The Best Business Advice...EVER

“Treat your customers like gold.
New customers are hard to get, so pay attention to the details of your
product. Customers will notice.
And if you make a mistake,
acknowledge it, fix it and
move forward.”
–Amy Barber Terschluse,
Express Employment Professionals

“Create an advisory board. A group of professionals who will truthfully advise you on the direction of your business, not just pat you on the back. This is my first business, and a lot of things are new to me. So it’s very helpful to have people who have been there as a guide. Creating an advisory board was something I had in my business plan, but I didn’t do it until about midway through. It would have been helpful to do it from the beginning.”
–Floyd Simms, Simms Building Group

“You must have a vision when you start off a business. You will have employees that will work for you, and you want to be able to give them a career, not just a job. This year we will do $325 million worth of moving. We run all of those moves with only 77 employees in our corporate office. Employers must inject adventure into work. Our goal is to be the best moving company in the world. If you talked to the 77 employees here, they would each say they are doing something that’s helping to make our company the best in the world. They see where we are going, and they want to be part of it. So my advice is to start with why you are doing it. Then provide your employees with an adventure, share your profits with them and be honest about the company’s struggles.”
–Brig Sorber, Two Men and a Truck

“Don’t be afraid to succeed, and never, ever be comfortable with the status quo – and communicate.”
–Bennett Keller, Lathrop & Gage LLP

“Take the time to prepare as detailed a business plan as you can, turning to your accountant, as needed, on matters relating to financial projections. Once the plan is in place, revisit it frequently, particularly at times of significant change, and make revisions as necessary.”
–David P. Weiss, Weiss Attorneys at Law

“Don’t sign agreements, leases, forbearances or loan documents just to solve an immediate problem. Instead, take into account future ramifications of the agreement and understand that agreement from the perspective of the present as well as six months, one year and five years from now. Otherwise you may find that you actually prolong business distress rather than resolve it.”
–Eric C. Peterson, Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale PC

“Pursue your passion with devotion and attention to detail; listen well; surround yourself with smart people.”
–Gregory R. Smith, Husch Blackwell

“Surround yourself with professional advisers who understand your business and are genuinely interested in helping your business prosper.”
–Lawrence “Bud” Wittels, The Enterprise Law Group

“The best advice I can give to those who own small businesses is to focus on doing that which you do well and rely on the advice of others who either are professionals or who have had experience with addressing whatever issue the business owner is confronting. My experience has been that business owners get into the most trouble when they make decisions on emotional and uninformed bases. The cost to fix problems later is generally far greater in terms of time and money expended than the time and cost of getting the right information initially to make an informed business decision.”
–Robert H. Epstein, Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP

“You need to understand all levers
of your business prior to making a large financial commitment.
In the early days you should perfect your prototype – before putting all your resources into it.
Otherwise you burn through
your money, energy and time.
That’s the value of bootstrapping.
You figure out all the levers first.”
–Chuck Cohn, Varsity Tutors

“Find a mentor with a proven track record to give you solid advice and to help you strategically build your business. Seeking out the wisdom of other business owners who can offer a ‘been-there, done-that’ perspective is invaluable. These are the best learning experiences. In addition, it motivates you to do more.
–Kyle Laramie, Veterans Care Coordination

“You can tell if you really love something if you lose track of time doing it. Follow what you love because the more time you spend
doing something, the better you will be at it. You can use your skills to build personal traits and then help others. Supporting others is what
truly fulfills you. “
–Brett Ledbetter, Ledbetter Academy

“Passion sells. If you believe in something, chances are someone else will too. Take initiative. And lastly, my grandfather always told me: “Everything is possible. Impossible is impossible.”
–Roya Moshiri, Advantage Consulting Inc.

“Go for it. Life is short. Take educated risks. Document everything. Get involved in the community and network. And do it all with ethics and integrity.”
–Alice Ferguson, Foam Products Corp.

“Always learn from others. Your competitors and peers are a great source of knowledge. The relationships that you build with people involved within your industry will help you grow and succeed. This is definitely something that has helped my company become what it is today.”
–Mike Rottler, Rottler Pest & Lawn Solutions

“Get connected quickly. Join organizations and dig in quickly. Don’t stay on the periphery. Even though you are busy, jump in. This town is full of meaningful connections.”
–David Boykin, Westward Financial Strategies

“Trust in the greatness of others. Recognize that we all can accomplish so much more through teamwork.”
–Ben Newman, author of “Own YOUR Success: The Power to Choose Greatness and Make Every Day Victorious”

“I was an adjunct professor at Washington University. I told my students not to start a business right out of college. I say screw up on someone else’s dime. Work in the field, be observant and nurture your skills. Take it all in before graduating and starting your own business. Get an education from those with more experience.”
–Cheree Berry, Cheree Berry Paper

“Listen carefully to customers. They will tell you, or be strangely silent, if something is wrong. So you have to be flexible.”
–Dorothy Carlin, Simply Strategy

“Don’t rest on your laurels. Always keep improving your business. You may be earning the income you want, but you need to keep improving because you won’t get a maximum purchase price unless your business is growing.”
–Barb Hartung, Turning Point Advisors LLC

“If you treat your customers how you’re supposed to, how you would expect to be treated, you will always have customers.”
–Dawn Weinhardt, Weinhardt Party Rentals Inc.

“Don’t try to do it all yourself. You need to have balance in work and life. There are times work takes over, but eventually you need to find the balance again.”
–Kim Sagartz, Seventh Wave Laboratories LLC

“Stay true to your values. It may mean turning business away, but that’s OK. My decisions are based on honesty and integrity. This comes full-circle because my clients recognize my integrity. It’s my most valuable tool.”
–Vicki Hudson, Hudson Management Services

“I have never taken money out of the business. I never spend more than we take in. We have a rainy-day fund. We keep the money in the company. This year we hired 10 new employees, and we needed that cash reserve for expansion.”
–Vicki LaRose, Civil Design Inc.

