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December 12, 2007

The Best Business Advice Ever . . . in 50 Words

ME Liz Strauss wrote this at 7:19 am

Have you been following the b5media Business Apprentice Team Challenge? Up to now, two teams have been advising a fictional entrepreneur called Kay on her business decisions. Last week, while I was gone, my team — the Aces — won again. They are a brilliant group. You can catch up on what’s happened so far at b5media Business Apprentice updates.

This week it becomes every blog on our own.

Our Task: Give Kay the best business advice we’ve ever heard . . . in 50 words. –Liz

Some Advice for Kay

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My father listened more than he talked. After a large sit-down at our house, a friend once remarked, “That meal was over an hour. The only word I heard your father say was bread. He didn’t even ask for the butter.”

When I told my dad, his reply made me laugh. He said, “I don’t like butter much.”

My dad left home and school in 1919. He was 12. Everything he knew about business and life he learned from paying attention to the world around him.

It was my dad who taught me to view the world as a lifelong business school.

The Best Business Advice Ever . . . in 50 Words

Each morning when he drove me to school, my dad would point out people we saw and tell me what he observed. When we got the place where he dropped me off, we had a small ritual — a sort of script we would go through. I can’t say quite how it started, and I no longer remember it word for word. But it went something like this . . .

Dad would park the car, turn to me, smile, and ask, “What’s the score?”

I would answer the same every time, with words I had learned from him — bits at a time — over the years. To this day it’s the best business advice I’ve ever heard.

Learn your business from your customers. Understand their minds, their hearts, and their lives. Do what you do to make their lives easier. When a problem comes, leave them a place to stand and stand tall beside them. . . . And remember, everyone is your customer, even your dad.

Dad

Then his eyes would light with smile. He’d offer his huge, work-worn hand, shake mine, give a nod, and say, “It’s a pleasure doing business with you.”

I’d answer something like, “Oh dad, you’re too cool.”

All I would add is cherish the rituals and traditions. They make moments remarkably unforgettable.

What’s the best business advice you ever heard? Is there a story that goes with it?

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If you think my dad’s advice would serve a young entrepreneur, would you give Successful-Blog a vote in the poll in the sidebar at TAXGIRL?



–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!

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11 Comments to “The Best Business Advice Ever . . . in 50 Words”

  1. December 12th, 2007 at 7:25 am
    Mig said

    Liz, aside the excellent business advice, I couldn’t help a tear. This is such a beautiful way to give advice and to remind us who are our real teachers! I’ve learned a lot from my father too: he thought me to be honest no matter what. Honesty is the best business card he always says.

  2. December 12th, 2007 at 7:28 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Mig!
    Yeah, it’s the folks who’ve been there and who love us that teach us the most. I would like your father. I can tell. :)

  3. December 12th, 2007 at 11:58 am
    Mother Earth said

    Oh my gosh this made me cry too - i adored my dad, but he was just too darn self absorbed to be a mentor of anything but selfishness - perhaps that itself taught me everything i didn’t want to be - in a backwards kindof way

    I have great admiration for the parent who takes on leading by example, mentorship and the sharing of who they are and what made them so… this makes me feel like I want to crawl into your dad’s lap and just be with him - not a word spoken - just a knowing

    I came to peace with all that my dad
    “wasn’t” about 10 yrs ago and just focused on what he was - an awesome story teller ( even if the stories were always about him!!), a gregarious laugh, and a love of people

    something very cool about that

    thank you for the subtle reminder that today I set asside to work on my sales taxes of which i am aptly procrastinating on —so much so that it was completely out of my mind until I saw taxgirl —oooops synchronicity at it’s best

    Mother Earth aka Karen Hanrahan
    http://www.wellnessconsultant.com

  4. December 12th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Earth Mother!
    Great advice can come to us in so many ways . . . even unsaid. You paid attention and you learned so much — I know. I’ve talked to you. :)

  5. December 12th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
    Aruni said

    Great advice. I went over there and voted for you. :-)

  6. December 12th, 2007 at 10:47 pm
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Aruni!
    It was a fun story to remember. Thank you!

    :)

  7. December 13th, 2007 at 6:26 am
    Craig Harper said

    The best business advice I ever received was:
    Get the people stuff right… Too many business owners and bosses get everything right except the people stuff… and they fail. Your biggest challenge in business (unless you’re flying solo) will not be about marketing, business models, your competition or corporate logo.. it will be about egos, attitudes, personalities, opinions, emotions and politics - people.

  8. December 13th, 2007 at 8:00 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Craig!
    I so agree. If we forget to treat people like people who deserve respect, they will find a way to remind us. My experience is those reminders are noisy and not particularly nice. :)

  9. January 10th, 2008 at 7:15 am
    Catherine Lawson said

    Hi Liz - great post and so true. The brightest people I have met are good listeners. And the ones who don’t know when to shut up are some of the dumbest.

    I suppose I’ve received a whole heap of business advice, but the first thing that comes to mind is: Keep an eye on your cashflow. Cashflow, or lack of it can make or break your business.

  10. January 10th, 2008 at 7:24 am
    ME Liz Strauss said

    Hi Catherine!
    Cash flow . . . ah yes, I know a company that went way deep down that hole. It’s not pretty. :)

  11. February 10th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
    5 Traits I Find In Successful Entrepreneurs | Yes to Me said

    […] Strauss at Successful Blog has a good post about this. It is titled The Best Business Advice Ever . . . in 50 Words. She says she learned the most important business lesson from her father. Let me […]

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