Profitable Sayings
“Get everything in writing.”
This will protect you from vague deals that predominate among those not in writing. Failing to document deals is an inexact and risky method of working with your clients, peers, employees, and vendors, usually causing problems as time passes. If solutions to the most common business issues are decided in advance and in writing, including a means of resolving conflicts and dissolving relationships, then you could save yourself endless hours of frustration and legal fees. So make certain all of your deals and proposals are in writing!
“Live by the sword, die by the sword.” / “Play with fire and you might get burned.” / “If you ask for trouble, you’re going to get it.” / “You reap what you sow” / “Lay with dogs… get fleas.” / “Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein.” / “Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.”
If you aren’t playing nice with the other children, they won’t play nice with you. If you bargain someone down to the wire, he will do the same to you when the opportunity presents itself. If you are unreasonably mean, then someone else will be mean to you. Karma counts in business as in the rest of life.
“If it ain’t broke, DO fix it.”
This is a similar concept to “constant incremental improvement”, “kaizen” or evolving Best Practices, and is equally critical to your success. Those who aren’t “breaking things” that ostensibly work will be undermined by the competitors who are in fact making continuous improvements. Don’t become complacent with a false sense of security when you are ahead of the pack or you will find your competitors quickly gain momentum at your expense. So “break” what you think works well and then make sure those breaks really represent noticeable improvements. That’s not to say you literally want to destroy your core processes, but merely keep looking at how you can improve them, and in some cases, literally replace them from scratch.
“Knowledge is power.”
The essence of business knowledge is learning how to obtain and utilize the right information and data at the right time and know how to apply it appropriately. Being loaded with actionable business knowledge is likely to make you wealthy after it has been applied with years of hard work. Being wealthy and wise is often considered “powerful.” Therefore, knowledge is power.
“Don’t be pennywise and pound foolish.”
Saving money is a good idea as long as you are not obsessed with it and you aren’t making bad decisions as a result. If you are fortunate, you may have saved money in your bank, in bonds, home equity, stocks, and so on. You need to decide what portion of that savings can be reinvested and when to look for higher yield investments that have a greater risk profile. You might be able to prove after testing and studying that you can spend a penny on your business to make a dollar. Or you can spend a penny to make five pennies. In either case, you should invest more, and therefore, deplete some of your savings which can be saved again later on.
“Two heads are better than one.”
When you follow this logic, you recognize that consensus is good. But even so, the team leader/president must prevail whenever consensus isn’t readily attainable. There is never time for bickering or not making clear, assertive decisions.
“Don’t cut off your nose to spite your face.”
If you’ve messed up, it doesn’t mean you are permanently damaged goods. So recover quickly and move on, like you would if you spilled milk.
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
Most obstacles can be surmounted.
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”
Persistence pays. Giving up easily doesn’t give the process a fair chance, which means you aren’t giving yourself or your skills a fair chance.
“To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”
Similarly, every barber thinks you need a haircut, every car dealer thinks you need a car, and every PR agent thinks you need an expensive PR campaign. Don’t buy the hammer’s approach unless it fits within your own architectural design.
