Single Best Piece of Business Advice You've Received?

[singlecoil]

sjc said:

singlecoil said:

Rude-boy said:

singlecoil said:

I would have to say that there is plenty of 'sayings' but very little USABLE advice.

They are mainly just a load of old sayings. If that is all you take them as. Think about them, and put meaning behind them into practice and they can pay dividends.

I note what you say, but most of the 'sayings' are indeed just that, and don't actually consitute useful advice unless one takes the saying as a starting point and, in effect, creats one's own advice.

Take for example the "never put off til tomorrow what you can do today". It sounds good but in practice is of virtually no help. Anyone running a business is, usually, going to be short of time. Of course he will have to put some things off til tomorrow, not because he will be going home early, but because he will be doing something else.

The saying you used as an example was mine.How odd that you think it is "of virtually no help",you've used a straightforward piece of advice and turned it into something way more complicated.
That very ethic I put in place from day one has meant in an ever more competitive market over 23 years we still have, as a large account, the client who gave us our very first order.That 23 years is littered with customer service awards, and yet we've never put ourselves forward for one.I've no doubt one of the reasons is other potential suppliers DO put off that phone call/quote/thankyou/loose end until tomorrow.
Still what do I know,when I turn into my drive, I must remind myself I was wrong to follow the advice which was of virtually no help.

I'm fear you have rather missed my central point, which is, that there are always things that can be done today, too many of them in fact to be done in one day. Some of those things NEED to be put off until tomorrow because there simply isn't enough hours in the day to do everything that can be done today. In other words, if your advice was that a business owner should carefully choose which things he is going to do today, and which things he will, regretfully, have to put off until tomorrow, then perhaps you need an aphorisim which makes that point.

[sjc]

singlecoil said:

sjc said:

singlecoil said:

Rude-boy said:

singlecoil said:

I would have to say that there is plenty of 'sayings' but very little USABLE advice.

They are mainly just a load of old sayings. If that is all you take them as. Think about them, and put meaning behind them into practice and they can pay dividends.

I note what you say, but most of the 'sayings' are indeed just that, and don't actually consitute useful advice unless one takes the saying as a starting point and, in effect, creats one's own advice.

Take for example the "never put off til tomorrow what you can do today". It sounds good but in practice is of virtually no help. Anyone running a business is, usually, going to be short of time. Of course he will have to put some things off til tomorrow, not because he will be going home early, but because he will be doing something else.

The saying you used as an example was mine.How odd that you think it is "of virtually no help",you've used a straightforward piece of advice and turned it into something way more complicated.
That very ethic I put in place from day one has meant in an ever more competitive market over 23 years we still have, as a large account, the client who gave us our very first order.That 23 years is littered with customer service awards, and yet we've never put ourselves forward for one.I've no doubt one of the reasons is other potential suppliers DO put off that phone call/quote/thankyou/loose end until tomorrow.
Still what do I know,when I turn into my drive, I must remind myself I was wrong to follow the advice which was of virtually no help.

I'm fear you have rather missed my central point, which is, that there are always things that can be done today, too many of them in fact to be done in one day. Some of those things NEED to be put off until tomorrow because there simply isn't enough hours in the day to do everything that can be done today. In other words, if your advice was that a business owner should carefully choose which things he is going to do today, and which things he will, regretfully, have to put off until tomorrow, then perhaps you need an aphorisim which makes that point.

Way too complicated.And you're now even telling me in what manner I need to put my point across.There wasn't a point,just a simple fact and piece of advise (as the O.P asked)that helped me start something at 23 and by following it's ethic has given my family and myself a lovely life.No-one need follow, they could simply spend their time on here stating(as Basil Fawlty might say)the bleedin obvious.

[leeb]

You don't have to know everything, but you must know who knows what you need.

[aceparts]

Do more of what works, less of what don't

[singlecoil]

singlecoil said:

sjc said:

Way too complicated.And you're now even telling me in what manner I need to put my point across.There wasn't a point,just a simple fact and piece of advise (as the O.P asked)that helped me start something at 23 and by following it's ethic has given my family and myself a lovely life.No-one need follow, they could simply spend their time on here stating(as Basil Fawlty might say)the bleedin obvious.

I'm not telling you how to make your point, I'm saying that, although you have replied to my post, you haven't addressed my point. But that's ok, if you don't want to address it then that's your choice.

edited to add-
Let me make my point clearer, by enlarging on it, and it may well be that the way your business works is sufficiently different to mine that it makes no sense to you anyway-

At the end of the day, when I have spent the amount of time I have chosen to make available, I am faced with a long list of things that I could do, some of them would take 30 minutes, some of them would take several hours, some of them could easily take many days. Does your advice apply to me then? If I did everything that I would otherwise put off, I'd still be at work when it was time to start the next day.

The reason why I maintain that the 'not putting off' advice is of little use is that every other business owner that I know is in the same position.

Edited by singlecoil on Friday 16th September 20:08

[Gene Vincent]

'Turn 'round'.

