5 Small Secrets to Grow Your Company

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5 Seemingly-Small Secrets to Hyper Growth

The co-founder of Likeable Media explains how the company's culture has contributed to its five-year catapult to $5 million in annual sales.

Over the last five years, I had the good fortune to lead the expansion at Likeable Media. I'm proud of the fact that Likeable made the Inc. 500 twice, as the company grew from $100,000 in revenue to more than $5 million in our first five years. But I'm even prouder that this year Crain's New York Business named Likeable the 28th best place to work in New York. 

I believe Likeable's success can be explained more by the company culture than strategies. Happier employees lead to much higher employee retention rates (which are notoriously low in marketing services); that, in turn, keeps clients more content, and signed up longer.

Here are five aspects of Likeable's culture that I know contributed directly to the company's hyper growth:

Empowered Employees

The Likeable team and I developed "forums" to allow employees at every level to contribute to company-wide decisions. The forums each have a focus: philanthropy, marketing, office culture, health and wellness, and social events. Every employee is on a forum, and each forum meets weekly on company time. My co-founder (my wife, Carrie Kerpen) and I also recently gave all of our employees 12% of the company in an options plan, so now literally everyone has a stake in Likeable's success.

Thought Leadership

We encourage every employee to write for Likeable's daily company blog, and each month we award a blog-of-the month bonus to an employee who wrote an exceptional post. As an incentive to write thoughtful and engaging blog posts and encourage thought leadership, we also created bonus opportunities for employees who reach certain milestones in pageviews and shares. (It's certainly useful that we can promote the very service Likeable sells--social media--among employees.)

Open Communication

We hold weekly all-staff huddles. These meetings give the management team and me an opportunity to inform all employees of new Likeable activities and initiatives, discuss firm development and improvement, and recognize employees for outstanding achievement and effort. Once a month, I also host Pandora's Box, an anonymous forum for all employees to ask any questions of management at the team huddle. 

Full Disclosure

Likeable's offices have open floor plans and glass walls, allowing for seamless collaboration and open communication. Every employee knows where the company stands financially and where it's headed. The strategic and business plan is blown up and hung on the wall in offices in New York and Boston; everyone can see quarterly priorities, one-year projections, and a three-to-five year plan. 

Fun Atmosphere

We try to make Likeable a place people love to come to work each day, full of surprises and delights. It's a Likeable tradition to prompt celebrities to tweet employees happy birthday wishes. Everyone tweets to a particular celebrity the day of a co-worker's birthday. Adam Levine, Adrian Grenier, Michael Ian Black, and Richard Simmons are among those who have obliged with a Happy Birthday tweet.

For the last three years, at our holiday party, I've also loved hosting Dave's Favorite Things, an annual takeoff of Oprah's trademark holiday giveaways. The company’s gifts to all employees have included a cruise to the Bahamas, weekend in Miami, trip to Atlantic City, Mets tickets, Amazon Kindles, and Donors Choose gift cards.

Read more:

Don't Delete Negative Comments. Say 'I'm Sorry'

'Heavy-Handed Sales Messaging Just Doesn't Work Any More'

How Social Media Shapes the Conversation Around Israel & Hamas

Dave Kerpen is the CEO of Likeable Media and the author of Likeable Social Media and Likeable Business. @davekerpen

Read 6 Things Really Productive People Do

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6 Things Really Productive People Do

Have you noticed that some people just seem to accomplish tons and still appear happy and relaxed? Here are six tips for becoming more productive.

People often ask me, amazed, how I manage to do so many things. Aside from writing two columns every week, I speak regularly, travel, create videos, manage my business, write books, consult with five companies, network, socialize, cycle, run, read, cook, sleep six to seven hours a night and have dates with my wife. Oh yeah, I watch a lot of television while hanging out with my dog as well.

Okay, I know it sounds ridiculous. But accomplishing my preferred future requires this level of activity. I have the same 24 hours in a day that you do, but I have made specific choices that allow me to make the most of every day, and still feel happy and relaxed. Perhaps these tips will help you make the most of your time as well.

