Phil Laboon started the multimillion-dollar company Eyeflow Internet Marketing, a Pittsburgh-based SEO firm, from the ground up when he was 20 years old. Eyeflow has grown rapidly, recently being named by the Pittsburgh Business Times as one of 2012s Top 100 Fastest Growing Businesses in Pittsburgh, with over 100% revenue growth in the year. Follow him @eyeflow.
Who is your hero?
I would have to say Ron Paul. A true underdog story! When he was running for the Republican nomination, it literally changed my idea of what is possible. Here you have a guy running on the a ticket of a party that hates him, and he did very well. He got hammered by the left, the right and even the media but he never gave up. He changed the course of that election on both sides of the aisle.
What’s the single best piece of business advice that helped shape who you are as an entrepreneur today, and why?
Be stubborn and committed to the belief that you’re not going to fail. The people that quit typically never get back on the horse. I knew that if I got off the horse and became an employee, I would have that employee mindset forever.
What’s the biggest mistake you ever made in your business, and what did you learn from it that others can learn from too?
I would have not relied on partners for various business ventures I got involved with early in my career. I had 100 percent confidence in a previous real estate venture, my contract and my partner; however, he ended up funneling the leads into a separate entity he created to prevent me from getting my share.
I think when you are young and eager you think you need a partner to help with the workload. But from my experience, most of the time partners just hold you back and create more problems than they solve. I’m sure partnerships are great for some entrepreneurs, but looking back I wish I would have set more legal safety nets as well as specific tasks for each of us and what we had to accomplish.
What do you do during the first hour of your business day and why?
I have a clear plan for what I have to tackle in the morning before other things come up and interrupt my day. I like to start the morning by going through my emails and then moving on to any tasks left from the previous day. Tackling emails as they come in is important to prioritize as thoughts are fresh, it promotes good customer service and it helps ensure that things aren’t missed. After that I move on to items that need to be accomplished for that day.
What’s your best financial or cash-flow related tip for entrepreneurs just getting started?
Don’t skimp on marketing materials or online design. Strong branding is important online and offline. I’m really into making sure our sales materials reflect the quality and value of our services. Success is in those details.
Quick: What’s ONE thing you recommend ALL aspiring or current entrepreneurs do right now to take their biz to the next level?
Look for unique opportunities to take advantage of and take educated risks! The only way your company is going to grow is by taking calculated risks with your time and money. Every business was a gamble when it is first created. Businesses only need to discover one profitable strategy to overshadow all of the previous failures. You just have to look out for opportunity and when it comes, give it your best shot. The true challenge is being able to recognize opportunity when it’s comes your way and muster the braveness to take the jump in order to capitalize on it.
What’s your definition of success? How will you know when you’ve finally “succeeded” in your business?
A benchmark of success for me was when I didn’t have to work a side job to “support” my business. I didn’t want investors in my company so I self funded everything, which meant working side jobs to keep the lights on in the slow months. This milestone helped reassure me that I made the right decision with my career and gave me even more dedication to continue what I was doing.
