Three Lessons From a Life in Business

When I immigrated to North America, I arrived with three things: Twenty dollars in my pocket, my education, and a youthful desire to succeed. With those assets, I started a very small business (just me) and withstood the hard knocks for the first few years, surviving mainly by trial and error. I started with a vision, I believed it before it was real, and I was relentless about making that vision a reality.

Over the years I learned a lot of valuable lessons, many of which I have shared here in these articles, as well as in my seminars and workshops. But here are three key lessons – three realities that I have come to understand that every business must face.

1. Businesses have a reality about resources, and that means being selective about which opportunities to pursue. Sometimes, seeing the possibilities is the easy part; however, when there simply isn't enough time, money or energy to chase down everything that is possible at the same time, there has to be a strategy for prioritizing. For instance, I have found that it makes sense – from an economic and philosophical point of view – to choose one source of support and go deep with them.

2. Profitability is an essential component to client service. It's easy to say that people come first, and money is secondary, and that is absolutely true. But the reality is any business that is unprofitable will eventually fail its clients either indirectly by cutting corners or directly by going out of business altogether. The Mayo Clinic could not be the exceptional care provider it is known as today if it were not also a well-run business.

3. What you get done is more important than what you say you are going to do. It doesn't matter whether you're talking about commitments to clients or internal business objectives; actions always speak louder than words. A solid day of focused activity is worth more than endless weeks of dreaming of what could be. That's why I tell people who come to our workshops, "Don't just go home and put this course binder on your shelf. Find three things and go deep with them right away." Action creates its own momentum.

In the end, the secret to success in any business is to master the balancing act, to figure out how much energy and resources to apply where and when. Solutions are not always automatic or intuitive. The important thing is to have a vision and a plan.

The average person probably spends more time planning their annual vacation than planning their business and professional strategy each year. That is why they are average. Being above average is all about recognizing the realities of business and making the commitment to be better.