Experience is the best teacher. This is why small business owners should remember to listen to pieces of advice from people who went through a lot of difficulties and trials before they succeeded in their fields. Some bits of advice may not be directly about managing a small business but these may also be applied not only for businesses but to life in general. These people have earned their spot and credibility in terms of life and learning so what they have to say are definitely worth listening to.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates said that business owners can learn a lot from their unhappy customers. Small business owners work hard to achieve their goals. Because of this, they expect that customers will appreciate what they have done in return. Compliments, as much as small business owners are thankful for each of these, are merely affirmations that they did a good job. However, criticisms should also be valued as much as compliments. Small business owners can see their business through another perspective through these criticisms. From these unhappy customers, small business owners will see what they need to work on, what they need to improve, and how they can provide better products and services to their customers. These critics pose challenges for small business owners to do their best.

Unhappy customers are sure to tell other people about their experience. In this case, small business owners should see this as an opportunity to prove them wrong. It will be appropriate to apologize but the best thing to do is to prevent the same thing from happening again. Once other people have a different, much better experience, people will also start hearing about it. This is one reason why customer interaction is very important including handling calls from the office phone system efficiently. This will ensure that customers’ concerns are attended to immediately.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs believes that life is very short and that no one else should make decisions for a person but him or herself. When it comes to small business, it tells owners to do break the rules once in a while. They do not have to conform to what is prescribed by the society or the majority in the business industry. They should take risks and entertain ideas that may sound crazy to most people. Their decisions should not be purely based on things that other people would say. Uniqueness is a very important character even with small businesses and it can make a business succeed. It also tells small business owners to value time.

Henry Ford

Henry Ford teaches small business owners how they can look at failure as an opportunity and not a dead end. He believes that failure is an opportunity to a much better beginning. Small business owners can learn a lot from their failures. He also believes that optimism helps a lot and it is always best to see the glass half-full. This is the right attitude of small business owners as there is no use crying over spilled milk. Whenever they experience failure, it is best to stand up again and take action to change the direction of the events in their small business.

Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg believes in the importance of small achievements. This is applicable especially to people who are always on a tight deadline. There are times when people just cannot afford or do not have much time to work on a task until perfection is reached. There are instances when they just have to do their best and quit worrying about it once the task is done.