1. Pick Your Priorities

Make choices about the activities in your life. With most endeavors, you can either go deep or go wide. Focus on spending time that for you is fun and productive. If you like big families, have them, but recognize up front that kids require time and you'll have to choose a lifestyle that supports quality time with them, for you to feel satisfied. I chose the life of a consultant because I like to work with companies, but don't want the life of a big company CEO. My choices are based on the lifestyle I want.

2. Go For Efficiency

You don't do everything well. The things you do well usually give you greater joy and require less time. Don't take on something with a steep learning curve if you don't have the available bandwidth. Design your life to meet your wants, and recognize when to say no to opportunities that are outside the scope of your desires. Live your life by design, not default.

3. Integrate Your Activities

Many people go crazy trying to figure out how to spend time with friends, family, work, play, etc.  Stop trying to balance time between them all. Find ways to enjoy them in a combined manner. Build your social life around people in your work environment. Find people in your company who share common interests and develop your career around the people and activities you love. If everything is out of synch to the point where you feel pulled and stressed, a change is likely imminent one way or another.

4. Actively Manage Time-wasters

Social media, family, friends, employees, co-workers and general whiners all under certain circumstances can suck precious time from you if you let them. Budget your time for necessary activities. Make a choice to limit non-supportive interactions that don't energize you. As for social media, it can easily be a black hole for time and productivity. Use it appropriately and sparingly as a tool to support your endeavors and social needs, but lay off the Farmville.

5. Be an Active Learner

You would think learning takes more time from you, but actually there are always new tools and new ways of doing things that can save you time on mundane tasks freeing you up for your priorities. Always be looking for a new way to gain back an hour here or there. Just try it and dump it quick if it starts to drag on.

6. Lighten Up

No need to beat yourself up if you can't do all the things you want because you are handling other stuff that needs attention. It happens. The world won't come to an endin most cases just because you left a few things undone. Celebrate progress and keep refining toward a happy productive existence. This is why making lists and crossing off items is a staple in any productivity handbook. Every completion is a small victory that adds up in a big way.

When Is The Perfect Time To Launch Your New Product Or Business

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4 Tips for a Well-Timed Product Launch

Pull the trigger too soon, and your half-baked idea will turn customers away. But waiting for perfection is no less dangerous.

Deciding when to launch a new product is a challenge for most entrepreneurs. Because we tend to be perfectionists, a new product--no matter how good--never quite achieves our vision of what it can be. We always see more features to add, more bugs to fix--something else to tweak.

Unfortunately, you only get one product launch and if you wait until the product is “perfect”, you could end up with a me-too offering--or never launch at all! On the other hand, launch too early and you risk disappointing your customer and damaging your brand.

The anxiety surrounding the “when” decision is still fresh for me, having recently completed the launch of Shop It To Me Threads. Here are four things I learned from the experience.

1. Launch earlier than you think you should.   

First, face the truth. You are never going to be happy with how your product is on launch. At any given time you’ll have numerous flaws and a long feature list of improvements--some of which could be really helpful as soon as you can get to them. But they shouldn’t hold up your launch. If you are truly invested in the product you are never finished and a slightly better version is always around the corner.

So lower your bar. Don’t wait until your product is finished; wait just until it can give a good first impression. You can always improve it afterwards, but getting the product out will let you get valuable feedback that will shape the features you build next.

When we launched Threads, for example, we still had dozens of new features in development. User feedback on the newly launched beta product enabled us to prioritize which to focus on first in order to make the biggest impact. And when we added new features our users who had the good first impression saw a product constantly getting better.

2. Set the right expectations. 

Don’t over-hype the product just for the sake of creating excitement. You have to be able deliver on what you promise--or you will undermine the credibility of your brand. Offer the user a clear value proposition, and be sure your product delivers.

You may remember Cuil, which gave the impression that it would be better than Google at search. Or Color, which gave press the impression it was going to topple Facebook. Such grandiose statements may garner press attention, but they’ll ultimately set you up for failure:  if you can’t deliver on such promises right away, you will end up with users who are so unimpressed they won’t return. And, if your offering is still “in development,” be honest about it and invite users to share their comments and suggestions.

