Leadership Advice From the Founders of Six Fast-Growing Black-Owned Businesses | Inc.com




“Embrace change, plain and simple. As entrepreneurs, we have this crystallized vision of what we want our businesses to become, but everything from market volatility to geopolitical instability can turn our plans upside down. We can build longevity by learning to make the most of unexpected changes, instead of clinging to what could have been.”

“You have to treat your business, whether you’re an individual consultant or a company that’s looking to scale, as: ‘How am I putting in measures to actually scale my enterprise?’ You need to be open to taking a little bit of a risk and putting a couple dollars toward some advertising and marketing. If you’re not doing those things, you have to look at it from a competitive perspective. Other people are. And my mama always said, ‘Scared money don’t make money.’ You have to, as an entrepreneur, be willing to take those risks that others are not willing to take.”

“I have always believed that mental and physical health is the most important thing in all of our lives, and sometimes that can get away from us due to our busy schedules, and will cause larger problems if neglected. Disconnecting for even 15 minutes at a time during the day and making time for health and family allows me to be more productive with the time that I do spend working.”

“People think of mentorship coming top-down–meaning you’ve got to be more accomplished than me, or you’ve got a bigger company, or you’ve been more successful–and I actually think of mentorship very differently. I get mentored and inspired from my peers in the industry and from our employees. I think that there’s a 360-degree relationship, and there’s a bit of a bottom-up relationship in terms of getting input and advice from people that are below you in the corporate hierarchy, at least on paper.”

“Three words: Trust your gut. Entrepreneurs can do a lot of validation-seeking, asking for advisers, seeking out mentors, etc. Oftentimes we are so busy achieving that we don’t take a moment to listen to the quiet, still voice on the inside. The answer is often already in your gut.

This content was originally published here.