Turn 'round opportunities into quotes asap, turn 'round quotes into backup calls asap, turn 'round outlay into income asap, turn 'round income into profit asap, turn profit into growth asap. But at some point in that chain stop turning when you have what you want or you are where you want to be.

I suppose its a more detailed never let the grass grow under your feet. Not an intellectual statement but it works for me and I take stock and check I'm doing things in good time in every department.

[didelydoo]

+40%.

Always + 40%

[Gene Vincent]

didelydoo said:

+40%.

Always + 40%

We use +43% it means that you get 25% of your turnover as direct profit after VAT... so 1,000,000 turnover means 250,000 gross profit.

[Dr Jekyll]

People who enjoy meetings should not be allowed to organise them.

[singlecoil]

I'll offer a piece of advice that I come across on US forums, and with which I agree-
"no-one ever lay on their deathbed wishing they had spent more time on their business"

It's far too easy to become obsessed by a business (especially one that does well in a financial sense), and to forget why you are doing it in the first place. I know a guy who has a LOT of money, and he leaves the house at 6am everyday, and gets back over 12 hours later.

[Dr Jekyll]

But I bet a lot of people on their deathbed, or in their old people's home, wish they had achieved a bit more while they had the chance.

[singlecoil]

Dr Jekyll said:

But I bet a lot of people on their deathbed, or in their old people's home, wish they had achieved a bit more while they had the chance.

Achieved what? More money?

[sjc]

singlecoil said:

singlecoil said:

sjc said:

Way too complicated.And you're now even telling me in what manner I need to put my point across.There wasn't a point,just a simple fact and piece of advise (as the O.P asked)that helped me start something at 23 and by following it's ethic has given my family and myself a lovely life.No-one need follow, they could simply spend their time on here stating(as Basil Fawlty might say)the bleedin obvious.

I'm not telling you how to make your point, I'm saying that, although you have replied to my post, you haven't addressed my point. But that's ok, if you don't want to address it then that's your choice.

Jesus Christ,I'm not going to get into some petty argument the likes of which you and BSR caused on the Mccann thread simply because you're trolling for one.But well done again, for trying to dominate someone elses thread.No more from me.

[robsti]

singlecoil said:

I'll offer a piece of advice that I come across on US forums, and with which I agree-
"no-one ever lay on their deathbed wishing they had spent more time on their business"

It's far too easy to become obsessed by a business (especially one that does well in a financial sense), and to forget why you are doing it in the first place. I know a guy who has a LOT of money, and he leaves the house at 6am everyday, and gets back over 12 hours later.

That's why he has a "LOT" of money !

[Dr Jekyll]

robsti said:

singlecoil said:

I'll offer a piece of advice that I come across on US forums, and with which I agree-
"no-one ever lay on their deathbed wishing they had spent more time on their business"

It's far too easy to become obsessed by a business (especially one that does well in a financial sense), and to forget why you are doing it in the first place. I know a guy who has a LOT of money, and he leaves the house at 6am everyday, and gets back over 12 hours later.

That's why he has a "LOT" of money !

Pah! It's only a half day.

[singlecoil]

sjc said:

singlecoil said:

singlecoil said:

sjc said:

Way too complicated.And you're now even telling me in what manner I need to put my point across.There wasn't a point,just a simple fact and piece of advise (as the O.P asked)that helped me start something at 23 and by following it's ethic has given my family and myself a lovely life.No-one need follow, they could simply spend their time on here stating(as Basil Fawlty might say)the bleedin obvious.

I'm not telling you how to make your point, I'm saying that, although you have replied to my post, you haven't addressed my point. But that's ok, if you don't want to address it then that's your choice.

Jesus Christ,I'm not going to get into some petty argument the likes of which you and BSR caused on the Mccann thread simply because you're trolling for one.But well done again, for trying to dominate someone elses thread.No more from me.

I've obviously upset you, that certainly wasn't my intention. Although my earlier remarks accurately reflect my opinions on the subject, it's certainly nothing I feel strongly enough to be worth arguing over, so consider them withdrawn.

[Soir]

Don't be a busy fool (just focus on the parts of your job that actually matter)

[cts1975]

Work smart - not hard.
Take people out of the market place before somebody else does.
Never under value yourself - If your good let people know, that you know that.

From my car salesman days:
The salesman always gets the last laugh
Smile down the phone

And from my late grandad 'Keep away from fast women and slow horses'

[Dr Jekyll]

cts1975 said:

Work smart - not hard.
Take people out of the market place before somebody else does.
Never under value yourself - If your good let people know, that you know that.

From my car salesman days:
The salesman always gets the last laugh
Smile down the phone

And from my late grandad 'Keep away from fast women and slow horses'

Not exactly business advice, more career advice. 'Don't worry about whether it's a secure job, worry about whether you'll develop marketable skills.'

[cts1975]

Dr Jekyll said:

Not exactly business advice, more career advice. 'Don't worry about whether it's a secure job, worry about whether you'll develop marketable skills.'

The first paragraph was meant as business advice - I gave my career up when I started my business.