Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone

I enjoy hearing from successful people, no matter the industry.  I've found that habits or traits that lead to success in one area, often translate into success in others.  

Recently, I stumbled upon this blog post that lays out 100 rules for being an entrepreneur.  (The Altucher Confidential)  Yes, that's right.  A hundred.

My brother-in-law is an entrepreneur, and I can tell you that his mind works a wee bit differently from mine.  He sees solutions to problems, and then quickly determines whether that idea is worthy of production.  I just don't connect the dots like an entrepreneur.  

But reading this list of "rules," it turns out that much of the success just boils down to hard work and dogged determination.  Not every rule here applies to credit unions, or even trade associations. But I thoroughly enjoyed the read.  Here are a few gems from the list:

Communicate with everyone. Employees. Customers. Investors. All the time. Every day.

Do everything for your customers. This is very important. Get them girlfriends or boyfriends. Speak at their charities. Visit their parents for Thanksgiving. Help them find other firms to meet their needs. Even introduce them to your competitors if you think a competitor can help them or if you think you are about to be fired. Always think first, “What’s going to make my customer happy?”

Give employees structure. Let each employee know how his or her path to success can be achieved. All of them will either leave you or replace you eventually. That’s OK. Give them the guidelines how that might happen. Tell them how they can get rich by working for you.

Understand the demographic changes that are changing the world. Where are marketing dollars flowing and can you be in the middle. What services do aging baby boomers need? Is the world running out of clean water? Are newspapers going to survive? Etc. Etc. Read every day to understand what is going on.

Always take someone with you to a meeting. You’re bad at following up. Because you have no free time. So, if you have another employee. Let them follow up. Plus, they will like to spend time with the boss. You’re going to be a mentor.

I could go on, but I'll leave the rest to you. But, I'm curious.  What are some of the rules that led to your success? Curious minds want to know.  Including mine.  If you have a gem, please leave a comment or shoot me a note. 

Have a great week, folks.