Jim Estill of Synnex is going to tell us everything he wishes he’d known before he make that fatal fateful decision to become an entrepreneur.

Jim’s Top 10 Rules:

1. There isn’t any secret. It’s all the little things.
2. There is no order to the top 10 – priorities change
3. Different situations need different solutions
4. Manage your risk – fail often, fail fast, fail cheap
5. Set a pace you can maintain forever – business is a marathon, sharpen the saw
6. Be frugal
7. Be growth oriented – growth motivates
8. Welcome and embrace change – change is opportunity
9. Nurture a network – give freely to people, keep in touch
10. Be a time management fanatic – use tricks, study it, speed/sense of urgency wins

Since he sold EMJ Systems to Synnex he has learned a few things. For example, since Synnex is the largest distributor in Canada, if WalMart doesn’t buy from him they don’t have computers to sell. So they now actually pay their bills on time.

He allowed his company to grow by letting go of the decisions, but managing the culture. If people understand the culture, then they make the right decisions.

He loves to fight, but he doesn’t like fair fights. He only likes fights where he has the advantage.

Retail will continue to grow, but online is a big part of their business and growing fast.

He sold EMJ Systems partly because of fear of change on the horizon, liquidity, and because he was feeling a bit bored. And since he is no longer running his own business he now has options. He can call California tomorrow and say he isn’t coming in… ever. (Just kidding.)

What keeps him up at night? What customers did he lose that he needs to get back? Has he done enough networking? He says that you should only worry about what you can potentially fix.

Jim’s presentation:

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