Each week we ask some leading questions to an entrepreneur or business owner.
Here’s some of our favourite replies to … What do you wish someone had told you at the beginning of your career?
“I wish someone had told me the quickest way to a large company is through acquisition. Heck, even starting from scratch, if you can acquire a company instead of build one you’re leagues ahead on day 1. Then acquire another and another. If you acquired a $1 million company annually, in 10 years you’d own a $10 million company. Since large companies are worth a higher multiple, once your company is large enough, the best way to unlock your wealth is through going public. My mind was blown when I heard this.”
Bradford Kindergan – Business Investor & Consultant at Blackhouse PE
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“Learn as much as you can as fast as you can. Fail fast and Fail forward; the quicker you can test things out the better off you will be. The Key is Failing Forward, ie., learning from it so you can steer yourself, not failing catastrophically. Finally, go start your own business of some kind: have the goal to make a mark on the world.”
Daniel Schwartz – CEO at Playbox Worldwide Limited
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“A 90% correct solution that has the full support of the team will dramatically outperform the best solution that is only owned by an individual.”
Tim Gray – Supply Chain Expert at www.prophitsystems.com
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“This one is easy for me. I used to do my best in terms of planning the business and making sure I can eliminate the risks and predict the future of the growth. However, what I missed was the fact that such a planning at the very beginning is not necessary as there are many more variables that most of us can predict. That’s why focusing on quick, efficient tactical moves aligned with the direction you want to go are much more important at the start. The next important step would be understanding the time when you need to switch focus to building and sticking to the strategy.”
Iurii Znak – Founder and CEO at Respect.Studio
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“Whether students learn or not, that is not entirely up to us. We can give them the best explanation, the best story to illustrate the relevance or the best resources but if the student is not ready to receive, those are all wasted. Incredible as it sounds, it is true from first hand experience. I wish someone had advised me to keep access to learning for students 24/7.”
Victor Tang – Educator, Innovator, Investor