You can make mistakes in business and still achieve big success. You just need to call the big trends in the industry right.
That's the philosophy of Brad Jacobs. He founded seven companies, all worth at least a billion dollars. Jacobs is founder and chairman of XPO, GXO Logistics and RXO. All are in the logistics and freight field.
In addition to figuring out big industry trends, "If you want to realize your ambitions on a grand scale," Jacobs said, "realize much of business success is keeping yourself mentally in a good place."
Pick Your Spots To Hook Big Trends
To build something durable, "make sure you're prepared to benefit from the big trend in your industry, rather than be disrupted by it," said Jacobs, also author of "How to Make a Few Billion Dollars." Technology shifts are especially disruptive, he says. Technology continues to define "megatrends for generations," he said.
Jacobs identifies artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, 3D printing as just some examples of tech that will continue to drive consumer demand.
"I want every business decision I make to keep me in a position where my companies will benefit from technological advancement," he said. That's what happened when he founded XPO in 2011. Jacobs and his team upgraded the low-tech truck brokerage industry and eventually digitized shipper-carrier interactions.
Fast forward to today. XPO's truck brokerage business is now a stand-alone public company called RXO. Now, 97% of its freight movements rely on and benefit from digitization. XPO did more than $7 billion in revenue last year and RXO did more than $3.9 billion.
Have A Process For Making Tough Decisions
When faced with challenging problems, Jacobs says to ask yourself: "What's the worst that could happen, and how would I cope with that?" Also, "If a friend had a similar problem, what advice would I give him?"
Utilizing these questions has "helped me deal with many, many problems, large and small," he said.
The idea is to think about the situation objectively, rather than emotionally. "Once you're in this frame of mind, it's easier to relax and think creatively, which opens doors to finding a good outcome," Jacobs said.
Create A Big Trend
Mark Dixon founded IWG, which offers office space and technology for meetings, in 1989. He observed many business people lacked professional places to conduct their meetings. Instead, they often substituted coffee shop tables for offices and competed with surrounding sounds. It was conducive for a meal but not for conducting business.
At the same time, he saw real estate owners tilted the commercial office sector in their favor. Businesses were tied into long, expensive and restrictive leases making it difficult for companies to scale up or down without financial penalties.
Today IWG has 4,000 locations in more than 120 countries.
"Always pay close attention to consumer behaviors and seek to solve problems," Dixon said.
Build Your Network
Dixon encourages business people to devote time to building their network of peers. He has built his over the decades and it includes partners, collaborators and suppliers.
And most importantly, ensure there is sufficient time for meeting people in your network face to face. "With the incredible technological advances, day to day business can be conducted with ease via tools such as Teams and Zoom Video. But for significant business deals nothing can replace meeting in person," he said.
When Melissa Di Donato became the CEO of Kyriba, a financial performance platform for CFOs, "I ditched the desk and got on the road to meet as many customers as possible," she said.
Invest In Your Employees
Many managers claim their company is only as good as the employees. But you must actually run your company this way, says Di Donato, the former CEO of software company SUSE.
One of Jacobs' first hires at XPO was Mario Harik, an MIT-trained machine-learning expert. Harik caught the vision of fully automated truck brokerage and helped get that megatrend right. Harik is currently XPO's CEO.
Having smart people in the room is vital, "but if those smart people aren't diverse in makeup, you'll get one-dimensional thinking," Di Donato said.
