Entrepreneurship is a roller coaster of trial and error, success and failure, laughter and tears.
In WTF, Brian, the serial entrepreneur of 1800-G0t-Junk and three other home improvement brands, takes you his thirty-plus years of developing a founder vision, building an exceptional customer service and learning from setbacks to take his venture to greater heights.
Here are 14 take home messages:
- Failure teaches you what you need to know. Never be afraid to try, fail and learn.
- Failure is a temporary condition. So is success.
- Embrace a worthy mentor who will let you learn not only from your failures also theirs.
- Choose a mentor but he or she must choose you too.
- Surround yourself with like-minded people who think and act like founders.
- If every person in your organization leads people smaller than themselves, you will become a company of tiny people.
- If every person in your organization leads people greater than themselves, you will become a company of the greats.
- Your heroes can define you. People can tell you who you are by what you admire.
- True happiness stems from enjoying the presence without letting fear of the future creeps in.
- Be willing to fail. Your first 59 failures doesn’t count.
- Don’t let your hubris and overconfidence get in the way. Always remember what get you here won’t get you there. Success comes not because you’re different. Because you did the right thing in the right way at the right time.
- Be serious but have fun. Being in uniform tracksuits and wearing blue wigs with your team is having fun.
- If you succeed without failing at all, it could mean two things. Either you didn’t deserve it or your goal wasn’t big enough.
- What would your future look like if you only imagined pure possibility?