Business Tips I Learned from Dad
Twenty years ago, I wrote an article titled “Business Tips I Learned from Dad.” At the time, my daddy was turning 71, and I wrote the piece in honor of him. Henry will be 91 years old on August 22. He still practices architecture in Macon, GA, and he goes to the office six days a week. You gotta admire that! I decided to celebrate Henry and his long, successful life by revisiting the article and tweaking it a bit to reflect some of what we’ve both learned in the past two decades.
Henry grew up in Bound Brook, NJ, in a large Italian-Catholic family, the second oldest of six children. He’s the only person I’ve ever met who was in the Merchant Marines, and he served in World War II delivering wartime cargo in convoys throughout the European Theater, including those involved in the Allied invasion of Sicily.
After the war and through the GI Bill, he graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in Architecture. While there, he met and married Alice, my mother, and after graduation they moved to Macon in 1952. (I’m pretty sure he was the only Italian-Catholic from New Jersey who went to college in North Dakota and ended up in Macon, GA, with no ties to the city—or even to the South.)
Henry dreamed of having a successful architectural practice, and in 1958—with two small children at home and a working wife to pay the household bills—he founded the firm bearing his name. Successful at his established practice for more than half a century now, Henry has clients throughout Georgia.
Henry learned a lot over the years. Here are some of the business tips I learned from him:
1. You must constantly grow your business, especially when you first start out. In the late 1950s, when my father first started his business, he used to get in his non-air conditioned Volkswagen bug, draw a circle (150-mile radius) on the map, then call on potential clients within that circle to discuss their building plans for the future. He called on new potential clients well into his 80s. (Yes, prospecting as an 85-year-old man!)
2. Persistence is key. Henry called on people for 12 months before establishing his first client. His first year’s revenue was a whopping $750! Now that’s persistence with a large measure of faith!
3. Long hours of work are required if you want to be successful. Sometimes you have to be the early bird and the night owl to get the job done. Henry says, “Running a business is a seven-day work week. Working a 40-hour week is like being on vacation.”
4. Pay attention to the details! Watch for spelling and grammatical errors in your correspondence, return calls quickly and don’t assume anything. For Henry, attention to detail always means producing meticulous drawings (plans) covering every aspect of a job. He will not hesitate to make contractors tear down walls when they don’t build them as specified. His mantra, “Do it right—or immediately do it over.”
5. Treat the clients as if they are royalty. They write the checks, and Henry treats them as if they are kings and queens. Naturally, that means he respects their time and their business needs. Their satisfaction with the project is personally important to him.
6. Buy things when you can pay for them. “Nobody ever went broke paying for things with cash,” has long been Henry’s way of working. If something is that important, you’ll figure out a way to afford it.
7. Show appreciation to people—especially your clients. Henry has never taken any of his projects and customers for granted. He believes in letting them know how important—imperative even—they are to him and his business. Every Christmas, my father gives his clients gifts of appreciation.
8. Always remember the option of walking away when negotiating for a product, service or even a client. Henry never gets emotionally involved when negotiating for anything. Buying a car or a home or even a mobile phone; negotiating for an office lease; whatever. He always gives himself the option of doing nothing or just saying “no.”
9. Whatever you do, do it better than anyone else. Simple advice, sure, but it covers so much in this life. This is one of the most important things Henry has ever told me.
Happy birthday, Henry. I love you!
I’d like to hear one of the “lessons learned” from your own dad or the father figure in your life. You can enter your comment to this blog at www.corsini.com/blog or just reply to this email and allow us to share your business life lesson. If we get enough content, we’ll publish your lessons in an upcoming blog.
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