Bob Parsons is CEO and Founder of GoDaddy.com. He’s famous for his over-the-top advertising, which include commercials featuring a porn star or race driver Danika Patrick in a bikini. To me he’s the Howard Stern of entrepreneurs, sophomoric but highly successful.

His business success and therefore, acumen, is what gets overlooked. Like Stern, this mega-millionaire knows what his target audience wants and he gives it to them. While his actions seem cavalier, my guess is there are few casual events in Bob’s business life.

In his September he shared his 16 Tips for business success, which you can view here: Bob Parsons' videoblog. Once you get past the girlies in their tank-tops, I think his advice is both unconventional and excellent. If you want to avoid the girls, here are Bob’s tips in text format:

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone. I believe that not much happens of any significance when we're in our comfort zone.  I hear people say, "But I'm concerned about security."  My response to that is simple: "Security is for cadavers."
2. Never give up. Almost nothing works the first time it's attempted.  Just because what you're doing does not seem to be working, doesn't mean it won't work.  It just means that it might not work the way you're doing it.  If it was easy, everyone would be doing it, and you wouldn't have an opportunity.
3. When you're ready to quit, you're closer than you think. There's an old Chinese saying that I just love, and I believe it is so true.  It goes like this: "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed."
4. With regard to whatever worries you, not only accept the worst thing that could happen, but make it a point to quantify what the worst thing could be. Very seldom will the worst consequence be anywhere near as bad as a cloud of "undefined consequences."  My father would tell me early on, when I was struggling and losing my shirt trying to get Parsons Technology going, "Well, Robert, if it doesn't work, they can't eat you."
5. Focus on what you want to have happen. Remember that old saying, "As you think, so shall you be."
6. Take things a day at a time. No matter how difficult your situation is, you can get through it if you don't look too far into the future, and focus on the present moment.  You can get through anything one day at a time.
7. Always be moving forward. Never stop investing.  Never stop improving.  Never stop doing something new.  The moment you stop improving your organization, it starts to die.  Make it your goal to be better each and every day, in some small way.  Remember the Japanese concept of Kaizen.  Small daily improvements eventually result in huge advantages.
8. Be quick to decide. Remember what General George S. Patton said: "A good plan violently executed today is far and away better than a perfect plan tomorrow."
9. Measure everything of significance. I swear this is true.  Anything that is measured and watched, improves.
10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate. If you want to uncover problems you don't know about, take a few moments and look closely at the areas you haven't examined for a while.  I guarantee you problems will be there.
11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you're doing. When you look at your competitors, remember that everything looks perfect at a distance. Even the planet Earth, if you get far enough into space, looks like a peaceful place.
12. Never let anybody push you around. In our society, with our laws and even playing field, you have just as much right to what you're doing as anyone else, provided that what you're doing is legal.
13. Never expect life to be fair. Life isn't fair.  You make your own breaks.  You'll be doing good if the only meaning fair has to you, is something that you pay when you get on a bus (i.e., fare).
14. Solve your own problems. You'll find that by coming up with your own solutions, you'll develop a competitive edge.  Masura Ibuka, the co-founder of SONY, said it best: "You never succeed in technology, business, or anything by following the others."  There's also an old Asian saying that I remind myself of frequently.  It goes like this: "A wise man keeps his own counsel."
15. Don't take yourself too seriously. Lighten up.  Often, at least half of what we accomplish is due to luck.
None of us are in control as much as we like to think we are.
16. There's always a reason to smile. Find it.  After all, you're really lucky just to be alive.  Life is short.  More and more, I agree with my little brother. He always reminds me: "We're not here for a long time, we're here for a good time!"

Steve

On Tuesday a friend told me about two contractors that will likely shut their doors even though both have backlogs of work. Their problem is their backlogs are filled, as are many contractors, with low margin business secured through bidding.

On Wednesday a real estate broker told me he’s trying to close on a $6.0M piece of development land in California. He said, "Since I'm selling to the government, it's almost impossible to get anyone to make a decision."

Later that day a contractor came to our house to repair our air conditioner. His business is booming. However, he said, “The majority of my business is as a sub-contractor to (name withheld, it’s a national home warranty company).” As such, it is low margin business.

Finally, a local printer told me that he was busy but every job becomes a rush job. He said, “The requirements always change, the edits seem endless but the deadlines stay the same. So we end up shifting our production schedule and paying overtime, and that kills our margins.”

Is there common thread? Yes, a need for better customers. Customers who will pay fair value for your services and respect mutually agreed to deadlines.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m sympathetic. I run a small business myself, and the temptation to think any order is better than no order is strong. I’m also not saying fire all your marginally profitable customers.

What I am saying is we all need to take decisive action to balance marginally profitable customers with highly profitable customers. To actively seek good customers because we already know the marginal customers will find us.

Your customers are similar to a portfolio of stocks in that both represent future income, at least in theory. If a customer consistently insists on the lowest price, then that customer needs to be replaced or subsidized, just as you would an under-performing stock. This can mean raising their prices or balance them out with a higher margin account. If a customer can’t make a decision and the back-and-forth time costs you money, then that time needs to be factored into the original price. 

I asked each of these people what they were doing to correct their situation, to secure better customers? Only one said, “I need to do more marketing.” Guess which one?

Steve