3. Stick to your business objectives. 

What do you really want to achieve with this launch? You can’t do it all, so pick one objective that will be a key driver in your timing decision and your target audience. 

In most cases one big purpose of your launch is to get your product out there to test and refine it. In that case, launch as early as possible--which means launch when you have enough of a product to leave people with a good first impression. It does not need to be perfect. Let the user know that you are still in the learning phase by announcing the product as a “beta.” Target early adopters and invite their feedback. You’ll get plenty--and it will help you make a much better offering.

Trying to attract investors? You need to create excitement with your product launch. Go when you have the sizzle to attract attention and have enough of the product in place so that you can tell a great story of where it will go.

If your main goal is growth, you want to be sure you have a great, well-tested product and a growth engine in place before you launch. Then, go big: You want to garner mainstream press to drive first users. You are usually only launching for growth if you are releasing an update to an existing product.

4.  Remember that this is just the beginning. 

We sometimes lose sight of the fact that the product launch is not the end. Yes, it’s a milestone, but don’t overweight it. In the grand scheme of things, the launch is just one small step in building a great, sustainable product. 

12 Great Motivational Quotes for 2013

This set of inspirational thoughts for the new year will galvanize you into action.

At the start of every year, I create a list of quotes to guide and inspire me for the next 12 months. Here are the quotes I've selected for 2013:

1. "Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements."
   Napoleon Hill


2. "The key to success is to focus our conscious mind on things we desire not things we fear."
   Brian Tracy


3. "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get."
   Dale Carnegie


4. "Obstacles are necessary for success because in selling, as in all careers of importance, victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats."
   Og Mandino


5. "A real decision is measured by the fact that you've taken a new action. If there's no action, you haven't truly decided."
   Tony Robbins


6. "If you can't control your anger, you are as helpless as a city without walls waiting to be attacked."
   The Book of Proverbs


7. A mediocre person tells. A good person explains. A superior person demonstrates. A great person inspires others to see for themselves."
   Harvey Mackay


8. "Freedom, privileges, options, must constantly be exercised, even at the risk of inconvenience."
   Jack Vance


9. "Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."
   Jim Rohn


10. "You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want."
    Zig Ziglar


11. "The number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I can fail and keep on trying."
    Tom Hopkins


12. "You have everything you need to build something far bigger than yourself."
    Seth Godin

Readers: I want to begin this year with a huge burst of motivation. Can you help me out? What quotes or thoughts inspire YOU to be the best that you can be?  (Leave a comment!)

Habits of Really Likeable People

OWNERS' MANUAL | Jeff Haden

Dec 26, 2012

6 Habits of Remarkably Likeable People

They're charming. They're genuine. And they can make an entire room full of people smile.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Johannesburg. Former American president Bill Clinton meets with Nelson Mandela to discuss their charitable organizations.

When you meet someone, after, "What do you do?" you're out of things to say. You suck at small talk, and those first five minutes are tough because you're a little shy and a little insecure.
But you want to make a good impression. You want people to genuinely like you.
Here's how remarkably likeable people do it:

They lose the power pose.

I know: Your parents taught you to stand tall, square your shoulders, stride purposefully forward, drop your voice a couple of registers, and shake hands with a firm grip.

It's great to display nonverbal self-confidence, but go too far and it seems like you're trying to establish your importance. That makes the "meeting" seem like it's more about you than it is the other person--and no one likes that.

No matter how big a deal you are you pale in comparison to say, oh, Nelson Mandela. So take a cue from him. Watch how he greets Bill Clinton, no slouch at this either.

Clinton takes a step forward (avoiding the "you must come to me" power move); Mandela steps forward with a smile and bends slightly forward as if, ever so slightly, to bow (a clear sign of deference and respect in nearly every culture); Clinton does the same. What you have are two important people who put aside all sense of self-importance or status. They're genuine.

