Carrie Rich is the co-founder and CEO of The Global Good Fund. She’s also an adjunct faculty member at the George Washington University School of Nursing and the author of Sustainability for Healthcare Management. Follow her @MsCarrieRich.
Who is your hero?
My life hero is my grandfather, Pup. In his personal life, the people Pup cared about knew he cared about them. He made sure they knew it with his wonderful sense of humor. I figure Pup could have summarized the entire self-help industry in a few sentences.
In his professional life, Pup knew what he was good at and stuck with it. He was given opportunities to advance in managerial roles, but chose to do what he loved, which was engineering. He turned down significant career advancement opportunities along with a higher salary to stick to his values and passion.
Pup also gave back to his community, for instance, driving his next door neighbor to work at 5 a.m. each morning even after Pup had retired after decades of working.
What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?
Happiness breeds success, not the other way around. For me, that translates into keeping the main thing my main thing. I find it easy to get distracted by the amazing opportunities out there, but it’s important to stay focused on the main thing, whatever it happens to be for each person.
What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?
Oscar Wilde said, “Experience is the name we give our mistakes.” In that case, I have a fair amount of experience. I like the concept of failing early and fast, so it’s hard to pick just one failure!
What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?
The first thing I do is make a list each morning of goals I want to achieve that day. I don’t want others’ priorities to trump my own. If I’m behaving myself then I’ve exercised before starting my business day, which really helps me clear my head and get focused for the day.
What’s your best financial or cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?
Test the marketplace before investing in any business. Have a plan that is well vetted by a strategic partnership. I try to test and then invest more human and financial capital as I go, rather than investing all-in up front. I put my own money in, even if it’s a small amount, to demonstrate that I have skin in the game. Then I work to leverage other people’s money.
Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?
Re-evaluate how you spend your time and assess if what you are doing adds the most value to your bottom line.
What’s your definition of success? How will you know when you’ve finally “succeeded” in your business?
We have two ways to define our success. The first: That we are fulfilling our mission at The Global Good Fund in a way that is socially, environmentally and fiscally responsible. This is our number one priority. The second is that employees, customers and partners are delighted to work with us.
