10 Tips Mark Cuban Would
Give His Younger Self
The next best thing is
giving other young entrepreneurs advice. Are you willing to take the advice
Cuban has to offer? If so, you can streamline the process and maybe even
surpass his success one day. Here are ten tips Cuban would have given to his
younger self that you can repurpose for your own goal setting:
1. Tunnel vision
"Stay focused and
believe in yourself and trust your own ability and judgment," says Cuban.
There will always come times when you doubt yourself, but they should be few
and far between. Having a bit of tunnel vision can be very helpful to
entrepreneurs as long as you're looking down the right tunnel.
2. On preparation
"If you're prepared
and you know what it takes, it's not a risk. You just have to figure out how to
get there. There is always a way to get there." Of course, that doesn't
mean there won't be plenty of obstacles. Unfortunately, too many people give up
too soon. It's the figuring out how to get there that separates entrepreneurs from wantrepreneurs.
3. On wealth
"Being rich is a good
thing. Not just in the obvious sense of benefitting you and your family, but in
the broader sense. Profits are not a zero sum game. The more you make, the more
of a financial impact you have." There is no shame in wealth or wanting to
be wealthy, but make sure you look beyond the apparent plusses of it.
4. On tech vs. business
"There's way too much
hype on the technologies and not enough attention on the real businesses behind
them." Pay more attention to the businesses and the people, and you'll
bypass a lot of the white noise the products make. You need both tech and
business for a success story.
5. On work
"Work harder and
smarter than most people in the businesses," says Cuban. It sounds
obvious, but so many people want to take short cuts. If you do more, you get
more. It's actually a pretty simple equation.
6. On improvements
"Continuously look for
ways to improve all of my companies, and I'm always selling. Always."
There is no such thing as an entrepreneur who is not also a great salesperson.
There is no such thing as a perfect company. Keep moving up and forward.
7. On sweat equity
"Sweat equity is the
most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than
anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don't do it." This is the
kind of sage advice you'd expect from someone a little "softer" than
Cuban. However, if he's pushing passion projects, you know it's a winning
strategy.
8. On customer service
"Treat your customers
like they own you. Because they do." You won't have a business without
customers--period. No matter how much success you enjoy, without customer
service you won't reach your top potential.
9. On professional
relationships
"You can accomplish
much, much more with direct relationships than by using an intermediary. And
that cash you keep in the bank can be the difference between staying alive as a
small business or not." This is where those customer service skills come
into play again. Networking and relationships are the backbone of an
entrepreneur's success.
10. On guaranteed returns
"If you've got
$25,000, $50,000, $100,000, you're better off paying off any debt you have because that's a
guaranteed return." Debt can destroy a business. Get in the clear before
you branch out.
Since hindsight is 20/20,
why not rely on the laser focused perspective of someone who's been there, done
that? There is no reason to reinvent the wheel, especially in the realm of
entrepreneurship. Let a shark show you the way and you'll avoid a lot of
hassles.
10 Tips Mark Cuban Would
Give His Younger Self
The next best thing is
giving other young entrepreneurs advice. Are you willing to take the advice
Cuban has to offer? If so, you can streamline the process and maybe even
surpass his success one day. Here are ten tips Cuban would have given to his
younger self that you can repurpose for your own goal setting:
1. Tunnel vision
"Stay focused and
believe in yourself and trust your own ability and judgment," says Cuban.
There will always come times when you doubt yourself, but they should be few
and far between. Having a bit of tunnel vision can be very helpful to
entrepreneurs as long as you're looking down the right tunnel.
2. On preparation
"If you're prepared
and you know what it takes, it's not a risk. You just have to figure out how to
get there. There is always a way to get there." Of course, that doesn't
mean there won't be plenty of obstacles. Unfortunately, too many people give up
too soon. It's the figuring out how to get there that separates entrepreneurs from wantrepreneurs.
3. On wealth
"Being rich is a good
thing. Not just in the obvious sense of benefitting you and your family, but in
the broader sense. Profits are not a zero sum game. The more you make, the more
of a financial impact you have." There is no shame in wealth or wanting to
be wealthy, but make sure you look beyond the apparent plusses of it.
4. On tech vs. business
"There's way too much
hype on the technologies and not enough attention on the real businesses behind
them." Pay more attention to the businesses and the people, and you'll
bypass a lot of the white noise the products make. You need both tech and
business for a success story.
5. On work
"Work harder and
smarter than most people in the businesses," says Cuban. It sounds
obvious, but so many people want to take short cuts. If you do more, you get
more. It's actually a pretty simple equation.
6. On improvements
"Continuously look for
ways to improve all of my companies, and I'm always selling. Always."
There is no such thing as an entrepreneur who is not also a great salesperson.
There is no such thing as a perfect company. Keep moving up and forward.
7. On sweat equity
"Sweat equity is the
most valuable equity there is. Know your business and industry better than
anyone else in the world. Love what you do or don't do it." This is the
kind of sage advice you'd expect from someone a little "softer" than
Cuban. However, if he's pushing passion projects, you know it's a winning
strategy.
8. On customer service
"Treat your customers
like they own you. Because they do." You won't have a business without
customers--period. No matter how much success you enjoy, without customer
service you won't reach your top potential.
9. On professional
relationships
"You can accomplish
much, much more with direct relationships than by using an intermediary. And
that cash you keep in the bank can be the difference between staying alive as a
small business or not." This is where those customer service skills come
into play again. Networking and relationships are the backbone of an
entrepreneur's success.
10. On guaranteed returns
"If you've got
$25,000, $50,000, $100,000, you're better off paying off any debt you have because that's a
guaranteed return." Debt can destroy a business. Get in the clear before
you branch out.
Since hindsight is 20/20,
why not rely on the laser focused perspective of someone who's been there, done
that? There is no reason to reinvent the wheel, especially in the realm of
entrepreneurship. Let a shark show you the way and you'll avoid a lot of
hassles.
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