Next time you meet someone, relax, step forward, tilt your head towards them slightly, smile, and show that you're the one who is honored by the introduction--not them.

We all like people who like us. If I show you I'm genuinely happy to meet you, you'll instantly start to like me. (And you'll show that you do, which will help calm my nerves and let me be myself.)

They embrace the power of touch.

Nonsexual touch can be very powerful. (Yes, I'm aware that sexual touch can be powerful too.) Touch can influence behavior, increase the chances of compliance, make the person doing the touching seem more attractive and friendly.

Go easy, of course: Pat the other person lightly on the upper arm or shoulder. Make it casual and nonthreatening.

Check out Clinton's right-hand-shakes-hands-left-hand-touches-Mandela's-forearm-a-second-later handshake in the link above and tell me, combined with his posture and smile, that it doesn't come across as genuine and sincere.

Think the same won't work for you? Try this: The next time you walk up behind a person you know, touch them lightly on the shoulder as you go by. I guarantee you'll feel like a more genuine greeting was exchanged.

Touch breaks down natural barriers and decreases the real and perceived distance between you and the other person--a key component in liking and in being liked.

They whip out their social jiu-jitsu.

You meet someone. You talk for 15 minutes. You walk away thinking, "Wow, we just had a great conversation. She is awesome."

Then, when you think about it later, you realize you didn't learn a thing about the other person.

Remarkably likeable people are masters at Social Jiu-Jitsu, the ancient art of getting you to talk about yourself without you ever knowing it happened. SJJ masters are fascinated by every step you took in creating a particularly clever pivot table, by every decision you made when you transformed a 200-slide PowerPoint into a TED Talk-worthy presentation, if you do say so yourself...

SJJ masters use their interest, their politeness, and their social graces to cast an immediate spell on you.

And you like them for it.

Social jiu-jitsu is easy. Just ask the right questions. Stay open-ended and allow room for description and introspection. Ask how, or why, or who.

As soon as you learn a little about someone, ask how they did it. Or why they did it. Or what they liked about it, or what they learned from it, or what you should do if you're in a similar situation.

No one gets too much recognition. Asking the right questions implicitly shows you respect another person's opinion--and, by extension, the person.

We all like people who respect us, if only because it shows they display great judgment.

(Kidding. Sort of.)

They whip out something genuine.

Everyone is better than you at something. (Yes, that's true even for you.) Let them be better than you.

Too many people when they first meet engage in some form of penis-measuring contest. Crude reference but one that instantly calls to mind a time you saw two alpha male master-of-the business-universe types whip out their figurative rulers. (Notliterally, of course. I hope you haven't seen that.)

Don't try to win the "getting to know someone" competition. Try to lose. Be complimentary. Be impressed. Admit a failing or a weakness.

You don't have to disclose your darkest secrets. If the other person says, "We just purchased a larger facility," say, "That's awesome. I have to admit I'm jealous. We've wanted to move for a couple years but haven't been able to put together the financing. How did you pull it off?"

Don't be afraid to show a little vulnerability. People may be (momentarily) impressed by the artificial, but people sincerely like the genuine.

Be the real you. People will like the real you.

They ask for nothing.

You know the moment: You're having a great conversation, you're finding things in common... and then bam! Someone plays the networking card. 

And everything about your interaction changes.

Put away the hard-charging, goal-oriented, always-on kinda persona. If you have to ask for something, find a way to help the other person, then ask if you can.

Remarkably likeable people focus on what they can do for you--not for themselves.

They "close" genuinely.

"Nice to meet you," you say, nodding once as you part. That's the standard move, one that is instantly forgettable.

Instead go back to the beginning. Shake hands again. Use your free hand to gently touch the other person's forearm or shoulder. Say, "I am really glad I met you." Or say, "You know, I really enjoyed talking with you." Smile: Not that insincere salesperson smile that goes with, "Have a nice day!" but a genuine, appreciative smile.

Making a great first impression is important, but so is making a great last impression.

And they accept it isn't easy.

