10 Commandments Relevant to your Business Growth
… learning effective business principles from one HipHop song.
What if I told you that you don’t need an MBA to know these principles that will skyrocket your business growth? Yes, the principles have been tried; even by one of the most unlikely people. And, no. He is not one of your ivy league scholars. You may smirk at wanting to learn business principles from this “cold” rapper but if you evaluate how much this rapper was counting even before he was 20 years old, you just might thirst. The street of Brooklyn is where our “professor” grew up with no college degree but a rather “successful” business. Our professor is the late Christopher Wallace, aka Notorious B.I.G.
Shot and killed at age 24, Biggie lived a very interesting but rather short life. According to his biopic “Notorious”, Christopher was a bright child who grew up with a single mum. It is gathered that he was influenced and/or oppressed by the street so he joined the street business of dealing drugs. According to reports, he began dealing at the age of 12. He dropped out of school at age 17 and was arrested a year later for possession and dealing crack cocaine. He spent 9 months in jail and started his music career after his release.
On the 25th of March, 1997 (16 days after he was shot and killed), his second studio album, “Life After Death” was released. The posthumous album had 24 tracks of which “Ten Crack Commandment” is track 17. The song is “a step-by-step booklet to get your game on track”. Game in the sense of the song relates to the drug business, however, the steps are applicable to legit businesses. It is reported that the song was inspired by an article in a magazine that shared “A Crack Dealer’s Ten Crack Commandments” that outlines ten rules to help dealers thrive in the business. A veteran in the game, Notorious Biggie shared his own version of the rules. “I’ve been in this game for years, it made me an animal. It’s rules to this sh*t, I wrote me a manual”. Now listen to these business principles.
Rule №1; Never let anyone know how much money you hold. According to B.I.G., this creates jealousy and unnecessary attention. Applicable to a legit business sphere, you don’t want people all up in your business knowing your cash strength. Except you’re playing some nice chess move with your partners.
Rule №2; Never let them know your next move. Similar to no. 1, secrecy is key. You want to be sleek and a little sneaky. The most successful business owners didn’t have people knowing their next moves before they made them.
Rule №3; Never trust anybody! Secrecy again! People have been stabbed in the back by the ones they love the most. Believe them; don’t trust. Hell, you shouldn’t even trust yourself.
Rule №4; Never get high on your own supply. This is probably the most popular rule in the drug business, yet the toughest to abide by. You don’t want to be consuming what you should be selling. This will affect your income and cash flow. Trust me, you don’t want that.
Rule №5; Never sell where you rest at. This rule has been rephrased from, “Never sell no cr*ck where you rest at” because we aren’t selling cr*ck. This rule is simple; keep your business away from your home. Do business where the business should be done.
Rule №6; Watch how you sell on credit. Enough businesses have been ruined by it. Of course, it seems effective at retaining customers. However, a little too much of it can wreck the cash flow.
Rule №7; Keep your family and business completely separated! As Biggie said, this rule is so underrated! Money and blood don’t mix. Doing deals with family gives room for compromise, irrationality, and unhealthy emotional actions. Abide by this rule and watch your business thrive.
Rule №8; Don’t do the dirty work. If you must do something dirty, it must not be you. The number eight rule according to B.I.G is, “never keep no weight on you”. That is, never be caught with drug possession. Biggie broke this rule one time and was arrested.
Rule №9; Never betray business partners. This should actually be number one, but oh well. The rule stipulates that you should be able to be trusted by business partners. This commandment according to Biggie goes, “If you ain’t gettin’ bagged stay the f**k from police / If n****s think you snitchin’ they ain’t trying to listen”. In other words, your partners must be able to trust you at all times.
Rule №10; Be wary of taking consignments. Pay on purchase. Yea, successful businesses take credits. But never take goods on credit before you have the customers. Like Seth Godin said, “You don’t find customers for your products. You find products for your customers.”
These 10 rules may not be cast in stone, but abide by them judiciously and your business will thrive. As I said, they have been tried and trusted in probably the most unfriendly business venture. We all know entrepreneurship is not a friendly game either. What other way to stay alive than following the steps of the bosses?
