Einstein, one of the most brilliant thinkers the world has ever known, had a lot to say that relates to your Frugal Business.
Finding Simplicity
Simplicity is one of the most important of the 7 Principles of a Frugal Business. Simplicity has value, not only because it saves time and money, but because it makes decisions easier, and it keeps your mind clear of clutter.
Simplicity and frugality go together. If you learn the habit of spending on simple things for your business and creating simple processes, you’ll be more frugal. Do you really need that expensive, complicated smartphone? Learn to ask: What’s the minimum I need?
Be bold in making business decisions.
Hugging the shore is a metaphor for taking the safe way. But safe isn’t going to help you grow your Frugal Business. Making better business decisions means:
Considering the trade-off between priorities. Which is most important: Saving money by finding the cheapest product or service? Getting the best quality? Or getting it fast?
Getting to the root of the problem by asking the right questions, and asking enough questions so that you can really see the problem.
Bringing in your team to help, and letting them advise you. But you must make the decision yourself.
Stopping to take a breath before deciding, Waiting for a while makes the urgency of the decision lessen and gives you more time to evaluate.
Learning from your decisions, and
Not looking back after the decision has been made.
Play by the rules of thumb.
Playing by the rules is great. And making your own rules is even better. Using rules of thumb to guide your business processes and activities makes Frugal Business sense. Rules of thumb are simply guidelines based on experience.
Creating rules of thumb for basic business tasks helps your staff know what to do, it gives you assurance that everything is being done correctly, and allows you to substitute team members without loss of quality.
Most important, rules of thumb saves time. You don’t have to re-invent the rules every time something happens.
Create opportunity from difficulty.
You will likely have bumps in the road to business success. But having a Frugal Business helps you get through them more easily. And those bumps are just learning opportunities. Learning from our mistakes is part of the growth process leading to your business success.
The best way to learn how to learn is from the concepts of deliberate learning, as described in Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise
Work well with others.
Einstein refers to several Frugal Business principles in this quote. The principle of abundance in business, for example, requires us to consider that there is enough for all. That means sharing with team members as well as customers and competitors.
Realizing that we can’t do it alone makes us more aware of how employees and freelancers contribute to our businesses. And don’t forget your team of advisors and professionals like your CPA and attorney. Bringing the best minds to a problem can prove hugely beneficial to you. Einstein was a loner, but he understood that life is to be lived for – and with – others if it is to have meaning.
Make time work for you. 
Einstein had a great sense of humor. I’m sure this was tongue-in-cheek, but it’s still true. Time is important. Ben Franklin said, “time is money.” Learning to value your time is a crucial way to save money and work smarter in your Frugal Business.
One way to value your time is to let experts do tasks that you shouldn’t or don’t want to do.
Saving time on non-necessary tasks allows you to focus on the essentials: your Big Idea (the core products and services of your business), promoting your Big Idea, and supporting it with management and financial tasks.
What are your favorite Einstein quotes? Add to the comments below.
Here’s to the Success of Your Frugal Business!