Fast Talk: Lessons from the PROFIT 100

Every year the editors at PROFIT Magazine ask the entrepreneurs who run Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies to offer their best management/leadership advice.

The result is always a plethora of poetic punditry, like a graduate business class taught in haiku. Here are some of the gems unearthed from this year’s PROFIT 100 team.

Come up with a plan, and stick to it. Do what you say you are going to do.

Tell your employees about your strategy, repeat it over and over and over again, and get them to own a part of the outcome.

Be willing to constantly evolve your management practices to meet the changes in your market.

Treat your people well and they'll treat your customers well, and your revenue will follow.

Never stop dreaming! People give up too easily.

Manage your business by numbers. The more you look at your numbers and the more reports you have to analyze your business, the quicker you can make decisions.

See yourself as a servant, find really great people and give them everything they need to succeed.

Assess risk, but don’t be afraid to take it.

Be positive about the future. That gives you your strength when things get tough.

Hire the right people, but don’t trust them. Always have checks and balances in place to ensure everybody in the company is doing their job.

Don’t let your good people leave.

Compete for talent the same way you would compete for a customer.

Maintain focus on a niche market, where the competition isn’t nearly as intense. Then, hopefully, you can own it.

Market yourself. If you’re leading the company, you’re the person customers are looking at.

Don’t underestimate the value that a strong banking relationship can add to your growth.

Believe in karma. What you do comes back to you.

Don’t stop till you succeed.

You can read the whole list in the June issue of PROFIT. It's on newsstands now.