Business Rule #1

When I tell people my first rule of business they laugh at me. They expect some genius bit of wisdom from Steve Jobs or Warren Buffett and, instead, I give them this lump of moldy cheese.

“My first rule of business is to have what people want.”

They say, “That’s so obvious, it’s dumb. HAHAHA”

I respond, “Yes, I agree. So, why do you want to violate it?”

“Huh?”

“Well, you just said that you plan to reduce the range of the company’s products to cut costs. Yet, the company’s market research shows that range is what customers want. In fact, they say that’s the most important factor, by far.

How much sales do you think the company will lose by having less of what customers want?”

“Hmm…well…I don’t think they will notice much.”

“You don’t think customers will notice that you cut back on what they want most from the company?

See, my business rule #1 isn’t as obvious as it seems. This is just one example of how easy it is for businesses to violate it without even realizing it.”