We all have a recipe for success as entrepreneurs. We may be franchise owners and follow a recommended “playbook” of operations and set processes. We may know our product or service inside-and-out, to the point in saying that “our way is the best way” of growing a business.

Entrepreneur interviewed over 65 millionaire business owners and found a few good business ideas of their own. Some are so simple, you might have overlooked them. Here are 7 of the most recommended lessons of success from proven business owners. 

The Hall-of-fame owners and their tips on good business ideas

What do business leaders and industry experts like Richard Branson, Seth Godin, Tim Feriss, Barbara Corcoran, Neil Patel, Danae Ringelmann, and Marie Forleo all have in common? Answer: sometimes we make our businesses too complicated. 

Get back to basics and sound business concepts with these 7 tips of “learning the hard way” from the best of the best. 

1. Who knows better, you or your staff?

Building a team in your business is the key, according to Richard Branson, for massive success. Trust in your management group and believe in what they have to offer to your vision of your business. Let your employees have a go at making decisions and give them a taste of heading a project or factoring in a lead decision to the company. 

“With all my employees, I listen to them, trust in them, believe in them, respect them and let them have a go! I never believe I know better than they do.”

2. The all or nothing approach just might leave you with, well, nothing.

Seth Godin is a master marketer and best selling author of books like Permission Marketing and The Purple Cow. His insight in his interview puts the idea of going big or going home on it’s head. He discusses that you don’t have to jump in with both feet but that rather you can gain more traction with more to show for it, by starting small and avoiding procrastinating. 

3. Is the customer always right, really?

I was raised hearing many professional leaders repeat, “The customer is always right.” Tim Ferriss, best selling New York Times author, says that the customer is not always right. In fact, some customers can be more harmful in the long run.

Learning to pick your client base for long term relational growth may be a wiser move. If in the beginning you are taking on clients to increase company revenue, the next step is analyzing your best client base and letting go of customers that are a drain your your bottom line.

4. Being the smartest card in the deck

Luckily, owning and succeeding as a business owner does not always equate to having had to receive a degree from an Ivy League school or having been a gifted student in high school. Neil Patel, owner and founder of Kissmetricks, that you don’t have to be the smartest in your field, you just have to hire the smartest in your field. 

5.  Solving problems for the world

Successful founder of Indegogo, the largest global fund raising site, Danae Ringelmann, realized she had a problem with cash to start her business. Yet, she also found that many others had the same problem too. With inefficient access to capital, start-ups weren’t struggling with ideas, they were struggling with capital to launch their business ventures.

“Ideas were going unborn every day, not for lack of heart and hustle, but for lack of access to the right gatekeeper, the person who holds the purse strings.”

6.  Invest in what you know, not in new ideas

Barbara Corcoran, famous New York real estate tycoon and personality on the hit CNBC show “The Shark Tank”, says this about chasing new opportunities:

“I’ve watched so many people much smarter than me lose as much money as I’ve made. You know what they forgot? They forgot to invest in their own backyard — what they knew. They heard [another] market was phenomenal and off they went, and lost their shirts”.

7. Don’t get into business soley for the money

Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, etc did not get into business for making money. They had a deep desire to make something that would impact others. Marie Forleo, founder of Marie TV and B-school, says this about money and business:

“The money is not the bottom line. The people who I see that are the most successful — there’s something deeper that drives them. There’s this strong burning desire to make a difference.”

“We all have a recipe for success as entrepreneur’s.” https://t.co/aIZQ0fk8M6 pic.twitter.com/7xw3OoLZzU

— Luxa Enterprises (@LuxaEnterprises) December 15, 2015

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/252965