Wise words of advice from some young entrepreneurs

5 business principles they espouse are refreshingly on track

I recently hosted a retreat for some great young entrepreneurs and their spouses. Besides having fun, we spent some quality time networking and learning from each other.

These young business leaders are successful and are all under 30 years of age. Their companies have existed fewer than three years — some less than a year. One is a B-to-C (business-to-consumer) service company, three lead B-to-B high-tech enterprises, while the fifth member of the group works with social entrepreneurship organizations.

On the last day of the retreat, I asked each one to present to the group the most important principle they had learned from their business experiences. Working at the university, I expected to hear some common strategy themes from the group that are taught in business schools such as, "create a first mover advantage," "establish a dominant market share" or "build a great team."

Their presentations focused on a much different and refreshing mix of concepts. Remember, these are not all of the principles required to run a successful business, but they were the ones deemed most important by these young entrepreneurs.

Here are the five principles, one from each entrepreneur:

By Gary Williams
Brigham Young University

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