“Focus on your niche! Don’t try to be all things to all people.”
–Scott Scully, Abstrakt Marketing

“Trust your gut. All business owners make mistakes. I have made several because I went against my gut instinct. I have found that when I trust my gut, I am right 99% of the time.”
–George DeMare, Midwest Mortgage

“Be prepared for mistakes. Then have the patience to work with it and learn from it. And have multiple sources of funding.”
–John Beauchamp, Human Resource Staffing

“Keep your overhead down and watch expenses. There will always be good times and bad times. Save when they’re good so you can provide when they’re bad.”
–Michael Smith, Miken Technologies Inc.

“Stick to the basics, don’t worry about the little things and trust your people. But most of all, have humility; it’s OK to ask for help “
–Jason C. Mainard, Sandler Training, The Rubicon Institute

“Learn everything you can about your customer and their needs. Always have a great attorney and a great accountant that look out for your best interest.”
–Jeromy Fritz, St. Louis Presort

“Your goal should be to work on your company, not in it. Documented processes and systems build confidence and accountability, among many other things. Get a consultant.”
–Chad Berg, US Tower Services Inc.

“You have to have genuine enthusiasm for what you’re selling. It’s all about excitement and genuine belief when you’re telling your story about what you’re doing. That excitement helps you overcome hurdles and obstacles you will face.”
–Tim Barklage, Better Life

“You must absolutely, truly believe in what you’re doing. A lot of people will tell you ‘No’ or ‘You can’t do it.’ It’s easy to give up if you don’t believe that what you’re doing is important and will make a difference.”
–Kevin Tibbs, Better Life

“Get involved, ask for help, and learn from others’ successes and failures. For example, utilize SCORE, product-related trade associations, SBA educational seminars, local chamber of commerce and local university business outreach programs. Vendors and financial partners can also be great educational resources. All these activities allow for excellent networking opportunities.”
–Mary Anne Auer, Wexford Labs Inc.

“Run to your problems! They will always be there, and once you address them you can move on. If not, they will address you, your time and
your priorities.”
Ryan Mortland, MB Technology Solutions

“Don’t be afraid to change. Had I not been willing to change, I might not have survived an event like the recession.”
–Nathan McKean, Breckenridge Material Co.

“Be a chameleon. Be ready to match your stripes to your markets. The business you get into may look little like the business you end up in once the market tells you what it really wants now or what it will want.”
–David Kennebeck, Capital Source Solutions LLC

“Every requirement, every activity, every process and every objective must have quantifiable metrics that successfully provides for one of two outcomes. You are either generating revenue or decreasing costs. It’s that simple and that complex.”
–Joshua Frank, RSM Federal LLC

“The best business advice I ever received was to manage my time with time blocking. As an entrepreneur with multiple responsibilities, I have set times when I tend to phone calls and email, and if it isn’t time for those activities, my phone is silenced and my email is closed. Approaching my workday this way eliminates the distracting interruptions that can keep me from completing revenue-generating activities, and it gives me the freedom to be fully engrossed in the current task at hand.”
–Nancy L. Baumann, The Book Professor

“The best advice I received was to pick a target market niche that embodies the same company culture as our firm. This has enabled us to work with companies that see the value in the services we provide, are easy to communicate with and are more likely to refer us to their colleagues.”
–Michele Burghardt, Mareck Marketing Group

“The best advice I ever received is never pick a fight you cannot win. It has aided me more times than I care to remember.”
–Howard M. Rosen, Conner Ash PC

“When I started my first company in 2006 I asked a mentor of mine who owns a chain of day cares, among other small businesses, ‘How do you deal with the highs and lows of starting and running a small business?’ He answered: ‘Every day I wake up and go to work and do the best I can. Then I go home and go to bed. Then the next day I wake up and go to work and do the best I can. Then I go home and go to bed, and I repeat it every day. That’s all you can do each day is the very best you can and let God handle the rest.” It seems simple, but it helped me tremendously getting through the lows that we all go through as a small-business owner.”
–Terry Keeven, St. Louis Print Co.

“Cash flow is more important than profitability: Profit is to a company like food is to a human – you can live without it for a while, maybe a few days or even weeks. Cash, on the other hand, is like air – if you run out of it, at best you’ve got a few minutes before you’re dead.
Also, learn how to calculate your days sales outstanding (DSO). It’s a measure of how many days of revenue production is tied up in your accounts receivable. Businesses that need cash should look at how they can improve (lower) this number – and the policies (payment terms) and procedures (collections) that drive it – before they look for a loan.”
–Mark Richman, Skeleton Key

“Never be afraid of hiring people that are better than you. If you let your ego get in the way, you will always be limited by your own insecurities.
“The second piece of advice – networking with people who do the same thing you’re doing does nothing to grow your business. If you are going to network, spend time with those that have the potential to be clients. It seems so simple, yet many times I would find myself at industry events where there were only other agencies attending.”
–Scott Tripp, Tripp Co. Creative Inc.

“The best advice I ever received came from my father, Bob Leonard, founder and president of Leonard’s Metal Inc.. He said I could do anything I wanted to do, which for a young girl was huge in the 50s. He always said no matter what I wanted to do, I had to be prepared to work hard and be true to my chosen path.  
I have never stopped to debate with myself whether I could or couldn’t do a job or a sport or a speech or a special project for a charity. I always just do it. (My dad believed that long before Nike ever said it!).”   
–Kathy Leonard, Geile/Leon Marketing Communications