Business Wisdom I

Customers: 

A little bit of quality, will always make them smile;
A little bit of courtesy, will bring them from a mile;
A little bit of friendliness, will tickle them ’tis plain,
And a little bit of service, will bring them back again.

1. You can take 90% of the decisions on the basis of past experience, only 10% require in-depth analysis.

2. Correct 90% of the errors in typewritten letters; only 10% of such letters need to be retyped.

3. You may never need 90% of the old records. Destroy them regularly.

4. Normally 90% of your customers are reasonable; it is only 10% that create problems.

5. 90% of your work can be done by your subordinates. 10% needs your supervision.

6. 90% of any work is routine; it is the balance 10% that requires original thinking.

7. A book, tight shut, is but a block of paper.

8. A business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business.

9. A businessman is a hybrid of a dancer and a calculator.

10. A cask of wine works more miracles than a church full of saints.

11. A cluttered desk with lack of precision does not always belong to a clerk; with a manager it is indecision much more than overwork.

12. A committee is a body which takes a week to do what one good man can do in an hour.

13. A compromise is the art of driving a cake in such a way that each one thinks he is getting the biggest piece.

14. A conference is a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing, but together decide that nothing can be done.

15. A dinner always lubricates business.

16. A good administrator must make the administration as small and inexpensive as possible.

17. A man of genius has been seldom ruined, but by himself.

18. Business cannot stay at one place. It has to be worse or better.

19. A man that hoards up riches and enjoys them not, is like an ass that carries gold and eats thistle.

20. A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.

21. A man who both spends and saves money is the happiest man, because he has both enjoyments.

22. A man with a surplus can control circumstances, but a man without a surplus is controlled by them, and often he has no opportunity to exercise judgement.

23. A man’s true wealth is the good he does in this world.

24. A merchant’s happiness hangs upon chance, winds and waves.

25. A manager develops people through whom he manages. He makes it easy or difficult for them to develop themselves. He directs people or misdirects them. He brings out what is in them or he stiffles them. He strengthens their integrity or he corrupts them. He trains them to stand upright and strong, or he deforms them.