Hello!
Anna Karenina is one of the most celebrated works of Russian author Leo Tolstoy. My grand uncle made me read this book as a kid, and I hated him for it. It’s not an easy read. I barely understood what was going on. But, the first line has stayed in my memory.
All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
In other words: happy families share a common set of attributes which lead to happiness, while any of a variety of attributes can cause an unhappy family. This concept has been generalized to apply to several fields of study. (This paragraph shamelessly stolen from wikipedia)
While enough people better qualified than me have researched and found this principle very appropriate in a large variety of fields, I have a small contribution to make. I posit that –
All successful businesses are alike; each unsuccessful business is unsuccessful in its own way.
What I mean by this is every business that succeeds is run by people who understand certain basic concepts. Ignoring any one concept will lead to the business shutting down. This is, in my opinion, the essence of business. Know everything. Or fail sooner or later.
I’m not being over dramatic. This isn’t hyperbole. 80% businesses that start with as much hope and as many dreams as yours (and mine) shut down in the first 2 years. It’s not a coincidence.
There’s so much to know. Learn all you can from others successes and failures alike. Always be open to learning – business concepts, current affairs, new technology. Everything has an impact on your business.
Don’t become a statistic. Don’t become the second part of the Anna Karenina Effect.
Have you read Anna Karenina? (It’s ok if you haven’t.) What, according to you, is the most important business concept that every business owner has to learn?
Yours,
Abhilash Purohit