101 Things I Learned® in Business School (Second Edition)

Brands that continue to target the middle of the market with mid-priced products, without giving customers specific and compelling reasons to buy them, usually lose market share.

An especially fast-growing new company with rapidly increasing sales can be chronically short of cash, because the costs of growth (hiring and training new employees, acquiring new facilities and equipment, financing an ever-growing inventory, etc.) perpetually exceed the cash receipts from the previous, smaller sales volume.

Limited liability company: A hybrid type of ownership that combines some of the simplicity and tax flexibility of sole proprietorships and partnerships with the personal liability advantages of corporations. Corporation: A business

If all options appear equal, get more information.

Their large, consistent purchases can grant predictability, profitability, and economies of scale, but losing them can be devastating. A customer whose regular purchases constitute a disproportion of a business’s sales, and who is aware of his or her consequent power, may demand that the business lower its prices to an unreasonable level. An especi

Accrual accounting is more complex, but it provides a clear snapshot of a company’s financial status at any given time by accommodating the frequent lag between when a purchase is made and when money changes hands. Every transaction is recorded in two places in a general ledger; a debit or credit entry in one account is offset by a credit or debit

Learn an organization’s culture before working with or for it.

A moral hazard exists when organizations and individuals are not required to bear the negative consequences of their failures.

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.”