Just as it’s every young basketball fan’s dream to play at a prestigious and successful program like Duke Men’s Basketball, every young worker who’s earning minimum wage and living paycheck-to-paycheck, has dreamed of starting their own business. I consider myself extremely lucky to say that I have achieved both of these goals, and (hopefully) have learned enough along the way to impart some lasting and substantial advice to both hopeful entrepreneurs and those who have just begun, alike.

At the risk of sounding entirely cliché, basketball and business are really not that different, or at least, they’re more alike than they may seem at first glance. Any enterprise that’s taken on by a group is comparable to the next, whether it’s a mission to decide on where a group of people will eat dinner, or it’s a mission to the moon, certain factors will always remain the same.

I’ve compiled here a list of the simple truths that I’ve found to be most effective and generative in the workplace. Almost all of these simple truths have roots in the lessons I learned at a young age, working together as a “well-oiled machine” on that Duke team. Absolutely all of these simple truths have helped me to get to where I am today; The foundation of a successful business must be built on clear, simple morals in order to succeed. Without a steady foundation, even the best ideas will inevitably fail. As you start your business, it’s a good idea to write down the things that you hold most dear, the absolute truths of your business, things you will absolutely not compromise on. This will help cement the mission and the purpose of your business, and keep you grounded when things get chaotic (and they will!) Below are the simple and absolute truths that I use as my guide in the corporate world; I hope you find them as helpful as I have.

Write Everything Down

In continuing my thought from above, I must emphasize the importance of the written word. Write down every little thing that you do! As you make it a habit, it will become easier and easier to remember, and less of a chore. Not only will this habit allow for you to have a written record of everything that you do, but it will also strengthen your memory and increase your ability to remember the daily minutiae that you will encounter. Regardless of if you keep the document that you write the information down on, simply the process of writing the information down will help solidify it in your memory. Writing everything down and keeping a written record is all part of being a good planner, which brings us to…

It’s Better to Overprepare, Than to Underprepare

While there are unique cases where overpreparation can lead to anxiety and excess fussiness, these cases are rare, and as long as one stays alert in recognizing these cases, they can still hold this simple truth close and make it a company commandment to live by. Instill this mindset throughout your ranks and you will find that more problems can be caught early on in the process, and that less errors are made overall. While time spent planning may seem superfluous or redundant, remember that time spent in the brainstorming phase planning directly relates to the amount of time spent later cleaning up the messes of mistakes made. More time spent diagraming a solid plan means less time spent fixing the problems of a mediocre plan. Put the work in before you start and I guarantee you’ll have less grey hair and heartache!

Challenge Yourself

It’s well known that the devil finds work for idle hands, but another way of saying this is be wary of complacency. A small amount of comfort is good, you definitely want to be sure you can pay the bills at least, but too much comfort breeds laziness, and laziness is one the greatest enemies of progress. Keep yourself from getting too comfortable and too relaxed by always pushing yourself towards something new and exciting. The best businesses and business owners take daily risks. Sure, not all of those risks pay off (if they did, they wouldn’t be risks!), but as long as your accomplishments are greater than your defeats you should strive to challenge yourself. Once this balance tips the other way, and you start to see more red than black, it’s time to calm down on risk-taking, and settle back more into the bread and butter that your project can depend on for success.

Stay Motivated

I mentioned above that laziness is one of the greatest enemies to progress that one can face and I mean it. I’ve seen some great minds go to waste because they couldn’t stay on task and couldn’t stay motivated towards a static goal. Be also sure to be aware of laziness’ sneaky cousin: procrastination. While some people do perform better under stress, this tactic is dangerous, because it slows down your projects overall production, and, in fact, the tension and stress created by one small aspect of your project will spread out like waves, soon infecting the entire operation with unnecessary chaos and anxiety. No, that simply won’t do, motivation and commitment to goals must be made one of the pillars of your organization; This is the only way to fully combat rampant laziness and procrastination.

Be A Friend

When I first got into the corporate world, I was perturbed by the apparent necessity to be a salesman. A business (and its products) must be sold in order to succeed, and so a businessman must also be a salesman, right? Well, in fact, this is only true in parts, because while the businessman must sell his wares in order to succeed, he need not become a salesman in order to do so. You see, no one likes a salesman, and no one likes to be sold to, but people don’t mind buying things, especially from other people that they see as friends. Become a friend to your customers and you’ll never spend a day being a “salesman”, but instead you’ll merely be a friend who has something to sell. The same relationship can be observed within your workplace: Be a friend to your employees and coworkers and you will lose the role of “order-giver” and instead assume the role of “friend who needs orders to be followed”, a much more copacetic relationship for both parties, where everyone leaves the interaction with a positive feeling.