10 THINGS TO BE PARANOID ABOUT
# 7 : NUMBERS As an entrepreneur , you need to be paranoid about the numbers . There are so many different things you can measure as an entrepreneur . But what ’ s your number one ? What ’ s the number one thing you measure the most ? Just think about that .
Some people say , “ The most important thing to measure is profits .” Why ? Because you ’ re taking profits home ? A guy that worked for an attorney told me , “ I ’ m working for an attorney that owns the firm . Every month , profits come in and he takes all the profits and leaves everything else behind .” If profit is the most important thing to you , could it be because you ’ re only thinking about yourself ? I don ’ t know how many people are excited about working for a company where profit is the most important thing to the CEO . This doesn ’ t mean that profit isn ’ t important , because without profit , you go out of business . Profits are important , but they ’ re not number one .
Is it top-line revenue ? Is it gross ? Is it paying off debt ? Is it being debt-free ? Is it how much cash you have ? What is the measure ? Is it how many employees you have ? Is it how many vendors you have ? Is it how many partners you have ? How many products ? What is it ?
# 8 : COMPETITION Competition really isn ’ t at the top of my list , but you do have to pay attention to your competition . You need to pay attention to what your competitors are coming out with , and the products they ’ re launching . Why ? Is it so you can react based on what they do ? No , but you do need to pay attention to what they ’ re doing , because they ’ re definitely paying attention to you .
The level of paranoia required for this item is not very high . When asked , “ Which strategies do you follow when it comes down to warfare ?” Napoleon always said , “ No one ’ s . I use my own .” Now he probably secretly copied somebody else , but he focused on certain philosophies and action plans that others didn ’ t think about . Everyone wanted to emulate him .
Even though this level of paranoia shouldn ’ t be high , you do need to be aware of what your competition has at their disposal .
# 9 : NEW LAWS AND LEGISLATION What are some new regulations or laws taking place in your area or country ? If a new person or party takes office , how is that going to affect your business ?
You ’ ve got to understand that legislation could possibly affect your business . If you don ’ t , and you think , “ Oh , it ’ s not going to happen ” you ’ ve got to assume that it is going to happen . How are you going to react to it ? Every industry has laws and legislation that you ’ ve got to be prepared for . The best businesses already have a plan of action in case something does take place .
# 10 : LEADERSHIP TEAM The last thing to be paranoid about is your leadership team . A great coach is very paranoid about the energy in the locker room . A great coach is very paranoid about the captain of the team who is leading everybody else . What are his or her habits ? What is he or she doing when he ’ s taking players to his house or to dinners or parties ? What bad habits is he or she teaching to them ? It could be that he or she is not captain material . Maybe you need to change the captain . The best player isn ’ t necessarily the leader of the team . Remember that . In fact , very rarely is the best player also the best leader .
You have to be paranoid about who you install as the face of your company and who you ask to lead everybody else , because if you choose the wrong person , he or she may give birth to a lot of negative , lowstandard leaders .
If you aren ’ t very diligent about paying attention to that , standards will drop . Those are ten things that I recommend being paranoid about as an entrepreneur . If you haven ’ t already read the book Only the Paranoid Survive by Andy Grove , I highly recommend you do . +
BY : PATRICK BET-DAVID CEO , PHP AGENCY INC
Patrick Bet-David is CEO of PHP Agency , Inc ., Creator of Valuetainment on YouTube and author of 25 Laws for Doing the Impossible . Visit patrickbetdavid . com
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