape of your business.
6. Tony Robbins
“Business success is 80% psychology and 20% mechanics.”
Tony Robbins is an entrepreneur and Philanthropist. However, he is famous for his best selling books. He is also an expert in the psychology of leadership and organizational turnaround. His advice to young entrepreneurs is that they should be clear about their strengths and weaknesses as well as their goals to achieve their objectives.
7. Richard Branson
“Business opportunities are like buses; there is always another one coming.”
Richard Branson has over 400 and a diverse business portfolio ranging from airlines to record stores. He emphasized the need always to keep a diverse business portfolio and look out for big opportunities out there.
8. Mark Cuban
“Choose something that you both love and are good at.”
Mark Cuban is an entrepreneur and investor on ABC’s Shark Tank. In his interview on 30 Days of Genius with CreativeLive, Mark talked a lot about the mistakes many new entrepreneurs make. He advised entrepreneurs to ask themselves two questions, “Is it something you love to do and is this something you’re good at?” It is essential to spend a lifetime in a business you both love and are great at.
9. Robert Herjavec
“You have 90 seconds if you’re lucky. If you can’t make your point persuasively in that time, you’ve lost the chance for impact. Facts and figures are important, but it’s not the only criteria, you must present in a manner that generates expertise and confidence.”
According to Robert Herjavec, an investor and entrepreneur, if you are not prepared to make your pitch, you will miss out on significant business opportunities.
10. Tim Ferriss
“Choose your friends wisely. You’re the average of the five people you associate with most.”
Tim is a New York Times best-selling author of three books, including The 4-Hour Workweek. According to him, this is one of the best business advice he has ever received.
“I’ve actually heard this from more than one person, including bestselling authors, Drew Houston of Dropbox, and many others who are icons of Silicon Valley. It’s something I re-read every morning. It’s also said that ‘your network is your net worth.’ These two work well together.”
Many successful entrepreneurs have had to fail multiple times before gaining the wisdom they needed to succeed in their business today. As a young entrepreneur, learning from these successful entrepreneurs will give you an edge. It will help you manage your business as well as avoid major pitfalls and mistakes that could cost you. Go ahead and do what you love. Listen to customer complaints, focus on quality, and watch your startup business skyrocket.