The Women Entrepreneurs Blog @ Simon

Ask the Entrepreneurs: Three Tips from My Father

[Note: Students in the Entrepreneurship program at Simon have submitted a number of questions and we encourage you to ask yours via the form on our Home/About page. We'll have one or more of our bloggers offer their takes — which should provide starting points for your thinking and more discussion.]

Question: What do you think are the 3 most critical skills a new business owner must have and why?

I will pass along the business advice that has served me well over the last 20 years. Now, understand that this advice came from my father who owned a trucking business for 40 years. He didn’t go to college … never took a business course, but Thomas Dixon was hugely successful in life in so many ways!

Here’s his advice:

Ask the Entrepreneurs: My Biggest Mistake? Hiring "Clones"

[Note: Students in the Entrepreneurship program at Simon have submitted a number of questions and we encourage you to ask yours via the form on our Home/About page. We'll have one or more of our bloggers offer their takes — which should provide starting points for your thinking and more discussion.]

Question: Describe to me a mistake you made while starting your business and what you learned from it.

The single mistake I made while starting my business what that I hired "like minded" people, "Lauren Dixon clones" — people who were in the office at 4:00am and worked crazy hours. Work was life. Life was work.