DESCRIPTION

Highlights

• Getty’s closer: “Rise early, work hard, strike oil.” (Location 202)
• There is no magic formula that will guarantee your success.        2. Don’t get “schooled.” A measure of caution is always advisable when acting on a tip, either from a former mobster or from a trusted friend or associate. (Location 231)
• Unless you’re the U.S. Mint or a counterfeiter, you are not in business to “make” money. You are in business to “take” it—from anyone willing to buy the product or service that your business is selling. Like the mob guy’s, the bottom line to your business plan is to take as much money as you can from your clients’ and customers’ pockets and get it into (Location 246)
• yours. (Location 249)
• Having a clear, focused, written plan for your business is crucial—one based on a simple organizing principle and purpose. It’s critical whether you are a long-surviving firm or a fresh-faced startup, whether you manage a business unit in a larger company, or the last-passed buck finally rests on your desk. It helps keep you on track as far as the direction you want your business to take, what your bottom line is, and how you plan to get there. If you need financing, a written business plan will almost always be required by a bank, equity firm, or private lender. You must define the ultimate goals of your business in advance and refer to them as you progress. You can’t hit a target you can’t see. (That’s why mob guys always set their targets at close range.) Have measurable, specific outcomes, and determine the route you must take to get there. It’s like DaVinci supposedly said: “Make your work to be in keeping with your purpose.” (Location 250)
• I believe also that he will be successful who directs his actions according to the spirit of the times, and that he whose actions do not accord with the times will not be successful. MACHIAVELLI (Location 262)
• Bad business plans are usually the result of bad ideas, and will probably end up as a failed business. That’s another reason to put your business plan on paper. It requires you to look at your own plan. Read it over a couple of times. Really think about it. Does it make logistical sense? Is it doable? You should be your own plan’s toughest critic and its best defender. Work through the angles, the ins and outs, the contingencies, the what-ifs, anything that’s relevant. If it doesn’t make sense in theory, it probably will not make sense in practice. Kill it and move on. As a made guy in the Colombo family, I learned it was better to have no business plan than a bad business plan. Bad business plans tend to shorten a mobster’s life. (Location 277)
• I never met a successful mobster who didn’t start his day at the crack of dawn. (Location 291)
• For those of you who think you can achieve success in business without putting in the time, you better get yourself a drawer full of silk pajamas. That’s about the closest to feeling wealthy you’re going to get. (Location 296)
• People who succeed in business do not plan their day around what’s easy and convenient. They take what’s (Location 300)
• hard. (Location 300)
• “The harder you work,” he said, “the harder it is to surrender.” (Location 310)
• Hard work is also important for another, related reason: it’s a proxy for how seriously you take what you do. If you poke around the edges of your business or dabble in this or that, I’ll give your eventual failure almost any odds you want. The conscientious usually beat the dabblers. Show me someone with a simple plan, who works it hard, and I’ll show you someone focused on making his business succeed. (Location 316)
• Following every rabbit, answering every call, putting off for tomorrow what can be done right this minute—this is a recipe for disaster. (Location 335)
• Timidity repays trouble with interest. Business owners must act before one problem leads to others—especially when conditions don’t correct themselves. (Location 355)
• Have a clear, focused, written plan for your business with measurable, specific outcomes and the route you will take to get there.        2. If you think you can achieve success in business without putting in the time, you better get yourself a drawer full of silk pajamas. That’s about the closest to feeling wealthy that you’re going to get. People who have achieved great success in their business endeavors take what they do seriously and work hard to make it happen. (Location 440)
• Get to your business goals with as little friction as possible. Don’t let the head clutter block you from reaching your goals. Putting off for tomorrow what can be done right now is a recipe for disaster. Cut it out. You got to cut to the chase.        4. Assemble the right crew to support your efforts—capable, reliable, and most important, honest people.        5. Get a consiglier who can be fair and impartial, but who won’t flatter you just to get ahead. You need someone who knows how to stand up to you when he or she feels that you are not acting in the best interest of the business. This can be your best friend, a relative, your spouse, a trusted employee, or a hired gun. (Location 444)
• M]en ought either to be well treated or crushed, because they can avenge themselves of lighter injuries, of more serious ones they cannot; therefore the injury that is to be done to a man ought to be of such a kind that one does not stand in fear of revenge.” (Location 479)
• Whoever desires to found a state [company, business] and gives its laws must start with assuming that all men [other executives, competitors, shareholders] are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature whenever they may find occasion for it. (Location 552)
• Being right and just and fair in dealing with business partners and employees is not only smart: it’s crucial to a company’s long-term success. (Location 632)
• Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. SOLOMON (Location 649)
• Bill Gates averages just two vacation days a year. Canadian communications mogul Ted Rogers, now seventy-four years old, is a notorious workaholic. Thomas Edison said genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration. Henry Ford said nobody can think straight who does not work. Idleness warps the mind. (Location 669)
• “Your mouth will get you in trouble quicker than a gun or a knife,” he told me.“Your words can be a greater weapon against you than anything the feds can drum up.” His conclusion: “Know when to keep your mouth shut!” (Location 734)
• “He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.” (Location 783)
• Look before you leap; learn before you speak; and never put your mouth before your brain. (Location 915)
• 5 Steps to Mastering the Sit-Down (Location 1132)
• 1. Enter with both gun barrels loaded. (Location 1133)
• Know my position and be prepared to capably present and defend it with materials and evidence.        • Know the temperament of the people with whom I am meeting. Are they fair or treacherous, even-tempered or bloodthirsty? This helps in adapting my negotiation tactics to the situation.        • Have some knowledge of the company the parties are involved with, if any. I do my homework. I find out who is on the board of executives. I find out how much revenue they pulled in last year. I find out why their stocks went down in the last six months. (Location 1141)
• 2. Lead with your brain, not your mouth. (Location 1151)
• At your next sit-down, talk enough to accomplish what you need. Just don’t talk too much, especially in today’s business culture, where nobody has the time or the patience for meaningless chatter. In a sit-down silence is not only golden; it’s smart. (Location 1162)
• 3. Check your ego at the door. (Location 1165)
• Start out as the student, finish as the teacher, and leave with the spoils. (Location 1175)
• 4. Never act like the weakest link—especially if you are. (Location 1177)
• The words you don’t say make you smart. (Location 1183)
• 5. Be Respectful. (Location 1187)
• “Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man,” said Solomon, “but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel.” (Location 1655)
• Aside from the obvious benefit of getting a better feel for the progress, or lack thereof, of your business, keeping good records will allow you to detect and put a stop to any dubious activities that might be taking place before they spiral out of control—like gambling; don’t forget the lessons of chapter 7. Donald Trump likes to say, “If you don’t know every aspect of what you are doing, down to the paper clips, you’re setting yourself up for some unwelcome surprises.” It’s some sound advice from a man whose money can buy a few billion paper clips. Take it from The Donald. When it comes to accounting for every dollar that goes in and out of your company’s coffers, you better be sure you sweat the small stuff! (Location 1691)
• Staying power should never be overlooked when evaluating a person’s long-term success. It’s a character trait that most successful businesspeople possess. Staying power is what enables you to take the inevitable falls that come with running a business and still end up landing on your feet. (Location 2069)