All this sounds simple, right? It is. But it's not easy, especially if you're shy. The standard, power pose, "Hello, how are you, good to meet you, good seeing you," shuffle feels a lot safer.

But it won't make people like you.

So accept it's hard. Accept that being a little more deferential, a little more genuine, a little more complimentary and a little more vulnerable means putting yourself out there. Accept that at first it will feel risky.

But don't worry: When you help people feel a little better about themselves--which is reason enough--they'll like you for it.

And you'll like yourself a little more, too.

10 Worst industries for 2013

The 10 Worst Industries for 2013

By Rick Newman | U.S.News & World Report LP – 22 hours ago

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If you work in real estate, social media or other technology fields, you could have a banner year in 2013. Those industries are primed for growth as an economic recovery kicks in and innovative new companies continue to change the way people live, work and communicate.

ThinkstockBut many Americans work on the darker side of the economy, in fading industries whose best days are probably in the past. New technology is making some businesses less and less relevant, while others struggle to find customers in a global economy that's still weak, or face severe pressure to cut costs. To identify the most vulnerable industries, I asked industry-research firm IBISWorld to rank more than 1,000 industries according to the percentage of jobs they're likely to gain or lose over the next 12 months. Here are the industries expected to shrink the most in 2013:

Photofinishing (a projected 15 percent decline in jobs). You don't need an Instagram account to know that most people archive their photos online these days instead of gathering them in old-fashioned photo albums. And people who print photos tend to use online services or do it themselves at home. Those trends are airbrushing traditional retail photo outlets out of the economy.

[SEE: The Year's Best Photos]

Recordable media (15 percent decline). The digital revolution is also gutting the market for CDs and DVDs as more people stream music and video over the Internet. DVD and video game rental stores are becoming scarce, and the DVD-by-mail business, which seemed revolutionary a decade ago, is now becoming more and more antiquated with each passing day.

[RELATED: The Best Industries for 2013]

Tobacco (9 percent decline). Smoking actually picked up during the recession, perhaps because of more anxious people lighting up to help combat stress. An improving economy will most likely reverse that trend, plus rising cigarette taxes in some states will cause price hikes and lower sales.

Telecom networking equipment manufacturing (6 percent decline). Demand is strong for the switches and routers that connect companies and individuals to each other. The problem is that most manufacturing has been outsourced to low-cost countries, with only some high-end gear still made in the United States.

Newspapers (6 percent decline). You're probably reading this story on a computer or mobile device, which sums up the problem facing most newspapers: The old print business is dying in many areas, and it's impossible to make up all the lost revenue by giving news away for free online. More papers are starting to charge readers for access, to help augment advertising revenue.

[RELATED: 10 Companies That Tumbled in 2012]

Business certification and IT schools (6 percent decline). These specialty schools targeting high-school grads not planning on getting a full college degree used to offer programs on how to use computers and business software--which many kids now learn by themselves. And other programs offered by community or junior colleges--or online by traditional universities--often seem like a better deal to students.

Synthetic fiber manufacturing (6 percent decline). Two trends are forcing this industry to contract: A global cutback in spending on products such as clothing and electronics (which both incorporate synthetic fibers), and a concentration of manufacturing in low-cost overseas countries.

Live performance theaters (5 percent decline). The show might go on, but with cutbacks in government funding and penny-pinching theatergoers, there's less money for everything, from cast and crew to props and promotional fliers.

Beer, wine and liquor stores (5 percent decline). Spirit sales are doing okay, but stores that specialize in beer, wine and liquor face growing competition from grocery chains, discount outlets and even the Internet, as many states loosen restrictions on sales. Also, as the economy improves, people may go out to bars and restaurants more, and do less drinking at home.

Hardware manufacturing (5 percent decline). Production was already moving offshore before the recession, then the severe real estate bust forced everybody connected to the construction industry to cut costs even more. Foreign-made tools now account for more than half of all U.S. sales, a portion that seems likely to keep rising.

Rick Newman is the author of Rebounders: How Winners Pivot From Setback To Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman.

