6 Business Lessons you won’t learn in college

"Knowledge itself is power"

— Sir Francis Bacon.

Teachers and textbooks can help you prepare for your career, but there are some lessons they won't prepare you for!

We've compiled a list of 6 business-related things every college graduate should know.

1- Great marketing doesn’t guarantee cash

Marketing is about making your presence known to potential consumers and would-be customers. In other words, it isn’t a fix-all solution and is only about generating brand awareness.  

So, a clever marketing campaign and spending a lot of money on advertising will not guarantee a sale. Earning cash requires you to engage with your customers and help offer them value and solutions that help them solve a given problem.

2- Diversification only works if it surrounds a core strength

The word diversify means you work in different industries, or it can mean you generate revenue through several channels.  That being said, even if a business appears to be diversified to an outsider, more often than not, its various business units and revenue streams are just shades of color on the company’s inner canvas.

Today, Amazon has its Airline Prime Air, Whole Foods, and online streaming video service. All those limbs are just branches built on the trunk of Amazon’s core.

3- Hiring great talent isn’t the answer

Everyone talks about the importance of bringing on great people, the need for which is undeniable.  But equally and just as important to find those people is holding on to that talent once you are lucky to get it.

Many managers wrongly think that after all their effort in finding and hiring the perfect candidate, they’re done, forgetting when you lose a good employee, all that training, experience, and knowledge walks out the door with them.

Always be vigilant and go to great lengths to ensure we hold on to the great workers we worked so hard to get.

4- There is no easy way to deal with ethics

Unfortunately, employee misconduct is not uncommon. Disgruntled workers breach their companies’ codes of conduct all the time. Whether misusing company time, taking credit for others’ work, or harassing their colleagues — among many other examples — disgruntled employees raise many ethical issues in the workplace.

Despite the pervasiveness of such behavior, employee misconduct sometimes goes unreported for various reasons. Colleagues may feel threatened by their unscrupulous coworkers or fear backlash for “tattling.” Still, others might simply look the other way to avoid conflict.

Dealing with business ethics is far more difficult than we ever realize – until we’re stuck dealing with such a situation.

5- An organization’s health extends beyond its income statement

While income is essential – it’s the heartbeat – for an organization to survive, many more factors play into its overall well-being.  Innovation, employee morale, efficiency, and a positive public reputation are vital signs managers need to consider.  If your business is bringing in 20% profit with a dissatisfied workforce, antiquated process, and poor quality, image what it could do with a happy workforce, modern technology, and superior quality.

6- Leadership

The only thing that can take a good business and make it exceptional is strong and virtuous leadership at the top, with other great leaders peppered throughout the organization.  Great leaders inspire; they are charismatic, likable, and naturally able to motivate all those talented people within the organization to be at their best.

WEEKLY VOCABULARY 🗣

📌Disgruntled: angry or dissatisfied.

📌Impose: force (something unwelcome or unfamiliar) to be accepted or put in place.

📌Workforce: the people engaged in or available for work, either in a country or area or in a particular company or industry.

📌Prosper: succeed in material terms; be financially successful.

📌Restore: bring back (a previous right, practice, custom, or situation); reinstate.

PHRASAL VERBS ✍

📌Make out: to understand or to see something with clarity.

"In the dim light, it was difficult to make out the illustration."

📌Piece something together: to understand a story, situation, etc., by taking all the facts and details and putting them together.

"Don’t worry; I’ll piece together a manual for the new system."

IDIOMS 📒

📌Know something backward and forwards: know something very well. Be an expert, or be well acquainted with something.

📌Under one’s belt: have a lot of experience.

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