Everyone says “take risks” and “be transparent” in business—but what does that really mean? In this reaction video, Matt dives into a trending list of business do’s and don’ts and gives his take on what works, what’s dangerous, and what’s often misunderstood.
If you’re building a business, you need to hear this BEFORE you follow generic advice.
There are tons of people out on social media giving business advice. Some of it is good advice, but most of it isn’t good. In this series watch CapForge’s owner react to different advice videos. He’s an expert in all things business and has 20+ years of experience under his belt. Some of the things he reacts to might even surprise you!
Video Transcript:
Business Advice Video:
These are my top business do’s and don’ts. Do take risks. Risks is part of the business, and if you don’t take it, you won’t experience the pros and the cons of the value that it can bring to your business. Don’t ever ignore people beneath you. People that work for you are probably smarter than you and that’s why you hired them. Do be transparent and approachable. If you are an entrepreneur and you run your own business, you have to be welcoming. Don’t take your opinion for a fact. An opinion is only an opinion. Always have substance behind information in order to make it factual before you present it to your client and or investors.
Matt’s Review:
Okay, I would generally agree with most of these points. The first one, do take risks. Yes, there is a certain amount of inherent risk in starting any business, no matter how safe and surefire it seems like it is. But that’s the whole point, is you really wanna make sure you understand what you’re getting into. You’ve weighed the risks, you’ve mitigated the risks, and you’re prepared for what’s coming. Don’t just wing it, fly by the seat of your pants, hope for the best, not take the time to kind of understand what you’re getting into. Who the market is, who the competition is, how the pricing and economics work. You can do that, but then you’re much more likely to fail. And then you go, well, you know, I guess I had to take a risk to be an entrepreneur, it didn’t work out, and now I’m $100,000 in debt and I gotta go get a job. None of that had to happen. So take educated risks that you have thought through all the consequences. You have a plan A, a plan B, a plan C. You really understand and you hopefully have taken as much risk out of it as possible. The other points, don’t ignore or people who are beneath you as not important or not worth listening to. Huge mistake, don’t let ego get in the way just because you’re the owner. Doesn’t mean you have all the good ideas, doesn’t mean you’re always right. That kind of goes with the fourth one, about you know, don’t state your opinion as fact. Make sure you understand what you’re doing and again be willing to listen to good advice from other people. And do be transparent and approachable. The more honest, straightforward and approachable you can be with employees, vendors, customers, the better your business is gonna run. When you’re secretive, when you’re telling, when you’re saying different things out of different sides of your mouth, those are all ways to get yourself in trouble, to build distrust and mistrust and just have a lot more headaches than there needs to be. So it’s a silly way to run a business, in my opinion. Be transparent, be honest, be approachable, be kind, be a good person, just be a good person, and that’ll carry you a long way.