6 Ways to Enhance Your Credibility

You won't succeed in business if nobody believes in you. Here's how to make certain they do.

Your success in business is directly proportional to how quickly (and how well) you can establish credibility with your customers, investors, and colleagues. A while back, I had a conversation about credibility with Randall Murphy, president of the professional development firm Acclivus. Here's my interpretation of his ideas:

1. Be genuine about who you really are.

The days are long gone when customers were impressed by an illustrious corporate name or a fancy job title. Customers are more likely to respect you if you present yourself as an individual rather than a plug-and-play "representative." The moment you pretend to be more (or other) than you really are, your credibility flies out the window. Be authentic, even if all you bring to the table is your enthusiasm.

2. Know the legitimate value of what you provide.

When you know--truly know--what you're products and services are worth, you're unafraid to communicate both the strengths and the limitations of your offering.  You'll refuse to cave to unreasonable customer demands. You'll stick to your firm's policies and procedures, and explain to the customer why they make sense. You'll be strong and confident about what you can contribute, thereby creating credibility.

3. Have insights based on research and analysis.

Adding insights to a conversation automatically creates credibility. Insight comes from learning about a firm, the role it plays in the industry, and the customers that it serves. Insight is strengthened when you develop multiple contacts (and thus different perspectives) within the customer's firm. Remember: even the smartest CEO doesn't know everything, and as an outsider, you can bring a fresh perspective to old problems.

4. Listen actively, consider carefully, and respond succinctly.

People who have credibility don't feel the need to "prove it" all the time. Nothing says "I'm insecure and insincere" spouting pat answers to questions that haven't been asked. Therefore, when a customer speaks, listen with all your concentration, take a few seconds to consider what was said, and only then make a remark, ask another question, or tell a brief story to move the conversation along.

5. Never talk or write in "sales-speak."

The moment you sound like a salesperson, customers buttonhole you into the "empty suit" category. Whenever you communicate with customers, edit out everything that sounds like a sales pitch (e.g. "money back guarantee"), don't make unsubstantiated claims (e.g. "we have the highest quality"), and avoid marketing biz-blab (e.g. "reach out", "best practices"). Instead, clearly describe how your offering improves your customer's business.

6. Be a catalyst rather than a hero.

In the comics, heroes swoop in to save the day. In real life, would-be sales heroes fall flat on their faces. Credibility comes not from your heroic actions, but from your ability to "crystallize" problems and solutions. Even customers with a detailed list of requirements usually need a clearer understanding of their needs and how best to meet them. Doing so helps the customer to be the hero, which creates masses of credibility...for you.

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10 start up mistakes to avoid in 2013

10 Start-up Mistakes to Avoid in the New Year

From failing to supervise the sales team to being just a little too feedback-happy, these young entrepreneurs learned some tough lessons about running a start-up in 2012.

We asked 10 successful founders from the Young Entrepreneur Council to reveal which business mistakes taught them the most this year as they get ready for smarter growth in 2013. Here are there best answers.

1. Moving Too Quickly

Hiring too many people has been both the biggest mistake and the biggest success for us this year. We've hired almost two dozen people, and that expansion has been difficult for us. We've lacked the experienced people at the top to help train our new recruits. If I were to do it again, I would have hired fewer people and spent more time getting them running smoothly.
-- Liam Martin, Staff.com

2. Teaching Pigs to Fly

I mistakenly attempted to get my CFOs to take an active role in business development. When this experiment fell flat, I realized that people have core strengths and competencies and should be assigned roles and responsibilities accordingly. See your employee's true values and help them to work to their potential--don't try to make them into something they're not.
-- David Ehrenberg, Early Growth Financial Services

3. Not Enough Personal Time

My biggest mistake was not scheduling enough personal time. Entrepreneurs are "on" 24/7; the only way to overcome that is to schedule time for yourself. This is different from time spent with family, friends, or other commitments. Next year, I'll block time for my entrepreneurial sanity.
-- Matt Wilson, Under30Media

