If you’re an entrepreneur or aspiring entrepreneur then these business lessons from Carlos Slim Helú shouldn’t be ignored.
In 2010, Carlos Slim Helú grabbed the title of world’s richest man from Microsoft founder Bill Gates. The first and so far only person from a developing nation to top Forbes’ World Billionaires list.
While his four-year run as world’s richest man came to an end he still remains in the top 10 with an estimated net worth of $63.7 billion.
Slim was called “modern business icon” and a “humble leader” in the book The World’s Richest Man: Carlos Slim In His Own Words.
Though Carlos Slim Helú was not involved in producing the book, the content draws quotes from Slim’s public speeches, open letters, interviews, and other sources.
It’s described by the publishers as a “brief guide to the thinking of one of the world’s wealthiest men and one of its most prominent philanthropists.”
The following are Carlos Slim Helú’s top 10 tips for current and future entrepreneurs, according to Tanni Haas, a professor at City University of New York who edited the book.
Top 10 Business Lessons By Carlos Slim Helu
1. Invest prodigiously in your business, especially when others aren’t investing in theirs, and do so for the long-term.
Your business is your biggest asset and it makes sense to continually grow that asset by investing into it. Increase it’s ability to make a profit by improving the products, people and processes. Reinvest part of the profits with long term growth in mind.
2. Focus on the essentials, and try not to get distracted and bogged down by things that don’t add anything of value to the bottom line.
Everything you do in your business must have a purpose to improve the business. You can only see that through the numbers. Make sure that you can measure the impact of your decisions.
3. Be practical, and have clear and attainable goals.
Clarity is power. A lack of a clear vision and clear goals is usually the reason for lack of progress and failure.
4. Be optimistic, and not guided by your fears.
This advice is not only essential for entrepreneurs but is also necessary for success in life. The fear of failure is usually the biggest obstacle to entrepreneurial success and this is something you must overcome. Being an entrepreneur requires courage.
5. Don’t try to be and do everything yourself; rather, create alliances and partnerships with others.
If you’re a solopreneur then look to outsource whatever tasks don’t need to be done by you. Try to build a team, create jobs and build a business that doesn’t require yourself to run.
But what Carlos Slim Helú is saying here is that your business doesn’t have to do everything. You can create alliances and partnerships to expand into other industries while you can focus on your core strengths.
Check Out The Top 49 Carlos Slim Helu Quotes
6. Relish competition, and understand that it’s healthy and will make you and your business stronger.
Competition is good; competition means that there is a demand for your product and services. Having competition will push you to innovate and offer greater value to the market place. Personally it will motivate you to grow more than you ever thought possible.
7. Don’t stay local, go global.
I love this advice from Carlos Slim Helú. It’s similar to MJ DeMarco’s advice on The Law Of Effection.
You can only create a large business through scale or magnitude. Scale is when you serve a greater number of people. Magnitude is when you have a higher priced product or service.
By going global and thinking global you have the opportunity to reach a greater audience. These days that is much easier thanks to e-commerce. Your business doesn’t have to be geographically dependant.
8. Choose the right employees and then set them loose.
Your people make the business and hiring the right or wrong people could ultimately lead to success or failure. Once you have the right employees though, set them loose and let them focus on their strengths.
9. Don’t overwork your employees, make sure that they’re able to maintain a healthy work/life balance.
If you take care of your employees they will take care of your customers. Billionaire John Paul DeJoria is a passionate advocate of taking care of your employees to increase your business success.
10. Finally, acknowledge that as your business grows you may have to install a CEO and several management layers, but try to keep management as flat as possible, so that it stays close to operations because, ultimately, that’s where the money is made.
While this may not apply to you when initially starting out this is great advice to keep in mind as your business grows into a bigger enterprise.
Hope you enjoyed the top 10 business lessons for entrepreneurs by Carlos Slim Helú.
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