4. Feedback Burnout

After going through the past six months collecting tons of user feedback, we faced an ever-growing desire to please people who were suggesting things for us to incorporate to make our platform better. Ultimately, we became unfocused, and had to learn the difference between unhelpful and helpful feedback in order to solve our core problems.
-- Stacey Ferreira, MySocialCloud

5. Not Sharing Enough With the Team

I aim to be transparent with my team to the point of feeling uncomfortable about it. Since we're so small and what we're doing is so important, believe it's key to express that trust. This year, I failed to share my general thoughts on the future a few times, so I've learned to be more proactive. We're all in this together--and I need their help!
-- Derek Flanzraich, Greatist

6. Hiring Woes

We hired a candidate for a senior management position that we weren't yet in a position to fully leverage. We learned that hiring for senior roles requires more scrutiny than entry-level positions, and are now trying to fill the position with a much more informed perspective on what's required.
-- Robert J. Moore, RJMetrics

7. Lack of Sales Goals

My biggest mistake this year was to try to lead a sales team with minimal supervision and no weekly goals set. I tried this for a few months and quickly found out that it does not work. The biggest lesson for me here was to really understand human nature. More often than not, what leads people to failure is the lack of initial planning and goal-setting.
-- Felix Lluberes, Position Logic

8. Don't Hire Entrepreneurs

I learned to never hire other entrepreneurs. Partner with them, don't hire them. It never ends well in the long run. They want the same thing you do.
-- Peter Nguyen, Literati Institute 

9. Not Controlling Our Own Operations

I learned the importance of controlling your own operations. When you depend too strongly on a service or tool, you are gambling your business. We had a customer-management tool that simply decided we were breaking its terms of service and it banned our account temporarily. Controlling your own operations is worth the time and money invested.
-- Brian Moran, Get 10,000 Fans 

10. Forgetting a Budget Buffer

One major mistake that I faced this year was simply being too zealous with projections and budgeting the company on that. What I have learned from that is to budget at least 30% less than that in order to have a buffer. It is always better to budget and operate the company with less than what you believe you will generate.
-- Adam DeGraide, Astonish

Read about this new billion dollar man and how he did it

Zara Co-Founder Increases Wealth by $22.2B in 2012

By Morgan Korn | Daily Ticker – 22 hours ago

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The world’s billionaires added a lot more zeros to their bank accounts in 2012.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the 100 richest people around the globe boosted their net worth by a collective $241 billion over the last 12 months. As of Dec. 31, 2012, these tycoons controlled a combined $1.9 trillion of the world’s wealth.

The biggest winner in 2012 was Amancio Ortega, founder of the Spanish retail conglomerate Inditex SA, says Matt Miller, editor of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index in an interview with The Daily Ticker.

Ortega increased his wealth by $22.2 billion in 2012 – more than the entire fortune of Alisher Usmanov, Russia’s richest man. The massive jump in Ortega’s fortune can be attributed to the 66.7% rise in Inditex SA stock (like most wealthy people, Ortega's wealth is "paper money" i.e. stock holdings).

One of the best-performing companies in the Inditex SA umbrella is Zara, a popular women’s clothing retailer that sells the latest fashion trends at affordable prices. Ortega and his ex-wife started Zara at their Spanish home, designing and stitching together the fabric with help from family members.

Zara has now become a hugely profitable fashion empire with retail storefronts in every major metropolitan city.

Ortega, the third richest person in the world with a net worth of $57.5 billion, grew up poor in Spain and had to drop out of school at the age of 13 to earn money. But Ortega’s rags to riches story is not unique, says Miller. He estimates that three-quarters of the world’s billionaires are self-made.

Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, added $13.4 billion to estate in 2012, earning him the No. 2 spot after Ortega.

Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates took the No. 3 spot in 2012, raking in $7 billion after Microsoft’s shares rose 2.9% last year. Microsoft stock (MSFT) accounts for just 20% of Gates’ fortune according to Miller.

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett also had an extremely lucky year. The 82-year-old increased his wealth by $5.1 billion in 2012.

For the complete Bloomberg list, click here.

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